The future is bright for the ALT expert team
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has promoted three of its employees from the alternative legal services (ALT) practice effective 1 July.
Based in Melbourne, Sarah d’Oliveyra and Emily Coghlan have been elevated to the role of director for ALT Australia, while Arjuna Guruge has been promoted to associate director for e-discovery and legal technology for ALT Australia and Asia.
“Sarah, Emily and Arjuna have the formidable multi-disciplinary skills needed to help our clients achieve their business goals,” said Libby Jackson, managing partner at ALT. “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.”
HSF’s ALT practice is one of the first and largest in Australia as it stands matchless in all four categories of the 2022 Chambers Alternative Legal Service Providers Guide. It was established as an ALT pop-up office in Perth in 2015 and a dedicated ALT centre in Melbourne in 2016.
That same year, HSF also opened an ALT office in Shanghai, making it the first law firm to extend lower-cost legal services to China.
Today, ALT has an expert team of more than 350 lawyers, technologists and legal analysts – 150 of whom are located in Australia. Through ALT, HSF continues to provide insights and market-leading solutions for high-volume, document-intensive legal work.
Andrew Pike, executive partner for Australia and Asia, said the creation of ALT was HSF’s technology-based response to evolving client demands.
“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,” Pike said. “Congratulations to Sarah, Emily and Arjuna, who I know will continue to build upon the success of our ALT practice.”
