Career Prospects at Herbert Smith Freehills

During a 6 month graduate rotation, we get regular check-ins with the Partner, Senior Associate, and a solicitor. This allows us to receive feedback, set areas of improvement/growth, and clarifies requirements for meeting/exceeding expectations for our role.

Career progressions and development readily available.

This question is not applicable to me as I'm not yet at the stage of my career where progression opportunities are available.

There is always an opportunity to move up at HSF, s long as you're working hard and showing initiative. Working at a top tier firm like HSF really provides you with the foundations to succeed at HSF and beyond.

Lots of opportunities for growth and HSF looks great on a resume.

There are so many opportunities

My impression is that moving upwards takes longer than at smaller firms, for a number of reasons. Making partner at a firm like HSF is a long journey and there is always competition. But the firm is supportive along the way. Even though it seems like a challenge, there are certainly opportunities and moving upwards never seems like an impossible task.

Not quite as transparent - you can become a Senior Associate after 5 years (from my understanding). We have a framework of skills and capabilities which we can aim for in each stage of our career to measure good performance.

I am unsure of this process.

There are not many opportunities at my level, since I am a rotation graduate, but once we have settled, there is a yearly review to increase salary and consider if there are openings and if you would fit. It takes dedication to move up the ranks, show that one is willing to promote the firm and the firm will promote you.

Standard top tier rank structure. 5 years minimum to Senior Associate level. 10+ Years to Partner level.

I am a bit unsure on this so far. The firm provides great guidance documents setting out the types of competencies we need to be demonstrating at each stage. I think it would be good to have a more practical sense of what these competencies look like and whether there are any paths to expedite the process. My understanding is that SA generally takes about 5 years, while partner takes about 12 years. In saying that, there now seems to be the additional step of special counsel or executive counsel. My overall impression is that if you are enthusiastic and hardworking, this will be reflected in terms of career progression.