Herbert Smith LLP was a multinational

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

headquartered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and merged with the Australian law firm

Freehills Freehills was a commercial law firm operating in the Asia Pacific region. It was one of the Big Six Australian law firms. In 2012 it merged with Herbert Smith to become Herbert Smith Freehills. History The firm's predecessors include the prac ...

on 1 October 2012, forming

Herbert Smith Freehills Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP (HSFK) is a global law firm with headquarters in London, England and Sydney, Australia. As of 2024, the firm was the 33rd largest by revenue. It was formed on 1 October 2012 by a merger between the United Kin ...

. At the time of the merger it had 13 offices across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

,Herbert Smith LLP - a leading and full-service international legal practice - Locations
/ref> around 240 partners and 1,300 fee-earners. It was regarded as forming part of the " Silver Circle" of leading British law firms.

History

Herbert Smith was founded by

Norman Herbert Smith Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

in 1882. Edward Walker-Arnott took over as senior partner in 1992. In 2000 Herbert Smith formed an alliance with German law firm

Gleiss Lutz Gleiss Lutz Hootz Hirsch, frequently referred to as Gleiss Lutz, is a business law firm headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of Germany's largest law firms, with eight offices worldwide in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, ...

. Herbert Smith, Gleiss Lutz and the Dutch law firm Stibbe formed a tripartite alliance in 2002. In April 2009 Herbert Smith opened an office in Madrid, Spain after recruiting three partners from

Linklaters Linklaters LLP is a British multinational law firm, headquartered in London. Founded in 1838, it is one of the four ' Magic Circle' law firms known for their corporate and financial expertise. It currently employs about 3,100 lawyers in 31 of ...

. In 2009, Herbert Smith had total revenues of £444 million and profits per equity partner (PEP) of £845,000. In 2010, the firm's revenues were £450 million and PEP was £862,000. In November 2010 Herbert Smith announced that it would be opening an office in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to perform litigation due diligence tasks. In November 2011 partners at Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe voted against a merger with Herbert Smith. The alliance between Herbert Smith, Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe subsequently ended on 31 December 2011. In February 2012, Herbert Smith entered merger discussion with the Australian law firm

. Partners at both firms voted in favour of the merger in June 2012.

Practice

After specialising in company flotations and advising mining companies in the early part of the 20th century, by the time of its merger with Freehills, Herbert Smith's practice was dominated by

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

and

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

work ( M&A and

equity capital markets Equity capital markets (ECM) are markets where equity capital is raised, bought and sold by investors and speculators. The major types of equity capital are unlisted equity, listed equity and hybrids, each are traded in different ways. The marke ...

in particular), with other practices including

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

, real estate,

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

, and

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

References

External links

Herbert Smith profile at TheLawyer.comHerbert Smith profile in the ''Chambers Student Guide''
{{Legal services in the United Kingdom Law firms based in London Defunct law firms of the United Kingdom Law firms established in 1882 1882 establishments in England Law firms disestablished in 2012 2012 disestablishments in the United Kingdom