Full-Time

HR Generalist

Updated on 9/4/2026

Freshfields

Freshfields

5,001-10,000 employees

Global law firm serving corporations worldwide

Compensation Overview

$90k - $120k/yr

New York, NY, USA

In Person

Bachelor's

Category
People & HR (1)
Required Skills
Microsoft Office
Workday HRIS
Data Analysis

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Requirements
  • A bachelor's degree is required.
  • Three to five years of progressive Human Resources experience is required, preferably supporting associate populations in a law firm environment.
  • The candidate must handle sensitive matters with discretion and sound judgment.
  • The candidate must make sound decisions independently when appropriate and consult when needed.
  • The candidate must build meaningful relationships across all levels of the organization, including partners, attorneys, staff, and external stakeholders.
  • The candidate must have excellent verbal and written communication skills and work collaboratively across teams and functions.
  • The candidate must be proactive, adaptable, team-oriented, and professional.
  • The candidate must be proficient in Workday or similar human resources information systems platforms and have strong skills across Microsoft Office applications.
Responsibilities
  • Support U.S. practice groups and U.S. Human Resources Business Partners by delivering full-cycle Human Resources services aligned with the firm's strategic goals.
  • Partner with the Human Resources Business Partner to support associates across the United States.
  • Provide day-to-day guidance and support on Human Resources policies, processes, and programs.
  • Collaborate with Human Resources Centers of Excellence to deliver personalized support.
  • Support the planning and execution of performance reviews, compensation processes, promotions, onboarding, and talent programs.
  • Coordinate project plans, timelines, communications, meeting materials, and stakeholder follow-up activities.
  • Track action items and ensure timely completion of deliverables across multiple Human Resources initiatives.
  • Support employee engagement, morale, and retention through proactive relationship-building and interventions.
  • Address complex employee relations matters with discretion and professionalism.
  • Help streamline processes and identify opportunities to improve the employee and manager experience.
  • Use data and metrics to inform decision-making and identify trends or areas for improvement.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience supporting associate populations in a law firm environment.

Freshfields provides legal services to large corporations, financial institutions, and governments on complex, high-stakes business matters. The firm operates through a network of over 2,500 lawyers who work in multidisciplinary teams to advise on international transactions, regulatory compliance, and legal disputes. Unlike many competitors, Freshfields maintains a vast global footprint with offices across Europe, Asia, and the United States, allowing it to coordinate cross-border legal strategies seamlessly. The firm's goal is to help clients navigate critical business challenges by providing practical legal advice and delivering results on a global scale.

Company Size

5,001-10,000

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Founded

1743

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • H1 2026 league tables showed Freshfields top-ten global M&A and capital-markets momentum.
  • Freshfields advised Carta on Avantia, launching Carta Law on May 13, 2026.
  • Freshfields advised Beazley on kWh Analytics, strengthening renewable-energy and insurance deal flow.

What critics are saying

  • Law.com reported August 24, 2026 partner departures in Munich and Düsseldorf.
  • Irish Times reported July 13, 2026 equity downgrades and forced partner exits after pay overhaul.
  • AI-native platforms and partner departures erode premium pricing, threatening Freshfields' partnership model by 2027.

What makes Freshfields unique

  • Freshfields ranked #1 globally for cross-border M&A in Mergermarket H1 2026.
  • Anthropic deployed Claude to 5,700 Freshfields staff across 33 offices on April 23, 2026.
  • Freshfields deepens restructuring, antitrust, and sanctions practices with New York and London specialists.

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Benefits

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Company News

Yahoo Finance
Jun 25th, 2026
Magic circle law firms overtaken by US rivals as profits slide

London's "magic circle" law firms have been overtaken by US rivals as the most profitable in the City, according to Law.com analysis. Only one magic circle firm, A&O Shearman, now ranks among London's 10 most profitable partnerships, down from three last year. Paul Weiss, a New York firm, tops the rankings with average revenues per lawyer exceeding £2 million. A&O Shearman placed 10th at £1.2 million. Of 18 firms averaging over £1 million per lawyer, 14 were American. US firms in London grew revenues by 14.7% last year, double the 7.1% growth of British counterparts. They're also outbidding UK firms on salaries, with top US firms offering newly qualified lawyers £180,000 compared to the magic circle's £150,000. Kirkland & Ellis leads in partner payouts at over £8 million each.

Associated Press
Apr 23rd, 2026
Freshfields deploys Anthropic's Claude AI to 5,700 staff globally, usage surges 500% in six weeks

Global law firm Freshfields and AI company Anthropic have signed a multi-year agreement to co-develop AI legal workflows and deploy Claude across the firm's 5,700 employees globally. Within six weeks of initial deployment, usage increased by approximately 500% through Freshfields' proprietary AI platform. The collaboration includes firmwide deployment across 33 offices, spanning all practice groups and business services. Freshfields and Anthropic will co-develop legal-focused AI applications and agentic workflows for tasks including legal research, contract review, document drafting and due diligence. Through its Freshfields Lab, the firm has created platform solutions integrating Claude, providing secure access to AI-powered workflows connected to institutional knowledge. The partnership aims to deliver faster, more efficient legal services whilst maintaining security and compliance standards. Freshfields is also an early adopter of Thomson Reuters' CoCounsel Legal, rebuilt using Anthropic's technology.

Yahoo Finance
Mar 8th, 2025
Shareholders Are Showing Signs Of Dei Fatigue As Activists Push For More Votes

Shareholders are increasingly showing signs of DEI fatigue as political heat around the issue intensifies across corporate America. Both champions and critics of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies are again pushing companies this annual meeting season to either bolster or diminish their DEI policies via shareholder proposals. But so far, none of these proposals have garnered support from investors at Apple (APPL), Costco (COST), and John Deere (DE). And that's not expected to change as more votes are tabulated at more company shareholder meetings in the coming weeks and months, according to experts who follow these votes. "I don't expect this year that we will see many, if any, get majority support," said Elizabeth Bieber, head counsel for shareholder engagement and activism defense at Freshfields. "And I would expect that, when we look at the numbers, year over year, that we actually see waning support, regardless of which ideological side the proposal tends to fall on." As of the end of February, a total of 21 "anti-DEI" proposals and 16 "pro-DEI" proposals were set for a vote this year among publicly traded companies included in the Russell 3000, according to the voting recommendation firm ISS-Corporate

PYMNTS
Nov 21st, 2023
Report: Private Equity Groups Buying Back Firms After Weak Ipos

Amid a shaky IPO market, some public companies aren’t staying public that long. As the Financial Times (FT) reported Tuesday (Nov. 21), private equity firms have begun buying back companies that have recently gone public to salvage investments that have performed badly on the stock market following an initial public offering (IPO). The firms include EQT, Cinven and Silver Lake, the report said, all of which have in recent months taken private or considered buying back public companies they owned or in which they held a minority stake