The Work
Associates in New York initially join either the transactional or the dispute resolution side of the business. Associates in DC join either the antitrust, litigation or tax group.
New York dispute resolution juniors usually work in both litigation and arbitration for two to three years, then specialize in one. Each group has an assigning partner to distribute work to associates, though arbitration work tends to come direct from partners, juniors reported. But one said: “Sometimes you’re caught between competing projects, which can be difficult to manage.” Inevitably, work coordination in this young practice is still evolving.
However, they praised the amount of substantive work available. One said: “Although I’ve done doc review, I’m increasingly getting opportunities to write witness statements and sections of pleadings for arbitrations, and my level of client contact is exceptional.” Sources did comment that the still-new “litigation department is growing faster than the support system.” However, the firm emphasized that this is something they are working to improve. The litigation practice specializes in civil and complex commercial litigation – especially white-collar crime and government investigations. In 2010, Chambers USA ranked the firm in New York for the first time in this category, while the firm maintains a top spot for international arbitration.
Transactional associates are immediately assigned to a subgroup, usually the corporate or finance group. Corporate associates often work for multinational clients on global M&A matters: “Fairly substantive stuff,” in one associate’s words. “Everyone has to do grunt work, but the partners are good at giving you responsibility. I was liaising with clients in my first months.” The group recently introduced a work allocation system allowing associates to enter predicted workloads, so partners see who has availability. However, “you also do a bit of knocking on doors.”
The finance group “is small, so all the partners know me by name,” an associate revealed. “I get work from partners that I gel with and it’s uncanny how well that system works. I haven’t just been doing box-checking.” Another said, "I’ve done lots of drafting, editing and talking to clients. As it’s a small office, first years end up doing more.”
The few antitrust associates in DC enter their expected availability into a centralized system. “Then, as projects come in, partners come and ask you to help,” sources explained. There’s also usually a weekly meeting where they can talk directly to partners and express interest in certain projects.
Training & Development
Aside from organizing CLE credit seminars, Freshfields doesn’t yet have a formal training program and expects associates to pick things up quickly on the job. According to interviewees, “you do need to be proactive and figure things out for yourself, use midlevel and junior associates as resources, and ask partners for help.”
They were happy with this. One claimed: “As there’s little hierarchy in my group, I’m very comfortable approaching partners to ask for advice. They’re invested in guiding us along.” Associates don’t usually have a formal partner mentor, but generally “you end up working better with certain people, who take you under their wing.” However, an associate did caution that though “everyone’s approachable, it can be difficult to determine when is right to disturb them.”
Associates pointed out that the corporate group’s weekly meetings are “framed as training sessions,” while the international arbitration group discusses developing cases and areas of law in its weekly video-con lunch. At some point in their first two years, juniors attend a soft skills training program abroad. This focuses on personal development, and discusses topics like teamwork and opportunities for international networking.
Associates receive annual reviews. In general, though, assessment is “more of an ongoing thing – people tell you if you need to do something differently.”
Offices
In summer 2011 the firm was due to move to the top of the old Citigroup building, one of the tallest in New York, and with a distinctive slanted roof. The building’s three blocks from the old office, in mid-town Manhattan near Central Park, and interviewees were expecting views that were “just a little bit better than we have now.” The move will provide Freshfields with much-needed space for its growing team and, although they didn't know any details about the new office, associates said they were “excited to get a new space.”
The DC office is in a “really pleasant area” between the White House and the Capitol, with offices looking out on Pennsylvania Avenue, the FTC or the DOJ buildings, “in the heart of where law is made” and “near tons of restaurants and bars” and Chinatown. One associate enthused: “It’s hard not to be inspired and invigorated just by mere proximity to all that greatness!” Associates here each get their own office.
Freshfields also gives some juniors the opportunity to spend time in offices overseas. This is offered on a case-by-case basis and is according to business needs.
Culture
Freshfields is a “friendly,” “collegial” and “non-hierarchical” place, associates felt. “It’s much smaller than most of the other firms in New York, so we have smaller teams and it’s pretty informal,” a second year explained. “I feel comfortable going to most partners.” A first year agreed: “None of them have a reputation for being temperamental, or that you have to look out for them.”
Associates praised their colleagues. “It’s a place where I’d never dread being stuck in an elevator with anyone,” one enthused.
However, “most people go about their social lives outside the firm and many have family obligations, although groups do go for drinks once in a while.” Most firm-organized events take place in the summer. Highlights include a trip to a Yankees game and a sunset sailboat ride down the Hudson River, which is “relaxing on a warm summer day, although one year we got caught in a storm and all looked like drowned rats by the time we got off the boat.”
In DC, “we celebrate birthdays monthly by eating homemade cakes. We also have happy hours and a softball team that plays by the Lincoln memorial,” one revealed.
Some expressed concern that this culture wouldn’t survive the firm’s expansion. “Although there’s still an effort to have firmwide events, we’re seeing more group events.” But US managing partner Julian Pritchard insists “our firm here has always had a unique culture founded on mutual respect, collegiality, teamwork and excellence, and these principles are equally applicable as our firm grows.”
Hours & Compensation
Freshfields doesn’t have formal billing targets – there “isn’t really a culture of ‘you need to bill a certain number of hours'. You’re given an assignment to do and are expected to get it done, but there’s no face-time requirement,” sources reported. However, one added: “I imagine I’d hear from someone if I was not working hard enough.”
Associates’ hours can vary dramatically. A corporate associate said: “I work 80-hour and 40-hour weeks and everything in between.” A litigator agreed: “It ebbs and flows – when you’re approaching a filing date you can work 18-20 hour days, and during hearings it’s 20-plus hour days. It’s really brutal. But when it’s not, you could easily have 8-9 hour days.”
Associates can take up to 26 days’ holiday – a benefit of working for a British-based firm. Do associates actually use this allowance? “Partners do encourage us to take holiday when we’re done with filing,” said one litigator. “They’re accommodating and make sure that another associate can cover your work.” However, another associate cautioned: “Certain partners are more willing to let you take vacation than others.”
Freshfields’ US practice has been doing “incredibly well” throughout the economic downturn, and so the firm didn’t freeze juniors’ salaries in 2009. First-years receive $160,000 and second years $170,000. Bonuses are lockstep and in recent years have matched Cravath – in 2010 second years received $7,500. The firm also gave spring bonuses in 2011, starting at $2,500 for first years.
Pro Bono
Freshfields “absolutely supports” associates by letting them count pro bono hours as billable – the exact number of which is decided on a case-by-case basis. In New York, the pro bono partner organizes meetings and sends out details of new opportunities. While DC associates have traditionally been less involved in pro bono, the office is currently “ramping up the pro bono program,” organizing meetings and “getting folks to think about how we can make an impact.”
Highlights have included political asylum cases, claims on behalf of prisoners, and charitable organization work abroad.
The firm also runs a legal outreach project each summer, inviting six high school students from underserved communities to come to the office for four days. The students participate in mooting, give presentations, conduct corporate negotiations and receive mentoring from current associates.
Diversity
“There’s a management focus on being an international, diverse firm,” associates reported. A New Yorker said: “There are people here from all over the world.” In DC, too, “there are often people going down the hall speaking in all sorts of languages.” However, they also reflected that “racially, it’s not super-diverse.” Racial diversity is something “all firms should be continually improving on and our firm is no exception,” human resources partner Jerome Ranawake tells us. The firm has a diversity committee and participates in the NBLSA Career Fair to encourage diversity among applicants.
Associates felt that Freshfields’“male to female ratio is really good,” and one female associate commented: “I don’t feel like it’s a man’s world or a frat.” Freshfields is also "really good with maternity," allowing new mothers to take off three months on full pay and three months on half pay.
Get Hired
Freshfields conducts OCIs in 16 law schools, including Yale, NYU, Georgetown, Chicago and Albany.
“Freshfields isn’t your traditional, conservative, white shoe firm, although we have a blue-chip client base. Instead, there is a dynamism to our practice, which is driven by the growth we are seeing,” explains human resources partner Jerome Ranawake. “We have traditionally done well with people who have had, or want, broader professional or cultural experience.” Speaking a foreign language is “helpful, but absolutely not a prerequisite,” he adds.
Freshfields’ summer program is unusual, as summers can choose to spend two weeks in the London or Hong Kong office. Most spend at least two weeks of the summer in an international office. “This is a great feature, as you can’t understand the firm unless you have seen a couple of our offices,” Ranawake explains.
Strategy & Future
The firm has “had a very good recruiting year in 2010,” US managing partner Julian Pritchard tells us. “In part this is because people see that the work they’ll be doing has an additional layer of interest because of the international nature of our firm and because of our client base. It is also because we’ve expanded our litigation practice and so it’s become easier to attract associates who haven’t yet decided what areas to specialize in." In the coming years, "we’ll continue to grow our US practice, both through some lateral hiring and by promoting internal candidates,” he added.
“We are one of the few firms growing dramatically at partner level – it’s important for associates to see there’s no glass ceiling. Associates here have slightly different opportunities to those in other firms – they can be more entrepreneurial, as they’re helping to build a business, which is rare for a firm with such an established global client base.”