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Herbert Smith Freehills

This Month

15 years of drift: Why global law firms can’t make it in Australia

UK and US law firms are battling for market share on either side of the Atlantic. But expansion has proven much more difficult in Australia.

March

Guzman y Gomez was the ASX’s largest IPO in 2024.

Don’t worry about Trump’s tariffs, IPOs are coming: Freehills

The law firm’s annual temperature check of equity capital markets says this year could top the $1.1 billion raised across big-ticket IPOs last year.

New partners Hai-Dang Nguyen, Richard Horton, Olena Brodovska, Brent Henderson, Campbell Davidson, and David Starkoff.

‘David and Goliath’ firm nabs six partners from global outfit

Piper Alderman has hired six partners from Squire Patton Boggs, as the international legal market in Australia undergoes another shift.

Atlanta-headquartered King & Spalding has more than 1,300 lawyers in 24 offices globally.

US law firm King & Spalding readies Australian assault

Street Talk understands the Atlanta-headquartered multinational is exploring opening an Australian beachhead.

February

Lawyers are clocking up serious billables for tech founders.

Tech bros share the riches (with their lawyers)

Lawyers are cashing in on the legal scandals rocking the start-up world, but it’s tougher for those footing the bill on the other side to the founders.

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December 2024

HFS partners Raji Azzam and Kam Jamshidi.

PE deal makers tipped to “get creative” in 2025 as exits mount

The payday isn’t as big for the equity capital markets bankers, a backdoor listing lacking the hoopla of an IPO. But whatever works to get things moving.

Carlyle country head Geoff Hutchinson.has finished up the year with a bang.

Bigwig lenders line up to bankroll Carlyle’s big waste services buy

Confidential documents seen by Street Talk show the Nasdaq-listed asset manager has secured a covenant-lite unitranche loan.

People lay flowers at the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea on Sunday.

HSF in damage control after M&A partner’s ‘deeply offensive’ tweet

Herbert Smith Freehills has started an internal investigation after a tweet directed at Jeremy Leibler.

Law Partnership Survey

Explore: Law Partnership Survey results for second-half of 2024

The latest results show law firms continue to perform strongly, boosted by big-ticket deals, litigation assignments, and the steady flow of fees from insolvencies and disputes.

KWM’s Renae Lattey, MinterEllison’s Virginia Briggs and HSF’s Kristin Stammer.

It was a boom year for law firms. But signs of a slowdown have emerged

Law firms held their gains in the second half of 2024, but some leaders are wary of rising pressures on price and profit margins.

Chris Ellison, now-outgoing Mineral Resources managing director.

MinRes senior lawyers reach for the lifeboat

A second lawyer has left MinRes to help the company’s board within a board investigate Chris Ellison’s misdeeds.

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GDP misses forecasts; Chaos in South Korea; Forrest’s female fund

Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.

Herbert Smith Freehills partner Tony Damian.

29 years is enough! Herbert Smith Freehills’ Tony Damian jumps ship

Damian’s expected to join Ashurst on a $7.5 million salary package, in what rivals say is the price law firms are increasingly having to cough up to secure marquee partners. 

November 2024

Chris Ellison addresses the AGM.

Chris Ellison and MinRes choose the path of most avoidance

For the Mineral Resources founder, as well as its chairman, James McClements, temporary embarrassment is a price worth paying.

Herbert Smith Freehills’ global chair Rebecca Maslen-Stannage said the firm had been focused on finding a partner for the last few years.

What does the Freehills merger mean for lawyers?

Herbert Smith Freehills’ UK lawyers will be celebrating the announcement of its US merger plans, but the benefits for Australian partners are less obvious.

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Herbert Smith Freehills’ local chief executive, Kristin Stammer, says the merger will allow the firm access to global talent and deals.

Herbert Smith Freehills proposes merger with US firm

The top-tier firm’s last big change was when it merged with London’s Herbert Smith in 2012. Its rivals are also looking for American partners amid intense competition.

MinRes chief financial officer and company secretary Mark Wilson, and managing director Chris Ellison.

The MinRes CFO is the $10m man

CFO and company secretary Mark Wilson’s 2024 pay package at MinRes made him the second-highest paid executive at the troubled company.

Law firms are increasingly completing investigations themselves, rather than engaging external counsel.

The law firms trawling through corporate scandals

Demand for law firm-led investigations has grown but concerns remain about their independence and probative value.

October 2024

Why the $5m lawyer is no longer a rarity at top Aussie firms

Top law firms are forking out more than $5 million a year to poach or protect big-billing market leaders from rivals, amid intense industry competition.

Mineral Resources chief Chris Ellison in 2016.

MinRes’ Chris Ellison goes MIA in France

The managing director’s out of the country, while his company’s investigation into him continues to evolve.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/company/herbert-smith-freehills-1ng6