Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin have officially launched as Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, unveiling a new global executive committee led by legacy HSF CEO Justin D’Agostino.
The team leading the merged firm – which went live yesterday (1 June) – includes London-based real estate partner Jeremy Walden, who has been appointed as executive partner for UK and EMEA. He has spent more than three decades at the firm, joining legacy Herbert Smith in 1992.
The executive committee also includes London partner Alison Brown – who has served as executive partner for EMEA, the UK, and the US at legacy HSF since 2020 – as executive partner for US growth and strategic integration.
Outside of the UK, the new leadership team comprises legacy Kramer Levin co-managing partner Paul Schoeman as US executive partner, as well as two Australian representatives – transactional IP partner Kristin Stammer as executive partner for Asia and Australia, alongside commercial litigator Anna Sutherland as executive partner for practices.
Stammer joined legacy Freehills in 1996 before the HSF merger in 2012, and has been executive partner for Asia and Australia at HSF since 2023. Sutherland became joint managing partner for disputes at legacy HSF in 2020, less than a year after being appointed to lead the firm’s Australia disputes practice.
New York-based Schoeman is the only member of the merged firm’s global executive who was previously at Kramer Levin. Since 2020 he has been co-managing partner of the US firm alongside Howard Spilko, who does not have a role on the global executive.
Rebecca Maslen-Stannage, who was reappointed as chair and senior partner at legacy HSF last month, said in a statement: ‘Today we embark on an exciting new chapter. Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer unites two firms with complementary strengths, shared values, and a bold vision for the future. We are delighted by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from our clients and our people. Together, we will focus on our strategic vision and build on this fantastic platform.’
D’Agostino, who has been chief executive since 2020 added: ‘In today’s fast-evolving and uncertain macroeconomic landscape, clients need a truly global law firm with deep local insight across all their key markets. Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is uniquely positioned to deliver exceptional outcomes in an increasingly complex and interconnected world.’
The merger has gone live just two months after partners at both firms voted it through, and less than a year after the deal was first announced in November 2024.
The transatlantic combination will create a firm with 630 partners across 26 offices, and more than $2bn in revenue. The two legacy firms had little overlap, with both having offices in just two cities: New York, and Paris, where Kramer Levin’s team left to join Morgan Lewis last December.
Legacy HSF had only a small disputes-focused office in New York, while legacy Kramer had nearly 300 lawyers there, as well as offices in Washington DC and Silicon Valley. While little known in the UK, legacy Kramer had a strong reputation in the United States, and the market is a key focus for the merged firm, with expansion to Texas high on the agenda, as well as building regulatory and technology practices out of DC and Silicon Valley.
