HSF’s world-leading Alternative Legal Services practice announces three Australian promotions

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) today announced it has promoted three talented Australians within its Alternative Legal Services (ALT) practice - one of the largest ALT practices in Australia.

The firm’s ALT practice stands unrivalled as the only provider of alternative legal services globally to be recognised in all four categories of the 2022 Chambers Alternative Legal Service Providers Guide.

Sarah d’Oliveyra and Emily Coghlan (who is currently on parental leave) have both been promoted to Director for ALT Australia, and Arjuna Guruge has been promoted to Associate Director for eDiscovery and Legal Technology, Australia and Asia. All are based in Melbourne and the promotions were effective 1 July.

HSF has long been a trailblazer in providing Alternative Legal Services. In 2015 the firm established an Australian-first ALT pop-up operation in Perth, and in 2016 opened a dedicated ALT centre in Melbourne – the first of its kind by a law firm. In the same year, HSF became the first law firm to extend lower cost legal services to China by opening an ALT office in Shanghai.

A global success story, ALT has an expert team of more than 350 lawyers, technologists and legal analysts globally providing clients with innovative insights and market-leading solutions for high-volume, document-intensive legal work. Over 150 of these experts are in Australia.

ALT Managing Partner, Libby Jackson MBE congratulated the trio on their promotions.

“Sarah, Emily and Arjuna have the formidable multi-disciplinary skills needed to help our clients achieve their business goals.

“Our ALT operation in Australia is going from strength to strength. We have a large team across the country working to deliver value for clients, and that is in large part due to the skills and leadership of Sarah, Emily and Arjuna. I wish them all the best in their new roles.”

Executive Partner, Australia and Asia, Andrew Pike explained that ALT was one of the ways in which the firm had innovated in response to client demand.

“ALT is a great example of how the firm has harnessed technology to meet the evolving needs of our clients and transform how we deliver services.

“The combination of our market-leading legal advice, and the innovative technology-driven approach of our ALT practice has been game-changing for our clients.

“They have a cost-effective and efficient way to manage high-volume, data intensive legal work without compromising on quality,” said Mr Pike.

“Congratulations to Sarah, Emily and Arjuna, who I know will continue to build upon the success of our ALT practice”.