INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE CAREERS IN LAW SEARCH HSF GRADUATES ABOVE AND BEYOND BE A PART OF EVERYTHING CONTENTS THE INS AND OUTS Everything you need to know about us 04 A warm welcome 06 A few facts 08 Practice areas and industries 10 Working around the globe 12 Headlining trophy deals 14 Shaping the law 16 Pro bono and citizenship 18 A rich and diverse culture 20 Being rewarded for your efforts TODAY AND TOMORROW Becoming a brilliant lawyer 24 Your journey 26 G etting to know our firm in your first year 30 Vacation schemes 32 Your training contract 34 The skills and experience you will gain FIND OUT MORE Meet the people you’ll work with 38 John Mathew 40 Flora Blackett-Ord 42 Michael Barron 44 Hafsa Zayyan 46 Alex Francis ONWARDS AND UPWARDS Making your application 50 Just who are you looking for? 52 Some dates for your diary 02 THE INS AND OUTS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT US 03 T H E IN S A N D O U T S 04 THE INS AND OUTS S T U O D N A WARM A S N E I WELCOME H T We talk to our three graduate recruitment partners about what life at Herbert Smith Freehills is really like. RUPERT LEWIS Could you briefly describe your role at Herbert – we’re looking for people with real strength of Smith Freehills? character and the ambition to achieve. Mark: I’m a partner in our corporate division. What excites you about coming to work? I deal with a mixture of public and private mergers Veronica: That I never quite know what my day and acquisitions. is going to be like! Even if I’ve got an idea of what Rupert: I’m a dispute resolution partner specialising I want to achieve, by the end of the day I’ll have in banking litigation. As well as a graduate ended up dealing with a new challenge, or even a recruitment partner, of course. new case. My area of law is constantly changing Veronica: As well as taking care of graduate and it’s really fun when something totally new recruitment, I’m a competition partner, comes across my desk. specialising in UK and EU competition law. I joined Mark: I love working on big, high-profile Herbert Smith Freehills as a trainee after studying transactions. It’s very exciting to see the relevance European Law at Warwick University. of the work you’re doing in the newspapers or on the 10 o’clock news. What makes Herbert Smith Freehills different to other law firms? Rupert: That’s easy. It’s the people and the work. Veronica: Probably the fact that we work The people are clever, energetic, ambitious, in genuine teams. Even when we’re working creative and diverse and the quality of the work is across countries there’s always a real sense of second to none. The kind of disputes I deal with on camaraderie and everyone knows that the work a day-to-day basis are the sort of disputes most they’re doing is valued. solicitors would count themselves lucky to be Mark: I’d say the culture of the place. We’re involved with once or twice in their career. very open, very friendly and we give you a lot of What’s the most exciting thing the firm has freedom to choose your own development path worked on in the last year? and shape your own career. Our strength in depth Rupert: I was fortunate enough to represent across a whole variety of different fields means Bernie Ecclestone in the defence of a large civil you can discover what you’re passionate about claim in the English High Court and to support and specialise in it. his defence of criminal proceedings in Germany Rupert: We rate individuality and diversity arising out of the sale of shares in Formula 1. It was extremely highly. We’re not looking for clones a complex, high-profile and challenging matter – the kind of case any litigator would relish. HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS 05 T H E IN S A N D O U T S VERONICA ROBERTS MARK BARDELL Veronica: The acquisition of O2 by Three. Mark: You should choose Herbert Smith Freehills It genuinely involved every area of the firm, for yourself. It’s a great place to fulfil your including our offices in Madrid and Hong Kong. own ambitions, better yourself and challenge My team is dealing with the competition aspects yourself. It’s somewhere you can be everything of the transaction. you want to be. Mark: Sky selling SkyBET to the private equity Rupert: I’ve been at the firm for 16 years and, fund CVC – it involved an innovative and complex because of the people and the work, I still look combination and structure, which was challenging forward to coming into the office each and every and exciting, as well as very topical given all the day. I can’t think of a better reason than that. recent changes in the gaming industry. If you could offer one piece of advice to What made you choose Herbert Smith Freehills? graduates, what would it be? Veronica: The interview process was really Veronica: Make sure you choose the law firm two-way. The partners were interested in what I where you feel most comfortable. could bring to the firm and I was interested in how Rupert: The more you put in, the more you’ll get I could contribute. out – and that applies to your application, your Mark: I particularly liked the people who were assessment centre and your training contract. interviewing me – both are still partners at the It sounds clichéd, but it’s true. firm. I’ve made lifelong friends here over the last Mark: Be responsible for your own decisions. 15 years and I expect to continue to do so. Try things out, see what interests you and decide Rupert: The people who interviewed me were what you want. Then, take ownership of your smart, funny and self-effacing – it was a winning future and do what you need to do to get there. combination. If you had to describe Herbert Smith Freehills in Why should graduates choose Herbert three words, what would they be? Smith Freehills? Veronica: Ambitious, international and Veronica: As well as a really excellent training approachable. programme, we give graduates the individual Mark: Exciting, ambitious, personal. support they need to develop and grow. Rupert: Ambitious, global and diverse. 06 THE INS AND OUTS S T U O D N A S N E I H T WE’RE HOME TO THREE QCS AND MANY OF OUR LAWYERS HAVE OBTAINED SOLICITOR ADVOCATE STATUS THROUGH OUR INTERNAL HIGHER RIGHTS PROGRAMME WE OFFER 20 INTERNATIONAL SECONDMENTS EVERY SIX MONTHS WE WORK ON THE HIGHEST-PROFILE, BIGGEST AND MOST COMPLEX CROSS-BORDER DEALS TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE IS ONE THING, BUT YOU’RE ENCOURAGED TO GET TO KNOW CLIENTS AND DELIVER COMMERCIALLY ASTUTE ADVICE WE OFFER 16 CLIENT SECONDMENTS EVERY SIX MONTHS HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS 07 T H E IN S A N D O U T YOU’LL WORK ON THE S MOST CHALLENGING DISPUTES, TRANSACTIONS AND PROJECTS WE DO MORE FOR OUR CLIENTS YOU CAN BUILD YOUR TRAINING CONTRACT AS YOU PROGRESS WE’RE NUMBER ONE FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE UK, ASIA AND AUSTRALIA WE HAVE A VARIED TRAINING CONTRACT WITH CONTENTIOUS AND NON-CONTENTIOUS SEATS 08 THE INS AND OUTS S T U O D N PRACTICE AREAS A S N AND INDUSTRIES E I H T As a full service firm, our work is incredibly varied. And thanks to the quality of our global network, we work with some of the biggest international organisations on some of their most ambitious projects. As well as our global corporate and dispute resolution groups, our other high-performing practice areas are: OUR PRACTICE AREAS THE INDUSTRIES WE OPERATE IN Asset management and investment funds Agribusiness Capital markets Construction and engineering Competition, regulation and trade Consumer products Compliance and regulatory Energy Crisis management Financial buyers Employment, pensions and incentives Financial services Environment, planning and communities Government and public sector Finance Infrastructure and transport Intellectual property Leisure and sport Mergers and acquisitions Manufacturing and industrials Projects and infrastructure Mining Real estate Pharmaceuticals and healthcare Restructuring, turnaround and insolvency Professional, support and business services Tax Real estate Technology, media and telecommunications Wealth and asset management