Continuous Learning and Development
Freehills offers you one of the most comprehensive learning and professional development programs in the legal industry. We work with experts internally and externally to customise and tailor programs to help you build the skills and knowledge you will need on the job and to accelerate in your career. Whether you have just graduated or you are a solicitor with several years' experience, our programs ensure that you continually build your expertise and can access a wide range of learning opportunities.
Our Freehills online learning centre helps our people drive and manage their own learning and e-learning, guiding you on the range of programs available at different stages in your career. These programs focus broadly on technical/legal skills and knowledge, people and teams, client relationships and commercial acumen, and management. These areas also form the basis of our performance enhancement program for all our people.
Here are the types of learning programs you can expect at Freehills as you progress:
- Graduate Development Program (GDP): This two year national program offers regular structured learning activities and events to accelerate the development of your technical skills and business acumen in particular.
- Solicitor Development Program: This five-day program provides third year and upwards solicitors with the opportunity to enhance their people and delegation skills and client relationship and networking skills.
In addition, Freehills offers great learning opportunities for staff members:
- lunch time, breakfast or twilight seminars on a range of topical legal issues. These sessions are presented by partners or lawyers in-house
- in-house briefings from clients on their business operations, objectives and challenges and from industry experts on industry trends and the market dynamics facing our clients
- economic updates from leading analysts from major financial institutions to keep you informed about business trends and economic forecasts which may assist you in your day-to-day work and in understanding the economic climate in which our clients are operating
- offsite tours to clients' premises (such as mines, printing presses, television stations and more) to enhance your understanding of our clients’ businesses and develop your commercial acumen
- technology training which helps you build the skills and expertise required to competently use the firm’s technology to achieve your business goals. Our regular in-house training equips you to produce and manage client and internal documentation, communicate effectively using the phone/voicemail and email systems, manage your client information, process your expenses, record your time and produce tax invoices. In addition to proprietary systems, applications trained include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Visio
- 'life learning' opportunities are also provided, where we invite expert speakers to talk about a range of general lifestyle topics spanning from health through to buying your first home, investing wisely and helpful tips on parenting, and
- postgraduate study is supported in the firm with study leave and financial assistance available to those staff undertaking approved masters or other postgraduate courses. We encourage study in fields related to client work where that study will help you deliver more commercially-astute advice.
Your practice group will also regularly conduct customised learning sessions and workshops to provide shared learning opportunities specific to that particular area of law.
The key to optimum professional development is daily on-the-job experience, which we maximise by giving you the opportunity to work with and learn from practitioners who are leaders in their field. This is reinforced and strengthened by our internal coaching program and our approachable environment well known for its open door policy.
Performance and career development conversations happen regularly. These provide an opportunity to acknowledge your contribution to your team and your clients, identify your strengths and ways to work on those skills that are not yet fully developed. It also provides the opportunity for you to talk with your partner or manager about your goals and aspirations for the future and how to shape your personal learning and development plan.
For further information about the continuous learning and development programs we offer, please contact the relevant recruitment staff listed on the recruitment contacts page.