Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Frequently Asked Questions

HSF Kramer is a combination of three legacy firms: Herbert Smith, Freehills, and Kramer Levin. 

Herbert Smith was founded in 1882 as one of the leading London law firms; Freehills was founded in 1852 and established itself as one of the Big Six Australian law firms; and Kramer Levin was a New York-headquartered firm founded in the 1960s.

Herbert Smith and Freehills merged in 2012 to create Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), one of the world’s leading disputes and transactions firms. In June 2025, HSF merged with Kramer Levin, creating Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer. 

The two legacy firms merged in June 2025, creating a transatlantic and transpacific disputes and transactions powerhouse with 2,700 lawyers across 26 global offices.

HSF Kramer is the merged entity combining leading legacy firms Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin. 

Kramer Levin is the legacy firm that combined with Herbert Smith Freehills to create HSF Kramer. 

Kramer Levin and Herbert Smith Freehills merged to create a global law firm that is in every major market, growth hub and sector around the world. The combination created a platform for growth in the US, and the complementary practices gave us unrivalled global scale in disputes and transactions. 

As a truly global law firm, no single office acts as our headquarters. Our footprint spans the US, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. 

We have 26 offices around the globe, giving us a deep footprint across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and our Herbert Smith Freehills Kewei Joint Operation in mainland China.

We have offices in:

• Australia
• Belgium
• China (including in association with Kewei Law Firm)
• France
• Germany
• Indonesia (in association with Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung)
• Italy
• Japan
• Luxembourg
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore (in association with Prolegis LLC)
• South Africa
• Spain
• Thailand
• UK
• United Arab Emirates
• US 

We have 2,700 lawyers and over 650 partners globally. 

Yes, we are one of the world's largest law firms and have 26 offices around the globe and a presence in major markets and sectors where our clients operate.

We are a full-service global law firm with unrivalled scale in disputes and transactions. Our energy and infrastructure sector teams are ranked Tier 1 in major directories.

We are well known for our blend of transactions and disputes work, with market-leading M&A, litigation and arbitration teams. Our class actions and group litigation defence practice is widely considered among the best in the world. We are also well known for our top-tier energy and infrastructure practice. 

We have top-tier sector teams in energy and infrastructure around the world, as well as leading practices focused on:

• Banks
• Consumer
• Mining
• Pharmaceuticals 
• Real estate
• Technology, media and telecommunications 

We act for leading companies listed on ASX, CAC 40, FTSE, DAX, SEHK and NYSE across their most complex disputes and transactions. Our energy practice advises companies of all shapes and sizes at different phases of their lifecycle while our private capital practice acts for some of the world’s leading private equity houses, investment funds, asset managers and sovereign wealth funds. We also regularly advise government entities, start-ups, and emerging companies.

We are widely recognised for our global practices with 17 Band 1 rankings in Chambers, including Band 1 for Dispute Resolution globally (Chambers Global Guide 2025); Band 1 for International Arbitration APAC (Chambers Global Guide 2025); and Band 1 for M&A in APAC (Chambers Global Guide 2025). 

We are led by Global CEO Justin D'Agostino who chairs the Global Executive, which manages the business of the firm on behalf of the Global Council.

The Global Council is chaired by Senior Partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage, and is an elected body that acts much like a board in a public company. 

We became a fully integrated global law firm on day one of the merger between legacy Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin, with a combined single global profit pool. Our teams work seamlessly and collaboratively across borders to offer clarity and insight on the most complex cross-border disputes and transactions. 

We have a long history of using technology and digital products in delivering services to clients. This includes our multi-disciplinary Digital Legal Delivery group; the team led by our Global Chief AI Officer; our adoption of Legora as a general-purpose AI platform; and the selected use of Harvey AI and AI litigation tool Cicero in our services. 

We engage in some of the most important challenges in the world today. As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, we work with clients and wider society to respond to the needs that exist in the communities in which we do business, and lead by example to make a positive impact. Our Leading for impact initiatives focus on four key areas of impact: Pro bono legal, inclusion, social impact and sustainability.

Yes, our trainee associate programme is an opportunity to shape a career that is meaningful to trainees and our clients. Over two years, trainees take on meaningful responsibility, rotate around four leading practice areas, and gain experience that prepares them for a career in law. Visit our careers site for more information. 

Our culture and values rest on three core pillars:

Human: we are genuine relationship builders, collaborative and seamlessly connected across borders and teams. We embrace difference and value the insight brought by diverse perspectives.

Bold: we are ambitious, proud of our past and excited about our future. Our people are entrepreneurial, embrace innovation, and are not afraid of doing things differently.

Outstanding: we strive to be leaders in all that we do. We know individual and collective growth and success are shared responsibilities, and our services are made exceptional by our ethical, solutions-focused approach.

Our global careers site details the opportunities available at HSF Kramer.

You can also contact a member of our recruitment team in your region for more information.

Our official website is https://www.hsfkramer.com

Journalists can verify information about us by visiting our website or contacting our media team.