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Freshfields

Interesting selling points

  • Uniquely flexible training contract, with the option to change seats every 3 months (as opposed to the usual 6 month rotations offered by many other firms).
  • Ability to do two 3-month client or pro bono secondments (many firms offer only 6 month secondments and/or do not offer pro bono secondments). 
  • Worked on some of the most interesting and highest profile matters over the last few years, including the London 2012 Olympics, the sale of Formula 1, and AB InBev’s £78.4bn acquisition of SABMiller (which was the biggest ever takeover of a London-listed company and one of the most complex acquisitions in history).
  • Band 1 across a uniquely broad range of practice areas (not only corporate, but also disputes, banking, public procurement, restructuring and tax).
  • Works across so many interesting industries, including sports, consumer goods and technology (not just banks and investment funds).
  • Comprehensive investment in technology, including Freshfields Lab, Freshfields Hub, and Kira.
  • Commitment to diversity, inclusion, pro bono and corporate social responsibility, for example its decision to seek Mansfield Rule certification in the US, its launch of reverse mentoring initiatives, and the contribution of 83,000 pro bono hours in 2020-2021 by its people.

We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics.

Practice areas / services

Freshfields is a full-service law firm, with a broad range of practice areas including: 

  • Antitrust and competition
  • Artificial intelligence 
  • Capital markets 
  • Commercial litigation 
  • Corporate advisory and governance 
  • Corporate and acquisition financing 
  • Data, privacy and cyber security 
  • Derivatives and structured finance 
  • Employment, incentives and pensions 
  • ESG and sustainability 
  • Foreign direct investment and national security 
  • Intellectual property 
  • International arbitration 
  • International trade
  • Investigations 
  • Leveraged finance
  • Mass claims 
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Private capital 
  • Pro bono 
  • Real estate 
  • Regulatory and compliance advisory 
  • Restructuring and capital solutions 
  • Sanctions 
  • Securities and shareholder litigation 
  • Tax 
  • White-collar defence and corporate crime

Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded Freshfields its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments: Banking Litigation, Employee Share Schemes & Incentives, Financial Services: Non-contentious Regulatory, Product Liability: Mainly Defendant and Tax: Contentious. See here for more information.

Key sectors / industries

Freshfields services a broad range of industries, with some of its highest-value clients operating in the following sectors:

In addition, Freshfields services the following industries: Automotive, Chemicals, Consumer products, Fintech, Infrastructure, Insurance, Life sciences, Media, Entertainment and Sports, Mining and Metals, Retail and Telecommunications.

Work

Freshfields has consistently advised on some of the highest-profile transactions and cases over the past few decades. Some notable examples of recent work include: 

  • London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG): The firm advised LSEG on its partnership with Microsoft spanning equity investment, complex strategic initiatives and major infrastructure projects.
  • Malaysia Airlines: Freshfields advised Malaysia Airlines on the restructuring of MAB Leasing, the airline’s main aircraft leasing entity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic’s massive drop in international travel.
  • Mastercard: Mastercard turned to Freshfields’ competition litigation team when it faced a potential consumer class action brought on behalf of over 46 million consumers for claimed damages in excess of £14 billion.
  • London Olympics: as the official legal services provider of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, over 200 lawyers from Freshfields advised the Olympic organising committee on the project, from bid to final execution.

Offices / global footprint / expansion

Headquarters: London, 100 Bishopsgate.

Offices: Freshfields has 30 offices around the world, in jurisdictions including in Paris, Tokyo and New York, as well as its newly opened office in Silicon Valley.

Insights, internships and other opportunities

Freshfields offers a variety of opportunities for students wishing to understand more about the firm and the work of a lawyer. These include workshops, in which the firm offers an inside look into Freshfields; vacation schemes, in which candidates get the opportunity to spend two to three weeks in a Freshfields office; and the training contract itself, open to all prospective applicants regardless of background.

2025 marks the beginning of the firm’s first solicitor apprenticeship cohort.  

Training contract

Freshfields offers a unique eight-seat training contract, with each seat spanning three months (but the option to extend certain seats to six months). Trainees as part of this program must take at least one seat in dispute resolution and two seats in global transactions, with further options including antitrust, real estate, and technology. On the scheme, trainees will be able to access mentoring and coaching from their assigned ‘trainee intake partner,’ alongside their main and secondary supervisor on each seat.

The firm also offers a ‘London-Asia’ training contract, which enables successful applicants (who must be native in an Asian language and fluent in English) to split their training between London and Hong Kong.

Secondments

Trainees can apply for a secondment during the final six months of their training contract. Secondments are available at one of the firm’s international offices (including Silicon Valley, New York, Hong Kong and Dubai) or at one of the firm’s clients (including the Bank of England, Goldman Sachs or at one of the firm’s pro bono clients). 

Technology and innovation

Freshfields is committed to utilising technology to provide clients with flexible and innovative legal services, with related initiatives including:

  • Freshfields Lab: the launch of in-house legal-tech development studio ‘Freshfields Lab’, which works with clients to create bespoke technological solutions. For this work, the firm has recently been named ‘3rd Most Innovative Law Firm’ as part of the Financial Times’ ‘Innovative Lawyer Awards.’
  • Freshfields Hub: alongside the Freshfields Lab, the Freshfields Hub offers the chance for Freshfields’ lawyers, support staff, and technologists to come together to design tailored, agile solutions to meet the needs of clients.
  • Kira: Freshfields has recently renewed its partnership with software developer Kira Systems, to develop AI backed systems for reviewing contracts for clients involved in complex cases.

Corporate social responsibility

Providing free of charge advice for charities is a major part of Freshfields’ working culture, with lawyers contributing 85,000 hours of pro bono work in 2023. This work has included:

  • Establishing an emergency corona clinic in a refugee camp near Bangladeshi’s Cox’s Bazar, alongside Save the Children International.
  • Helping to win a landmark decision against Jamaican anti-LGBTQ+ laws, working with the Human Dignity Trust.
  • Supporting the swift processing of visa applications from Afghans and Iraqis facing reprisal for helping US forces, in partnership with the International Refugee Assistance Project.

Diversity and inclusion

In accordance with the firm’s values - ‘belong, engage, excel’ - Freshfields promotes a variety of initiatives designed to foster and support diversity and inclusion. To give a few examples:

  • New senior partner Georgia Dawson has set a series of ambitious diversity targets, including a commitment to ensure that 40% of the partnership is made up of female partners by 2026.
  • The implementation of a ‘reverse mentoring scheme’, which involves pairing senior staff with junior lawyers from diverse backgrounds in order to ensure leaders understand those lawyers’ perspectives, insights and experiences.
  • The Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship Scheme, which was launched to address the disproportionate under-representation in large commercial law firms and other City institutions of black men from less socially mobile backgrounds.
  • A number of inter-firm networks, including: the Black Affinity Network (BAN), the Champions network for LGBTQ+ staff and allies, and Freshfields Enabled for disabled colleagues and champions.