Doug Smith, London Senior Associate

I joined the firm in the spring of 2003 having been part of the London summer associate program in 2001. That was a fantastic experience: the work I did as a summer associate was intense and demanding but it had an impact on real deals. The pressure of the whole experience was offset by a lot of fun; we went to a cricket match and made more than one trip to that centre of British life: the pub.

More than anything else, the breadth and quality of the work here has defined my time at the firm. Immediately after I joined, I became totally immersed in the Hewlett Packard /Compaq merger. Our role in solving the post-integration legal issues for these two giant businesses was endlessly complicated and fascinating. It involved jurisdictions from the South Pacific to Southern Africa and lawyers of every description. Few, if any, other firms can offer that kind of experience. As markets gathered pace I got involved in high profile IPO work; in fact, almost every deal I’ve been involved in has been “above the fold” on the front page of the Financial Times.

It’s not only the work that makes this place special, though. Freshfields people have a particular quality: most of them have something on their plate other than legal work, whether it’s cultural, sporting or charitable, that gives them an added dimension.