JOB DESCRIPTION

About Herbert Smith Freehills

As one of the world’s leading law firms, we advise many of the largest and most ambitious organisations across all major regions of the globe. With over 5,000 people, including 3,100 lawyers and over 2,000 business services professionals, operating from our global network of offices across Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North America, Herbert Smith Freehills is at the heart of the new global business landscape providing premium quality, full-service legal advice.

We recognise that the success of our business and our clients relies on the skills, knowledge and ideas of all our people. Our environment is one in which high performance is expected, in return, we will provide you with rewards and opportunities tailored to your personal and professional goals.

The Opportunity

About Digital Legal Delivery

Digital adaption is presenting businesses with efficiencies and opportunities at pace – Herbert Smith Freehills is no different. Continuing to support our clients with this rapid change, we have created a team of the best analytical legal minds with investments in cutting-edge technology and technologists in our Digital Legal Delivery (Digital) practice.

Bringing together legal, project management, process design and technology expertise, our Digital group supports businesses who need invention from their legal advisors. Leveraging experience to map the intersections where people and tech deliver results, this team supports businesses undergoing their own digitisation projects and those who seek disentanglement from the manual and inefficient processes in the delivery of legal services. Experienced at delivering large and complex legal services, we are experts in the delivery of data-intensive mandates. 

Imagining possibilities, HSF’s Digital Legal Delivery practice is implementing the best technology solutions today, while horizon scanning and experimenting with emerging technologies to understand their practical applications.

Legal

In Legal, we help shape how the firm delivers legal matters to clients. We have longstanding experience in thinking differently about law, and we are at the forefront of making legal services more efficient – particularly at scale.

We have a deep knowledge across a broad range of sectors, and a wealth of experience in delivering large and complex mandates. We are specialists in contract management, document review, volume claims and remediation, and due diligence.

Working collaboratively with colleagues from across the firm, we use our expertise in law, process design and technology to deliver solutions for our clients. Underpinned by our legal project management capability, we organise our collective effort as efficiently and seamlessly as possible.

This ensures consistent delivery throughout and enables our clients to achieve efficiencies across their operations.

Legal Technology

In Legal Technology, we deploy the firm’s established technology efficiently and reliably across a range of client matters and projects.

We combine our expertise in document automation, custom development, eDiscovery and data analytics and client reporting – to work collaboratively across the firm on disputes, transactions and projects.

Digital Change

In Digital Change, we innovate, invest and push our firm’s boundaries when it comes to new uses of legal technology.

We experiment with technology and pilot tools to understand them deeply: their potential challenges and benefits, and how they can be used in our day-to-day work to provide better solutions for clients.

And we ensure we have the right internal governance when it comes to making decisions, so we can minimise risk, maximise our opportunities and provide consistency for our stakeholders.

Advisory

In Advisory, we bring deep expertise in legal operations and emerging technologies, working across any sector, alongside our teams or directly with clients.

We are trusted advisers to our clients on new ways of working as we scan the horizon, together.

Vacation Scheme

The 4 weeks will start in June 2025 and in your first seat you’ll get feedback to take with you and work on in your second seat. You’ll also be set written pieces of work by your supervisors in each of the two seats, which will be assessed. At the end of the scheme, we will look at your performance across the scheme before making our offers for permanent graduate opportunities in the Belfast office, such as Trainee Solicitor positions to start in September 2026 and Legal Analyst roles if they are available.

As a leading international law firm, we look for high performing Law students who show a real affinity for the Law and a desire to be part of and contribute to a firm that is a global leader in commercial legal excellence. Diverse interests and experiences, a commitment to the core values of the legal profession and a desire to be part of a global team are all essential attributes.

At the time of application you must:

Be a penultimate year or final year Law student or LLM student with a Law degree, or a Graduate with a qualifying Law degree (including PGDL); Evidence consistent 2:1s throughout your degree, but we do take mitigating circumstances into account; Demonstrate an ability to review, analyse and organise documentary and factual evidence; Have excellent organisational and communication skills; Show an eye for detail, aiming to get it right first time; and Be committed to delivering excellent client service through understanding the client context, building relationships, and taking a commercial approach.

Please note if you have previously made an application in the last six months and completed a technical test, you will not be eligible to re-apply at this time. This is a full-time paid opportunity.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Complete Application by closing date 12pm Friday 13th December 2024 On-line Psychometric Test - within 7 days after submitting your application Technical Test – January 2025 Technical Assessment – February 2025 Assessment Centre – April 2025

COMPETENCIES

1. Personal leadership

2. Technical capability

3. Contributes to team and firm

4. Supports the delivery of outcomes

5. Enhances the client experience

6. Contributes to building the firm

The closing date for applications is 12:00pm (GMT) on Friday 13th December 2024 

Team

Human Resources

Working Pattern

Full time

Location

Belfast

Contract type

Fixed Term Contract

Diversity & Inclusion

At Herbert Smith Freehills you will be part of a diverse, innovative culture where high performance, client focus and highly engaged people are our differentiator. People at our firm come from a range of backgrounds and bring a wide variety of experiences and perspectives to their work with us. We strive to ensure that our inclusive environment means you feel valued and able to perform at your best by being your authentic self at work. We know that our future success not only depends on being innovative and progressive in the changing legal market but, most importantly, on our people feeling highly engaged in meaningful work.

We understand that you have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to create a working environment based on mutual trust and respect, in which you can perform at your best whilst maintaining sustainable balance across your life.