Gillian Fairfield

Title: Partner
Division: Corporate
Location:  London

After reading Russian at Edinburgh I studied at the College of Law in York.  I joined Herbert Smith from Freshfields in September 2004. At my interview, one of the partners interviewing me mentioned that Herbert Smith has high retention rates, so I thought that if so many associates wanted to stay on, it must be a place worth joining.

In terms of career highlights to date, clearly making partner was one.  Also, working on the QinetiQ IPO was interesting and the subject of a lot of media attention – it was both exciting and nerve-wracking to turn on the radio over breakfast and hear the deal being dissected on the Today programme.

The majority of the work we do in corporate has an international dimension. I have worked on deals involving jurisdictions from Hong Kong to New York, and have been involved in presentations to clients in Russia Recently much of my work has involved Scandinavian countries.

In terms of the office culture, we take diversity seriously, and it shows through in the working atmosphere.  There is no notion of one person fitting in and another person not.   Also, we are fairly egalitarian: when I first moved here, I was struck by the fact that everyone was prepared to speak out in meetings and even junior associates views are sought and will count. 

I've appreciated the breadth of experience I've gained from my time here – I've worked on some important deals, with some great people.  The social side of things has been a bonus – our group ski trips for example are always good fun.