Who we are - our structure and culture


Herbert Smith Freehills

We’re proud of our culture. It’s supportive and it’s non-hierarchical. We appreciate new perspectives and value the diverse backgrounds of our people. So no matter what your field of expertise, you can be sure that your contribution will be valued.

It’s an environment that will give you the skills you need to achieve your potential. A place where your perspective, ideas and experiences will make a real difference.

OUR STRUCTURE

Takeovers and mergers. Arbitration and litigation. Finance and real estate. As a full service firm, our work is incredibly varied. Thanks to the quality of our global network and world-class Business Services professionals, we work with some of the biggest international organisations on some of their most ambitious projects.

We’re organised along six global divisions – corporate; dispute resolution; finance, real estate and projects; employment, pensions and incentives; competition, regulation and trade and Alternative Legal Services.

We pull together bespoke teams of experts from across our global network to draw on the right experience and expertise regardless of location. Our multidisciplinary and sector-based approach allows us to deliver value by focussing on the critical issues for our clients.

A DYNAMIC AND DIVERSE CULTURE

Diversity and inclusion is a key part of our culture and we celebrate the uniqueness of our people. Wherever you join us, you’ll find talented people with different views, experiences and backgrounds. This breadth of experience and insight adds new dimensions to how we tackle client challenges, drive innovation and attract the best talent.

DIVERSITY NETWORKS

We’re home to a wide variety of employee-led diversity networks. These provide firm-wide and client networking opportunities, key note speaker events and seminars. Our networks include Women Lawyers, Women in Business Services, HSF Ability, Family, LGBT, and Multiculturalism, which celebrates diverse ethnicity, religion, faith and culture.

CREATING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE

We aim to increase the number of women in our global partnership to 30%. We were one of the first law firms to commit to global gender targets publicly, and we’re making progress to deliver a greater gender balance in our global leadership team by 2019.

RECOGNITION

We’re immensely proud to be recognised for our work and our culture on a regular basis. We won the Australasian Lawyer JLT Health & Wellbeing award 2015 for work/life balance, and in 2016 we ranked as the top graduate employer in The Australian’s law category for the second consecutive year.

Our commitment to equality has seen us awarded a number of accolades as well. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has noted that we are one of the only four law firms in Australia to have developed a diversity & inclusion KPI to assess our executive group against, and we were delighted to achieve Silver Tier Employer status in the 2015 Australian Workplace Equality Index, ranking amongst the top 20 Australian employers for LGBTI inclusiveness.

PRO BONO AND CITIZENSHIP

As a law firm, we believe that everyone should have equal access to justice and opportunity.

Access to justice means that everyone in our society should be able to access legal advice and representation, to protect their rights and maximise their opportunities. Access to opportunity means that everyone in our society should be able to access education and employment pathways, and enjoy a sense of social inclusion and support.

We’re committed to using our expertise, resources and leadership to ensure that equal access to justice and opportunity is a reality through our pro bono and community programs.

  • The four areas of focus for our program are Homelessness, Reconciliation, Disability & Health, and Global Rule of Law.
  • Last year HSF Australia did over 38,000 hours of pro bono legal work, an average of 42.7 hours per FTE lawyer. This is a contribution to the community of around AUD$11 million dollars of legal assistance.
  • We provide pro bono legal advice to marginalised individuals and not for profit organisations, especially those working with disadvantaged people. In addition to casework, we provide systemic advocacy to challenge inequities in society, take on clients through legal clinics, for example the Homeless Law Clinic, Melbourne, and Roma House, Brisbane, and send our lawyers on secondments to Sussex Street Community Law Services, Inner Melbourne Community Legal, the Shopfront Youth Legal Centre and the Kingsford Legal Centre in Sydney.
  • Some of our major projects have operated for over 21 years. For example, the Shopfront Youth Legal Centre, was established in Sydney in 1993 and provides legal assistance to homeless young people. Herbert Smith Freehills provides 4 lawyers and 3 administration staff for the Shopfront.
  • Each year the firm donates AUD$1,000,000 to our focus areas of need. These donations include matching staff contributions through our Workplace Giving Scheme and staff are supported in their own fundraising activities.
  • Staff volunteer in a diverse range of ways including 6 week skills sharing secondments in remote Indigenous communities with Jawun, supervising law students with CareerTrackers Indigenous Internship Program, providing business skills workshops to Yalari students, assisting young people who live at the Youngcare apartments, cooking meals for families at Ronald McDonald House, social excursions with Clontarf Aboriginal College, making breakfast for children with Brotherhood of St Laurence and social mentoring of youth at risk with the Come In Youth Resource Centre.
  • Herbert Smith Freehills launched its ‘Elevate’ RAP in May 2015 – this is the highest level of endorsement from Reconciliation Australia.