This British-born firm brings its international expertise to the US stage, welcoming plenty of Fresh faces to the ranks in recent years.
Freshfields Lateral Profile 2024
Though historically known as a top magic circle firm in its British hometown, Freshfields’ magic in the US lies in its “goal of being a top-class American law firm competing with its New York peers, rather than other magic circle firms.” It’s a reputation that excited our associate interviewees, who were all keen to get in on the firm’s international and cross-border work. M&A partner, Paul Tiger, explains how the firm’s been rapidly building out its American arm, as “clients are also recognizing the value in pairing an elite US practice with an unparalleled foreign office network.” Specifically, our colleagues at Chambers Global award top rankings to the firm’s US international arbitration and international trade practices. Meanwhile, Freshfields earns further accolades from Chambers USA for its national corporate crime & investigations practice, California securities litigation and white-collar crime & government investigations in New York.
View the firm’s Chambers USA rankings
Read the firm’s Inside View feature on junior associate life
Career Development & the Path to Partnership
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6 |
3.06 : 1 |
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partners made in 2023 |
associate : partner gearing |
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Hours & Compensation
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no requirement |
13 |
47.8 |
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billable hours |
average number of vacation days associates took in one year |
average number of hours associates worked in one week |
Salaries
1st year: $225,000
2nd year: $235,000
3rd year: $260,000
4th year: $310,000
5th year: $365,000
6th year: $390,000
7th year: $420,000
8th year: $435,000
Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing
| 40.2% | 35% |
| of partners are women | of associates identify as ethnically diverse |
The view from the firm: During the past year, Freshfields had several successes in diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Our Global Sponsorship Program (GSP) aims to increase the number of women in our global partnership and support the development and retention of women lawyers. GSP is a one-year program for high-performing mid- and senior-level women associates; seven cohorts comprising more than 170+ women lawyers have participated. 56% of our 2023 promotions to partnership and 46% of our counsel were GSP graduates.
- Freshfields’ global reverse mentoring program, “Diverse Perspectives,” connects junior and mid-level colleagues who identify as belonging to an underrepresented group within the firm with a senior colleague (partner or senior director). In 2023, our fourth cohort launched with nearly 40 pairs across all our regions.
- We launched our second cohort of the Future Leaders Program (FLP) which is a 7-month global program for diverse junior to mid-level colleagues that provides sponsorship, coaching
- 1L & 2L Diversity Fellowships are available to law students who apply and are accepted into our US summer associate program. Fellowships are awarded to law students who are invested in promoting diversity within the practice of law. The application process is open to all 1L and 2L students at all US law schools.
Pro Bono
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undisclosed |
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average pro bono |
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Pro bono highlights: International Refugee Assistance Project (partnership on immigration class action); Giffords Law Center (Second Amendment); Legal Aid (APA/benefits class action); ACLU of Northern California (Fourth Amendment rights).
Sustainability & CSR
The view from the firm: In 2023, the firm published near-term science-based targets on carbon reduction, validated by the SBTi. These targets include:
- 55% reduction in Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2027
- 100% renewable energy supply in all offices by 2030
- 35% reduction in business travel-related emissions by 2027
- 62% of suppliers committed to science-based targets by 2027.
We have wider environmental commitments to reduce paper by 40% by 2025 (against a 2018/19 baseline), a phase-down of single-use plastics in all offices, zero waste to landfill by 2027, and all office upgrades to meet ambitious sustainability standards.
At the same time as focusing on emissions reductions, the firm continues to offset its annual footprint (all Scope 1 and 2 emissions, plus waste, paper purchases, employee commuting, business travel and FERA emissions) through verified carbon offsetting programmes, most notably our flagship carbon offsetting scheme REAP (Reforestation in Eash Africa Programme).
The firm's Global Environmental Framework can be found on our website. https://www.freshfields.com/en-gb/about-us/responsible-business/environment/
Freshfields is a member of the Legal Sustainability Alliance (LSA) and is a dialogue partner of the Legal Charter 1.5 initiative. The firm was also the first major law firm to be a signatory of the UNGC.