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Herbert Smith Freehills’ unrelenting focus on its clients and people has been recognised at the 2021 Australasian Law Awards, with the firm and its people winning a number of  prestigious accolades, including Law Firm of the Year (>500 Lawyers), Law Firm Leader of the Year (>200 Employees) and Australian Dealmaker of the Year.

According to the award judges, the firm won the top award in recognition of its “truly exceptional” client focus, its leading deal and matter work, as well as its commitment to pro bono and the broad range of initiatives that it has launched in the last year to support its people and clients, including its agile working policy and its ‘10 Actions For Change’ framework to improve ethnic diversity across the firm.  

Andrew Pike, Herbert Smith Freehills Executive Partner, East was named Law Firm Leader of the Year (>200 Employees), alongside Genevieve Collins of Lander & Rogers. Andrew was recognised for his comprehensive leadership agenda in 2020, particularly his role in supporting the firm through the challenges of Covid-19 while continuing to focus on important initiatives around clients, people and culture.

Herbert Smith Freehills M&A partner Tony Damian was named Australian Dealmaker of the Year, for the second consecutive year. The judges commended Tony for his role in advising on many of the largest deals of 2020, and for his technical knowledge, wide experience, and leadership in his practice area.

The firm also was recognised for its work advising clients on three award-winning deals. The firm advised: Bain Capital on its acquisition of Virgin Australia, which won Insolvency & Restructuring Deal of the Year; Healius Primary Care on its acquisition by BGH Capital, which won Mid-Market Deal of the Year; and TPG Corporation on its merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia, which won M&A Deal of the Year.

Andrew Pike said, “These awards reflect the hard work, dedication and collaboration of all our people, and I am grateful to each member of the firm for the exceptional results they deliver for our clients and our business.

“I’d also like to thank our clients for entrusting us with helping to navigate their most strategic issues during 2020. We were very grateful for the opportunity to continue to support our clients throughout such a challenging year.”

These awards follow a number of other recent accolades the firm has received including:

  • Australia Law Firm of the Year, Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards, 2021
  • Asia-Pacific Law Firm of the Year, Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards, 2021
  • Most Innovative International Law Firm in Asia Pacific, Financial Times, 2020.

Key contacts

Andrew Pike photo

Andrew Pike

Partner, Sydney

Andrew Pike
Tony Damian photo

Tony Damian

Partner, Sydney

Tony Damian

Media contact

For further information on this article please contact

Emily Coultas

External Communications Manager

Melbourne