When I started at Freshfields in 2014, I thought a law firm was a stuffy, traditional employer. Nevertheless, I wanted to take the opportunity to gain my first professional experience in a large, international firm with a great reputation. After a short time, I realised that the people at Freshfields are anything but boring and stuffy. From an HR development perspective, it’s an immense pleasure to work with smart people who are inquisitive and always strive to be excellent at what they do, and do so with joy, collegiality – and usually a good sense of humour. As an innovation-driven company, the demands on the Learning & Development department are very dynamic and so my job profile has changed several times in the last few years, giving me the opportunity to grow professionally and personally. What started out as organising training events has now evolved into a responsible business partnering role in which I take on the needs of our business units’ day-to-day business and develop demand-oriented concepts together with the global L&D team. But my job does not take place behind a desk alone. In addition to this conceptual component, my tasks include delivering training sessions on a wide range of topics, in front of small and large groups, virtually and in person, in German and English. The close cooperation with colleagues from all over the world is always enriching, and a reason why I still enjoy going to work after many years.

I have been supporting the team in Hamburg as an assistant in real estate law since December 2017. After my studies, a recruitment agency drew my attention to Freshfields. My tasks as a legal assistant include the independent and autonomous organization of the secretary’s office, the preparation of complex project invoices and travel planning for the lawyers. In addition, formatting and revising documents in MS Word, MS PowerPoint and MS Excel are some of my tasks. The in-house IT programmes support my daily work in the office. The language skills which I had previously learned, especially English, are of particular benefit to me. The projects in which my team and I are involved are often international in nature, so telephone and email correspondence is required. My work as a legal assistant requires a high degree of initiative, commitment and responsibility. Freshfields values these skills and qualities in an employee, and encourages them through different workshops and courses. These events not only serve the purpose of further training, but also lead to the creation and consolidation of a cooperative working environment across all locations. This creates a great working atmosphere which enables productive, structured and goal-oriented work.

The decision to centralize accounting for all the German locations within the Frankfurt office was what led me to Freshfields in 2003. At the time, it was through a traditional job ad in a large daily newspaper that I found the job. Coming from a completely different industry, I found it hard to imagine what it would be like to work in an international law firm. However, it soon became clear that this was a challenging and varied job which has never become boring even after all these years. My current tasks as Senior Accountant include the correct posting of incoming invoices as well as e-invoicing administration and supplier onboarding. Project work and various organizational tasks also fall within my area of responsibility. There is no standing still, in fact quite the opposite. We are always working on optimizing processes such as electronic invoicing. The aim of this is to provide clients, suppliers and, of course, our colleagues with the best possible support. Professional as well as personal training is a matter of course, and mini-secondments, in my case, a stay in our Vienna office, offer me a great opportunity to gain insights into other areas and/or locations and thus promote cooperation on a global level. Our annual Group Finance Conference, when we meet up outside the Parktower, is another small highlight. There are interesting presentations, for example, about the current state of cases, which we would normally have relatively little contact. After the birth of my son in 2005, I didn’t know whether I would be able to resume my work at Freshfields due to the distance from where I lived. But there too, I was offered a great opportunity to combine both work and family. At the time, this type of opportunity was not as common as it is today, and since then, it’s great to see how popular it has become. I really appreciate this good mixture of everything. I still enjoy working in my Accounts Payable team, and very friendly interactions with the other Group Finance areas is great.

I have always been fascinated by the world of law firms. It was Freshfields that caught my eye when I started looking around after my studies as a translator and interpreter. Even during the interview, I realized that I wanted to work for Freshfields. I liked the people, the office and the atmosphere so much that I gladly accepted Freshfields’ offer to join the Office Managing Partner as Partner Assistant. That was back in 2000. After several years in that position, Freshfields gave me the opportunity to continue working for the firm on a more flexible basis during my maternity leave which I had requested. After my return from maternity leave, I worked in the secretary’s office as a job hopper in various areas, and I enjoyed this very much. During this time, I got an insight into other areas, acquired new knowledge and had the opportunity to meet new colleagues and lawyers. I have been working again as a Personal Assistant at Freshfields since 2010 and have a variety of different responsibilities. In addition to the usual administrative tasks, I’m the first point of contact and trusted person in general matters. I organize events and take care of scheduling and travel management. I really enjoy working for Freshfields and I have been a part of the law firm for many years now, because here you are surrounded by lovely, helpful and open colleagues, and we treat each other with mutual respect. I am allowed to work independently and can arrange my working hours flexibly. This is a tremendous advantage for me as a mother. And last but not least, the office is located at Potsdamer Platz in the heart of Berlin, which means for example, I can do my shopping during my lunch break.

As Head of Administration in Berlin, I have a very varied and responsible field of work. In addition to classical personnel and finance management, I am responsible for our office building, higher-level event planning and large and small projects at this location. I started my employment with Deringer as a secretary in 1996. In 2000, I changed my role when I was appointed Head of Berlin Administration. It was more by chance that I became aware of Freshfields (which, at the time, was still known as Deringer). I was in England at the time looking for a position in Germany. Since I only had one application folder left, I circled the job vacancies in a newspaper with my finger, and, lo and behold, the choice fell on Freshfields. When I began working for Freshfields in 1996, the office in Berlin was quite small and only had 13 employees. At the time, we, the secretaries, often stepped in as receptionists or helped with the catering service. As the size of the office increased, so did the tasks and, as a result, I was promoted to Head of Administration. What is particularly exciting about my job is that, in the morning, you don’t know what the day will bring. This makes my tasks challenging and diverse. The things I really appreciate about my job is that I am in contact with many different and interesting people from all over the world. Every day anew, I can demonstrate my creativity and solution-oriented thinking. I act both as mentor and coach and, every day, it’s fun to be able to lead such a fantastic team that has the same goals as I do. In addition, things never stand still here. Through the various further education opportunities at Freshfields, I am able to develop both professionally and personally.

I first heard about Freshfields as a global player among major law firms when I was a student. As time went on, I gained more and more information about the work of the “major law firms” and their relevance to the economy. Even then, I found the idea of working for Freshfields interesting although I had no idea about the individual tasks or even the position that I could have taken up. Fortunately, in 2018, I was given the chance to work at Freshfields and happily accepted. Since then, I have been working in the Dispute Resolution or Conflict Resolution department as a Personal Assistant. My job is to support and relieve our team of lawyers of all administrative and organizational tasks, so that they can concentrate entirely on their clients. I am extremely satisfied with my decision to work here, but I already knew that this would be the case before I started, as it is one of the few law firms to offer its applicants the opportunity of a taster day. This gave me the chance to get to know my team and the tasks at hand and, of course, it gave me a better basis for making my decision. I was very fortunate to be able to start working in a super team in a great company. We work together, laugh a lot and have fun. I can honestly say that I really enjoy coming to work in the morning.

I work in financial law, especially in structured finance, and assist two partners and one associate. My job includes co-ordinating and organising appointments, meetings and business trips. I’m also responsible for preparing documents/contracts as well as PowerPoint presentations, Excel overviews etc. However, my biggest area of responsibility is managing the invoice portfolios of both partners. I support the team in organising new cases, monitoring the figures and invoicing. These tasks can often be very complex as I need to be aware of all the contracts, agreements and case procedures. Logical thinking and a lot of number crunching is all part of this. Due to the international nature of the firm, English correspondence and telephone calls with colleagues and clients in many different countries are part of my daily routine and make my work interesting every day. I started at Freshfields in the summer of 2000. At the time, I was looking for a job in the late shift because my children were still small and this meant that I couldn’t go to work during the day. A recommendation drew my attention to Freshfields and the possibility of joining the team of evening secretaries. I did this for five years in all. In 2005, I switched to daytime business and to my current team. The fact that I have worked closely with both partners for so many years shows that I am very satisfied both in this team and with my work. Our collaborative effort has always been based on mutual trust. What I value most about my team is that I am able and allowed to work independently and that my achievements are always appreciated and acknowledged. Our office also does a lot for the employees in Business Services in general. I myself have already attended some very interesting and instructive seminars for personal development and also in-house English courses. I also joined our Manchester office in England in spring 2019 as part of an exchange programme. This was an exciting mini-secondment that allowed me to get to know colleagues and their work in another office and also to improve my English skills.