What's going on at Freshfields? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Not OP, not a Freshfields attorney, and not on the recruiting team. But my friend was deciding between an offer between Cravath and Freshfields (I wasn't lucky enough to get a Freshfields offer and had to slum it at DPW), and he ultimately chose Freshfields because Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is one of the largest and most prestigious international law firms in the world, headquartered in London.[3] Tracing its roots back to the 18th century, it is also among the world's oldest

[ConfusedNYer]

Ugh I cannot stand these stupid shilling trolls, who cares if the firm is "old" or "European."

What matters is that it sounds like a grocery store, which is frankly very impressive - this is why Kirkland and Freshfields are the V2 and every other firm is staffed by rubes.

Edit: people already made this grocery store joke but I was too lazy to check. Whatever.

[Anonymous User]

Not OP, but I am an associate at Freshfields. I chose to work here because they pay US associates in GBP and that means I make more money than my peers at other firms.

[Anonymous User]

Also not OP, and I don't work at Freshfields, but I hear that like other international law firms, we have offices in many capital cities, and we have busy, sometimes long, working days. We serve demanding clients, with needs in every possible corner of the world.

Big or small, commercial or institutional, what our clients all have in common is the sheer ambition and complexity of what they want to achieve. Put simply, they hire Freshfields when it matters most.

A career at Freshfields carries a few promises. You will not be bored. You will face problems you haven’t seen before. You’ll meet interesting and friendly people, and you’ll always work in teams. Teamwork calls for a genuine interest in other people and acceptances of differences. It also means an exceptional willingness to pitch in to get the job done.

The country sites below provide access to current opportunities in those countries or regions as well as access to information about life at Freshfields, our people and the work we do.

You say you don’t work at freshfields but then you say “we” and “our” when talking about it. My only conclusion is that we are all part of freshfields, regardless of which firm we actually work at. Freshfields represents the best of each of us

[Anonymous User]

Not at Freshfields but I know from a friend there that all associates at freshfields willingly and happily pay their secretaries holiday bonuses equal to 100 times class year; no stiffing and/or whining about it on tls

[Anonymous User]

Not OP. But I was opposite Freshfields recently. I climaxed metronomically upon opening each redline. Their emails oozed quality and I too oozed upon receipt. Conference calls left me at once enlightened and rigid.

[Anonymous User]

Not OP. But I was opposite Freshfields recently. I climaxed metronomically upon opening each redline. Their emails oozed quality and I too oozed upon receipt. Conference calls left me at once enlightened and rigid.

Not OP, but I am this anon's stiff sock (or toss pot, as we say here in the UK), and I can confirm everything this anon says is true

[Anonymous User]

Honestly, I liked FF at OCI and preferenced them number one. I guess I wasn’t a good fit because after the callback I got dinged and ended up having to choose between Cravath and Skadden. I even put in a lateral app to FF in my second year but they never responded.

[Wanderingdrock]

Also not OP, and I don't work at Freshfields, but I hear that like other international law firms, we have offices in many capital cities, and we have busy, sometimes long, working days. We serve demanding clients, with needs in every possible corner of the world.

Big or small, commercial or institutional, what our clients all have in common is the sheer ambition and complexity of what they want to achieve. Put simply, they hire Freshfields when it matters most.

A career at Freshfields carries a few promises. You will not be bored. You will face problems you haven’t seen before. You’ll meet interesting and friendly people, and you’ll always work in teams. Teamwork calls for a genuine interest in other people and acceptances of differences. It also means an exceptional willingness to pitch in to get the job done.

The country sites below provide access to current opportunities in those countries or regions as well as access to information about life at Freshfields, our people and the work we do.

You say you don’t work at freshfields but then you say “we” and “our” when talking about it. My only conclusion is that we are all part of freshfields, regardless of which firm we actually work at. Freshfields represents the best of each of us

The true friends we made were the Freshfields along the way.

(...But in case you're still confused, I would urge you to Google the text.)

[Prudent_Jurist]

What’s a Freshfields? Is it some New Yorker fetish?

[Anonymous User]

What’s a Freshfields? Is it some New Yorker fetish?

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer? I hardly know her!

[lawlo]

Also not OP, but it’s people who make our firm. Whatever your background, whether you think differently, laterally, logically or practically, we look for talented people, driven by excellence. As a firm we believe collaboration makes us stronger, and so we want team players too. All we ask is that you share the values that make us Freshfields, wherever we are in the world: respecting and being open with each other, supporting one another, and being positive role models. We’re international but very much one firm. We share our expertise to ensure the best outcome for our clients. We’re connected globally, working in cross-border, cross-functional teams, giving you the chance to experience new cultures, places and ideas.

At Freshfields, we value difference and it’s our diversity that powers us. We’re absolutely committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone achieves their potential. We want everyone to feel they can belong, engage and excel. We still have more to do, and we work closely with external partners to support our goals. We’ve a wide range of initiatives and objectives across disability, gender, LGBTQ+, mental health and wellbeing, race and ethnicity, and social mobility. We’re proud of our extensive pro bono work too, because we believe everyone deserves justice and opportunity. Wherever you work, you’ll have the chance to get involved.

Challenge. At Freshfields, we thrive on it. Challenging ideas, challenging you, challenging ourselves. We want you to be a part of our journey. Don’t think, “I’ll do it tomorrow”. Do it today. Challenge today.

Lmao!!!!!

[Anonymous User]

You're laughing. Some marketer worked hard writing that, and you're laughing.

[ChairmanKaga]

My jaw literally dropped when I realised that the comments here weren't made up, but in fact came directly from Freshfields: https://www.freshfields.com/en-gb/careers/

[Anonymous User]

"All we ask is that you share the values that make us Freshfields . . . . At Freshfields, we value difference and it’s our diversity that powers us."

just incredible stuff

[AntipodeanPhil]

I have a genuine question. The OP described FreshFields as "winning all these mandates." FreshFields website and recruiting language also makes references to "mandates" at various points. What are "mandates" in this context? I've been in biglaw 7 years now and have no clue. Is it a British term?

[BrowsingTLS]

What I want to know, is does Freshfields have collegiality? Unlike all those other nasty biglaw firms where people yell and stuff. I like that word, collegial. It means something.

I'm an associate at a firm other than Freshfields, but I know for a fact that Freshfields embodies collegiality.

You might not know this, but even though Freshfields began as a scrappy upstart among a sea of established “white shoe” law firms in New York, it has always had the collegiality of a mom-and-pops, California law firm. Mr. Freshfields, the first partner to lend his name to the firm’s letterhead as it appears today, joined in 1959. Then, as now, he would be the first to greet you as you walked into the office and the last of hundreds to tell you how important friendship and your presence (all of ours) is to our culture.

Our first two decades were marked by a warm and welcoming growth of our collegial environment as we worked to establish ourselves as the go-to firm for our clients’ most complex legal problems. In the nearly three decades since, we’ve built on that warmth to provide a colleagial atmosphere not just in our hallways, but to clients around the world on their most important matters. Our collegiality reflects the ideals of our history, and we remain committed to providing excellent lawyering and unrivaled client service in all our work.

[anymouseqwerty]

My jaw literally dropped when I realised that the comments here weren't made up, but in fact came directly from Freshfields: https://www.freshfields.com/en-gb/careers/

"Challenge. At Freshfields, we thrive on it. Challenging ideas, challenging you, challenging ourselves. We want you to be a part of our journey. Don’t think, “I’ll do it tomorrow”. Do it today. Challenge today."

Whaaat. I thought this ^^^ was just a great troll.

I feel like I'm buying an athletic shoe or joining a gym.

[Anonymous User]

Not OP, but I am an associate at Freshfields. I chose to work here because they pay US associates in GBP and that means I make more money than my peers at other firms.

Wait what? Is this true?

[Anonymous User]

Not OP, but I am an associate at Freshfields. I chose to work here because they pay US associates in GBP and that means I make more money than my peers at other firms.

Wait what? Is this true?

I’m not OP, but can confirm that this is true. Other great advantages of working at Freshfields in New York include the fellow in a plaid cap who runs around bringing every associate a cup of tea with warm milk and a copy of the Financial Times at 10.30 each morning, traditional British pastimes like Soggy Biscuit and screaming insults at soccer games at our gin and tonic sessions every afternoon, and regular visits from Hugh Grant dancing backwards to the Pointer Sisters after giving us rousing speeches. This happens at least once a month, on the dot of 11 am GMT on a Tuesday. The speeches, as you’d expect, cover off what it means to be British - which we all are, since working even a day at Freshfields entitles you to British citizenship and a special Brexit tattoo on your left buttock - and even more importantly, how lucky we are to work at Freshfields.

Hearing Mr Grant speak with such feeling about challenge, collegiality, and the quality of work makes me very glad that I told Wachtell where to stick their low ball USD-denominated offer and ghosted my callbacks with Cravath and DPW. I recommend that you do the same. The Paul Smith socks in the Freshfields pattern that we’re issued several times a year alone make it a no-brainer.

[AntipodeanPhil]

Sounds more like a grocery store than a law firm tbh

All of the big British law firms have something odd about their names. When I hear "Allen & Ovary", all I can think in response is "but Alan's a boy's name." Linkslater sounds like an agreement to go golfing. Slaughter & May is too obvious to need explaining. Still, I guess none of them have anything on Fried Frank.

[Anonymous User]

Sounds more like a grocery store than a law firm tbh

All of the big British law firms have something odd about their names. When I hear "Allen & Ovary", all I can think in response is "but Alan's a boy's name." Linkslater sounds like an agreement to go golfing. Slaughter & May is too obvious to need explaining. Still, I guess none of them have anything on Fried Frank.

I’ve always wondered who’s responsible for putting the laughter into Slaughters.