Our guiding principles

Selectivity
London’s leading law firms have approached the need to build a US capability in a variety of ways. Most of our competitors have opted to build a US presence by either merging with existing US firms or opening offices on Wall Street in direct competition with US firms. Others have elected not to build a US team, but rather to rely exclusively on their relationship with US firms.

Herbert Smith has opted for a unique approach. We have built a team of first-rate US attorneys based outside of the US, which focuses solely on cross-border work. This strategy has enabled Herbert Smith to effectively service its clients in Europe and Asia while still maintaining relationships with select leading US law firms.

The success of our practice has demonstrated that a team of fewer well-trained attorneys is equally or more effective than a practice comprised of countless associates whose training goes unmanaged.

Diversity
As a firm, we are committed to a culture of fairness and opportunity, in which individuals from wide-ranging backgrounds can fulfill their potential.

The US practice is committed to the recruitment of attorneys with diverse personalities, backgrounds, points of view, skills and approaches to the practice of law. We believe that diversity significantly enhances our ability to provide the best service to our clients. Also it promotes reciprocity in mentoring relationships - we appreciate that we all have something of value to learn from one another. However, there is one trait that we all share - professionalism. We all take great pride in producing an excellent work product for our clients and doing so in an environment of mutual respect.

The members of the group have significant diverse interests outside the office - family, travel, hobbies. We appreciate the need to keep one’s personal and professional lives in balance. We find that employees that are able to successfully balance these interests have more to contribute in the workplace.

A note about the partnership
We are a lockstep partnership; as such, everyone works to create a single profit pool which is distributed to the partners on the basis of seniority. This results in an atmosphere of collaboration and support.

The partners embrace the exchange of ideas and take an interest in the development of each associate. They are eager for junior attorneys to take the next step and rise to the next challenge. The partners pride themselves on being supportive without over-managing associates. Junior associates are challenged to perform to a high standard by people who support them while also respecting their judgment.