Herbert Smith Freehills

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Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
Herbert Smith Freehills logo.svg
Headquarters London, England
Sydney, Australia
No. of offices26 (2020) [1]
No. of lawyers2,600 (2024) [2]
No. of employeesc.5,000 (2024) [3]
Key peopleJustin D'Agostino (CEO); Rebecca Maslen-Stannage (Senior Partner)
RevenueIncrease2.svg £1.306 billion (2023/24) [4]
Profit per equity partnerIncrease2.svg £1.315 million (2023/24) [4]
Date foundedHerbert Smith (1882) & Freehills (1852) (2012 by merger)
Founder Herbert Smith
Freehills
Company type Limited liability partnership (Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)
Partnership (Herbert Smith Freehills)
Website herbertsmithfreehills.com

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is a global law firm [5] with headquarters in London, England and Sydney, Australia. HSF has been widely acknowledged as one of the world's most elite and selective law firms, [6] [7] [8] and, as of 2024, was the 33rd largest by revenue. It was formed on 1 October 2012 by a merger between the United Kingdom-based Herbert Smith founded in 1882, then a member of the Silver Circle of leading UK law firms, and Freehills founded in 1852, one of the Big Six Australian law firms.

Contents

Herbert Smith Freehills has achieved particular recognition in dispute resolution, former Herbert Smith partner F.A. Mann having played a pivotal role in transforming London litigation. [7] [6] [8] As of 2024, HSF retains the most UK-listed clients of all law firms, representing 116 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. [9] It also advises the highest number of FTSE 100 clients in United Kingdom Court of Appeal cases. [10]

According to GlobalData, as of 2023 Herbert Smith Freehills secured the most Asia Pacific (APAC) M&A mandates by deal value, being "among the only two advisers to surpass $20bn in total deal value during Q1-Q3 2023”. [11]

As of 2024, Herbert Smith Freehills had the highest litigation revenue in the UK of any law firm at £314.6m, significantly higher than Freshfields and Quinn Emmanuel both with revenues of c. £197m. [12]

Herbert Smith Freehills is consistently called upon for some of the highest value and most complex litigation. In 2022, Herbert Smith Freehills was the law firm with the highest average claim value in the High Court and has maintained its position within the top three firms every year since. [13]

Herbert Smith Freehills announced its merger with U.S. law firm Kramer Levin effective 1 May 2025. The new firm will be known as Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, abbreviated as HSF Kramer in the U.S. [14]

Herbert Smith Freehills has had a longstanding relationship with London's National Portrait Gallery since 2004, supporting numerous exhibitions and major projects such as the Gallery's reopening in June 2023 and sponsoring its exhibition, the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award.

Herbert Smith Freehills is a member of the Earthshot Prize Global Alliance along with Arup, Bloomberg L.P., Deloitte, Hitachi, the INGKA Group, Microsoft, MultiChoice, Natura & Co, Safaricom, Salesforce, Unilever, Vodacom, Walmart, and British Airways.

History

Prior to merger

Herbert Smith

Herbert Smith (known as Norman Herbert Smith until 1903) was established by Norman Herbert Smith in 1882. Norman Herbert Smith was descended from Sir William ap Thomas on his father's side and William the Conqueror through his mother's family. [15] Norman Herbert Smith first opened an office at Nicholas House, 12/13 Nicholas Lane, a short distance from the Bank of England.

Norman Herbert Smith was highly influential in launching the career of Lord Atkin, remembered for giving the leading judgement in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson, who himself noted that "Smith continued to be my client throughout the whole of my time as a barrister and in the first years almost my only one." [16]

Herbert Smith's specialisation in the early 20th century was in company flotations and advice to mining companies. Later its work expanded to litigation, mergers, and equity matters. Herbert Smith was instructed on the flotation of British Power & Light Corporation Limited and advised on the merger of Columbia Graphophone Company with the Gramophone Company (which sold records under the His Master's Voice label) to form EMI. [17]

The famed Herbert Smith partner, F.A. Mann, played a pivotal role in transforming the legal profession in England, where litigation was traditionally managed by clerks and barristers. He was instrumental in establishing London solicitors as leading experts in international litigation.

Its strong relationship with US law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore led to Time Warner instructing Herbert Smith for its £220bn acquisition of America Online (AOL) – the largest merger of all time. [18] In 2011, revenues were £465 million and profits-per-equity-partner (PEP) were £900,000. [19]

Herbert Smith had a European partnership with the German firm Gleiss Lutz and the Benelux firm Stibbe until 2011. A plan to merge with those firms did not go ahead. [20]

At the time of its merger with Freehills, Herbert Smith had around 240 partners, 1,300 lawyers, with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. [21]

2012 Freehills merger

Freehills was an Australia-based commercial law firm that operated in the Asia Pacific region. In Australia, it was one of the Australian Big Six law firms.

The firm traced its history back to the practices of Clarke & Moule in Melbourne (1853), Stephen Henry Parker in Perth (1868), Bernard Austin Freehill in Sydney (1871), and John Nicholson in Perth (1896). [22] Predecessors of the firm are notable for having adopted open employment policies, hiring Catholics and Jews when many other firms would not. They are also notable for becoming the first major Australian law firm to appoint a female partner, and forming the first national law partnership in Australia. [22] [23] [24]

At the time of its merger with Herbert Smith, Freehills had 190 partners and 800 lawyers. It had four offices in Australia's capital cities, and an office in Singapore. It had associations with various firms across Asia, many of which continue to this day.

Post-merger

Herbert Smith Freehills resulted from the merger, in October 2012, of the two firms. [25] The merger involved an immediate financial integration of the firms in a single partnership and profit pool, an unusual structure for these kinds of mergers. [26] The merger was complicated by differing remuneration structures across the firms; with Herbert Smith practicing a lockstep compensation system, while Freehills practised a merit-based compensation system. Freehills also had a greater number of equity partners. [27]

After merging, the firm began practice in Germany. [27] In September 2012 it opened an office in New York City, focused on international dispute resolution work. A South Korean office was opened in Seoul in April 2013. [28] The combined firm also nearly doubled its total number of international secondees in its first year of operations. [29] In November 2015, Herbert Smith Freehills announced the opening of its third office in Germany, Düsseldorf, headed by Clifford Chance's former head of litigation and arbitration practice. [30]

In February 2022, the Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills taxation practice was sold to PwC. [31]

2025 Merger with Kramer Levin

In November 2024, Herbert Smith Freehills announced that it would merge with U.S.-based Kramer Levin to form one of the top-20 global law firms by headcount. The new firm will be known as Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, abbreviated as HSF Kramer in the U.S., with 25 offices across the UK, Europe, the United States, and Asia. [14] The merger is scheduled to complete 1 May 2025. [32]

Offices

As of September 2020, HSF has 26 offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. [33] [34] The Seoul and Tokyo offices are staffed by Commonwealth lawyers and do not practice local law. [29] The Tokyo office relies upon a referral arrangement with Japan's Big four law firms to avoid competing with them for local legal work, and due to difficulties with hiring Japanese attorneys. [35]

Controversies

Anti-Semitic Tweet

Following the firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Damien Hazard, an Australia corporate lawyer who has been a partner with HSF for 12 years tweeted "Never too soon for Jeremy Leibler to just invent a link with anti-genocide protests". The tweet was deleted and HSF chair and senior partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage apologized for it. [36] [37] Maslen-Strange said "We were shocked to learn on Friday evening of this deeply offensive post, and very sorry that it was written. These comments could not be more at odds with our firm’s respectful and inclusive culture.” She confirmed that the post was “removed the same evening”, and said “We are treating this matter with the seriousness it deserves.” [38]

Notable clients and Cases

HSF has assisted numerous notable clients over its years as a firm, some famous, some infamous. Some examples include:

Sergey Podoprigorov

Herbert Smith Freehills helped Sergey Podoprigorov, a judge in the Russian Federation who sentenced Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent journalist, author, filmmaker, human rights activist and political prisoner that received an extremely harsh prison sentence in Russia in 2023 after publicly criticizing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. HSF prepared an appeal asking the United States Department of the Treasury to remove Podoprigorov from the "Magnitsky list" of corrupt Russian officials responsible for persecution of people fighting against corruption and repression in the country. [39]

Sir Alan Sugar

Herbert Smith Freehills advised Sir Alan Sugar in relation to his dispute with Terry Venables over the English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur.

Hotel Chocolat

Herbert Smith Freehills advised UK chocolatier Hotel Chocolat on its £534m takeover by US food giant Mars Inc. in 2023. [40]

Financial Conduct Authority

Herbert Smith Freehills successfully secured a landmark victory for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a High Court case that clarifies whether businesses were entitled to compensation for Covid-19-related disruptions under their insurance policies. The ruling dealt a significant blow to insurers, potentially triggering payouts for tens of thousands of businesses with business interruption claims. [41]

Google

Aercap Ireland Limited

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs in a US$1.2 billion claim brought by the Libyan Investment Authority in relation to a series of leveraged derivatives transactions, featuring allegations of undue influence and unconscionable bargain.

The Post Office

Herbert Smith Freehills has received a lot of criticism in the UK media about its role working for the Post Office throughout the British Post Office scandal. [45]

Iveco and Fiat Chyrsler

Iveco and Fiat Chrysler as coordinating and UK competition litigation counsel in relation to follow-on damages claims stemming from the European Commission's settlement decision in Trucks.

Chemist Warehouse

Chemist Warehouse on its merger with Sigma Healthcare to create Australia's largest pharmacy group.

Government of South Korea

The Government of South Korea on the first investment treaty arbitration under the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (Jin Hae Seo v. Republic of Korea).

BHP

Other

Associates and alumni

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