A London-based law firm with roots going back to 1743. It runs a six-year solicitor apprenticeship in London for school leavers.
Freshfields is one of the 'Magic Circle', the nickname for the five biggest and most prestigious law firms headquartered in London. In plain terms, it is a team of lawyers that advises large companies, banks and governments when they do big and complicated things: buying or merging businesses, borrowing money, settling major disputes, or making sure they follow competition rules. Its main areas are banking and finance, capital markets, competition, corporate and M&A (mergers and acquisitions, meaning one company buying or joining another), international arbitration and litigation, private equity, projects and energy, real estate and tax.
The firm traces its roots to 1743, when Samuel Dodd was appointed attorney to the Bank of England, and it treats that year as its foundation. It became known as Freshfields in 1946, named after the Freshfield family who had led it for generations. In 2000 it merged with two German firms to become Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and in 2024 it shortened its name to Freshfields. Its UK headquarters is at 100 Bishopsgate in London, and it now has 33 offices in 17 jurisdictions (Wikipedia). Georgia Dawson became senior partner in 2020. In 2019 it was the first non-US firm to lift newly qualified lawyer pay in the UK to £100,000, later raised to £150,000 in 2024. In 2020 the firm also published a review of its own history that found its founder, James William Freshfield, had links to the Atlantic slave trade.
We did not find a formal mission statement in the sources we read. The early careers page describes its approach as 'ambition is a shared mindset', and says it values community and treating each person as an individual, with an emphasis on training, mentoring and supervision, and wellbeing. These are the firm's own words about itself.
The firm's work is split into practice groups that mirror the list above: for example, lawyers in competition law help companies get big deals approved by regulators, while arbitration lawyers handle disputes between businesses or countries outside the normal courts. Wikipedia describes its clients as corporations, financial institutions and governments but does not name particular clients, so we have not listed any. The firm also supports early careers through partnerships with City Century and MyPlus and sponsors the Future Lawyer of the Year Award, according to its profile on TARGETjobs.
For young people the firm offers several routes (as at 2026). The Solicitor Apprenticeship is a six-year London programme starting in September 2027: you study a law degree (LLB) at BPP University one day a week and work four days a week, rotating through practice groups in the first four years. Pay starts at £28,000 and rises each year, with a £5,000 sign-on bonus, tuition fees covered and 26 days of holiday. Entry is AAB at A-level, seven GCSEs at grade 6 or above including English and maths, and three years of UK residence. Applications run from 2 November 2026 to 28 January 2027. For university students there is a paid summer vacation scheme in London (three weeks, £515 a week; applications 1 September to 30 October 2026, rolling, so it may close early), a Trainee Associate Programme (applications 1 October to 13 November 2026), and a First Years Insight Scheme on 7 and 8 April 2027. Vacation scheme and trainee routes are open to any degree subject.
Website: www.freshfields.com
PURPOSE helps school and university students explore 62 sectors and over 1,000 entry-level careers in the UK, then connects them directly with employers.
Explore PURPOSE