May 25 2022
Flex and Freshfields: Five years later
Case Studies
Jennifer Ofodile
:format(webp)/f/91079/2000x1000/bd746f1026/fbd_logo.png){kind=logo}
Flex Legal and Freshfields Manchester
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is one of the world’s oldest law firms, operating in over 150 countries worldwide. Over decades they have built ties with the leading national advisers in every market so they can support their clients in the best possible way. They are committed to delivering exceptional experiences for both their people and their clients, and this is what makes working with Freshfields unique. The difference is shaped by their three core values: embracing challenge; promoting collaboration; and redefining excellence.The legal industry is undergoing rapid, transformative change so despite this legacy, they are constantly taking steps to reinvent themselves and redesign the way legal professionals work. The Freshfields Client Delivery Group is their response: the latest legal technology combined with industry-leading solution driven expertise and people. The Hub's Manchester location sits as a strategic part of the firm's Client Delivery Group.
Over the five years since the opening of the Freshfields Manchester office we’ve continued to work closely with Freshfields’ Manchester Hub - placing 120+ candidates over many projects. This has ranged from document review requests to business development support. Most recently, the team have approached Flex on the lookout for French and Spanish speaking paralegals to support on various language-specific doc review and disclosure projects. On the back of this success, we’ve been delighted to also work with both Freshfields’ London and New York based legal teams on a huge array of projects, including a recent request for a paralegal to provide CRM support to their New York Office.
“This placement was my first experience of working at a UK law firm. Obtaining this opportunity in my second year of university has significantly contributed to my development, not only on a professional level, but on a personal one too.”
Alexandra, Flex Paralegal at Freshfields
What does document review work at Freshfields look like?
It can’t be denied that the doc review work our paralegals carry out at Freshfields is fast-paced, and sometimes challenging, with thousands of documents requiring review over several weeks.Despite this, it’s crucial that this work is still of the highest quality, and our paralegals get the valuable opportunity to work very closely with the Hub leaders, alongside a team of other Flex Legal candidates.
The nature of the work means that these projects are perfect for entry-level candidates, who possess a great attention to detail and have previous experience of reviewing documents using e-Discovery software.
International case support
But our paralegals haven’t just been on hand to provide document review support. In March 2020, Freshfields were quick to get in touch with Flex when they needed a temporary Arabic-speaking paralegal, who could work with colleagues in different regions.Again, we were keen to rise to the challenge and after conducting a thorough search of our online platform, found the perfect candidate in Fulwah Alhamed, an LLM student at the University of Liverpool.
Fulwah fitted into the role incredibly well, where he was required to translate an array of legal documents from Arabic to English. He worked very closely with Freshfields’ Middle Eastern team, and as a result, was happy to work Sunday to Thursday to mirror their working patterns.
When we had a chat with Fulwah about his placement, he was happy to give glowing feedback without any hesitation:
“During my time at Freshfields Manchester, I have been exposed to all kinds of legal work from mergers to contracts, and it was an environment where I was constantly pushed to reach my full potential. I was exposed to both English and Arabic work, and I learnt so much from my time there. All the members of my team were lovely and welcoming, I was never afraid to ask any questions if I had any, and I've built so many wonderful friendships.”
“Fulwah was an invaluable resource to Freshfields.”
Sophie-Elise Adams, Operations Executive at Freshfields
How Giana secured a permanent role at Freshfields
When Giana Narciso first came to Flex Legal in 2021, after graduating from the University of Manchester with a first class degree in LLB Law, we were thrilled to find her an interim placement as a Legal Solutions Specialist at Freshfields Manchester. Since then, she’s performed fantastically well during her placement, to the point that Freshfields agreed to take her on permanently based on her hard work, exceptional skill, and vibrant personality.We’re incredibly impressed by Giana’s amazing attitude and work ethic, so much so that we put her forward as our ‘Paralegal Spotlight’ for January. We feel really proud to have such impressive paralegals on our platform and wish her every success in her future legal career.
You can watch Giana talk all about her experience of working at Freshfields through Flex in our Paralegal Spotlight video here!
This is just a taster of the interim support we’ve provided for Freshfields, and we really hope to continue this fantastic relationship for many years to come.
Additional Resources:
- Hire now - want to take on some top quality interim legal professionals like Alexandra, Fulwah and Giana? Then check out our ‘hire’ page today!
- Apply to be a Flex Paralegal/Lawyer - If you want to open yourself up to a world of exciting interim legal work opportunities, then click here to read why you should apply to work through Flex Legal.
- Kraft Heinz Case Study - read all about how we helped Kraft Heinz to hire flexible, quality candidates during peak workloads and meet their internal targets.