Freshfields at a glance

Our firm

28 offices in 16 countries

Europe

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Berlin
  • Bratislava
  • Brussels
  • Cologne
  • Düsseldorf
  • Frankfurt
  • Hamburg
  • London
  • Madrid
  • Milan
  • Moscow
  • Munich
  • Paris
  • Rome
  • Vienna

USA

  • New York
  • Washington

Asia

  • Beijing
  • Hanoi
  • Ho Chi Minh City
  • Hong Kong
  • Shanghai
  • Tokyo

Middle East*

  • Abu-Dhabi
  • Bahrain
  • Dubai

* Freshfields also works in association with the law firm Fares Al-Hejailan in Riyadh.

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Our people

463 partners & principal consultants; c.2,500 lawyers

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Our work

Clients include

  • AIG
  • AkzoNobel
  • AstraZeneca
  • Bank of England
  • Barclays
  • Citigroup
  • Colgate–Palmolive
  • ConocoPhillips
  • Daily Mail and General Trust
  • Deutsche Bank
  • EMI
  • Formula One
  • General Motors
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Hewlett-Packard
  • HSBC
  • Hutchison Whampoa
  • ITV
  • JPMorgan Cazenove
  • Kingfisher
  • London Stock Exchange
  • LVMH
  • Merrill Lynch
  • Microsoft
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Nokia
  • Prudential
  • Rolls-Royce
  • Royal Bank of Scotland
  • Scottish & Newcastle
  • Siemens
  • Sony Computer Entertainment
  • Tesco
  • Virgin

Recent deals include

Advising Hutchison Telecom on the sale of its stake in Hutchison Essar, India's fourth largest mobile phone operator, to Vodafone for $11.1bn. The deal values Hutchison Essar at approximately $18.8bn, making it the largest foreign investment transaction in India and one of the largest-ever Indian M&A transactions.

Advising Nintendo on the product development and worldwide introduction of the Wii console, in particular on regulatory aspects, data protection, e-commerce, copyright law, contract law and the protection of young people on-line.

Advising the Olympic Delivery Authority in relation to the 2012 London Olympics.

Awards include

Law Firm of the Year
The Lawyer Awards 2008

Law Firm of the Year
Legal Business Awards 2008

International Law Firm of the Year
PLC Which Lawyer? Awards 2008

Competition Law Firm of the Year
Who's Who Legal Awards 2008

Commercial Arbitration Law Firm of the Year
Who's Who Legal Awards 2008

European pro bono award International Financial Law Review 2008

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Our structure

Sector groups

  • Automotive
  • Chemicals
  • Consumer Products & Retail
  • Energy & Natural Resources
  • Family-Owned Businesses
  • Financial Institutions
  • General Industries
  • Healthcare
  • Infrastructure & Transport
  • Leisure
  • Private Equity
  • Real Estate
  • Telecoms, Media & Technology
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Our programme

Training contract

  • 3 or 6 month seats in up to 8 practice areas

Secondments

  • Over 60 international secondments p/a
  • Over 40 client secondments p/a

No of training contracts offered

  • 90-100 p/a

Retention rate

  • Average 93% 2002-2007

Salary

  • £39,000 year 1
  • £44,000 year 2

Benefits include

  • 25 days' holiday
  • Life assurance
  • Health insurance
  • Group personal pension scheme
  • Annual season ticket loan
  • Private medical insurance scheme
  • Staff restaurant
  • Free gym
  • In-house doctor & dentist
  • Subsidised sporting, social & cultural activities
  • £2,000 interest-free advance

Grants

  • GDL fees & maintenance grant
  • LPC fees & maintenance grant
  • PC grant
  • Language grant
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Chris ForsythChris Forsyth's signature

"There’s a sort of institutionally informal culture which supports individuality, yet gets everyone pulling together."

Chris Forsyth

Partner

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