Freehills was a commercial law firm operating in the

Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

region.Dun and Bradstree
Company360
(database online), entry: Freehills Services Pty Ltd. Accessed 13 August 2011 It was known as one of the " Big Six" Australian law firms. In 2012 it formed

Herbert Smith Freehills Herbert Smith Freehills is an international law firm with headquarters in London, United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia. It was formed on 1 October 2012 by a merger between the United Kingdom-based Herbert Smith, then a member of the "Silver Circl ...

after a merger with the UK law firm

Herbert Smith Herbert Smith LLP was a multinational law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and merged with the Australian law firm Freehills on 1 October 2012, forming Herber ...

.Bloomberg (2012)
Herbert Smith To Merge With Freehills, Open In New York
Retrieved 28 June 2012.

Corporate History

The firm's predecessors include the practices Clarke & Moule in Melbourne (1853), Stephen Henry Parker in Perth (1868), Bernard Austin Freehill in Sydney (1871) and John Nicholson (Perth) 1896. The Sydney firm became Freehill Hollingdale & Page in 1947 and began to grow under the direction of partner Brian Page, who took the firm into corporate and commercial practice within Australia and internationally. Page was also notable for his "open" employment policy, hiring Catholics and Jews when many other firms would not. In 1978 Freehill Hollingdale & Page became the first major Australian law firm to appoint a female partner. In 1979 Muir Williams Nicholson & Co, Perth signed an agreement with Freehill Hollingdale & Page, Sydney, to create Australia's first national law partnership. In 2000, the state-based offices of Freehill Hollingdale & Page officially changed their name to Freehills and became a single national legal partnership. In 2012, the firm has over 800 lawyers and over 190 partners.source – Chambers Global http://www.chambersandpartners.com/Global/Firms/5682-46041 Freehills announced in 2012 that it would merge with international law firm

on 1 October 2012, forming a new firm named

with a single global equity partnership.

Operations

Offices

Freehills had Australian offices in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

; and an office in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. It was associated with the firm Soemadipradja & Taher in Indonesia, Frasers Law Company in Vietnam, and TransAsia Lawyers in China. File:Mlc center syd.jpg File:101 collins street melbourne.jpg File:QV1.jpg File:CP1Up.jpg

Pro bono services

Freehills had a

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

program which, under the leadership of the late Keith Steele, saw the establishment of the Shopfront Youth Legal Centre in Kings Cross. The firm seconded solicitors to a number of community legal centres and services including the

Public Interest Law Clearing House The Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) was a not-for-profit legal referral service, operated from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1994, following the model of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. PILCH coordinated ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, the Kingsford Legal Centre.James Eyers, "Man of steel and compassion", ''Australian Financial Review'', 19 June 2009, p 46, via Media Monitors Australia Pty Ltd and factiva.com accessed 14 November 2011.

References

External links

Freehills website
{{Big Six Law firms established in 1852 Law firms of Australia 1852 establishments in Australia 2012 disestablishments in Australia Law firms disestablished in 2012