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It may be nearly 300 years old, but Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer finds itself at an important crossroads in its development.

This time next year, the firm's partnership will elect replacements for senior partner Edward Braham and managing partner Stefan Eilers.

The pair's legacy is likely to be mixed. For all they have achieved in helping the firm grow, they  will also be remembered for last year's fateful decision to supplant its time-honoured lockstep with a modified lockstep, only to return to the same conversation within a year.

And following a spate of star exits that coincide with questions about the contentment of junior partners, insiders and rivals say that whoever replaces them will need to work hard to restore partner loyalty and to communicate a clear long-term strategy.

So who is best prepared to take this on?

Short and Long odds

The two favourites to lead the firm are Berlin-based competition partner Helmut Bergmann, and Freshfields lifer and City corporate partner Julian Long. One person who has previously worked with the pair casts Bergman as senior partner, and Long as managing partner.

"It was in the making even before Ed [Braham] and Stefan [Eilers] took over"

Helmut Bergmann

For those familiar with the inner workings of Freshfields' partnership, talk of these two veterans as future leaders will come as little surprise.

One person with knowledge of Freshfields' leadership nomination process said of Bergman and Long's possible candidacy: "It was in the making even before Ed [Braham] and Stefan [Eilers] took over."

But on Long, there is division. While some say he's a perennial favourite, other insiders suggest he is "at the peak of his powers", and that he may not want it just yet. Another suggests he is "too London" for a firm yearning for a leader with "transnational blood".

On Bergmann, however, there is little doubt. A former global competition, antitrust and trade co-head, Bergmann is the firm's current continental Europe managing partner. Of both continental and U.S. pedigree, his leadership credentials are undisputed. He was Berlin office head between 1998 and 2006, as well as being a member of the hallowed partnership committee.

Having trained at pre-merger German firm Deringer Tessin Hermann & Sedemund in the 1980s, he was made up in 1996. And his name came up more than a few times during the 2014 leadership race, when Braham and Eilers unseated Will Lawes and David Aitman respectively.

He is known as a "client man through and through", a "class act" and "a formidable market player". One person said he was an "obvious choice", not least because of his "dominance" in the field of competition and antitrust, which is "the one area in the U.S. where the firm excels", bestowing him a "legitimate mandate for U.S. growth".

"At Freshfields, future leaders are grown. You're marked out as a leader pretty much the day you qualify"

Whoever the next leaders are, the names will not just be plucked out of a hat.

Julian Long

An ex-partner of 20 years said: "At Freshfields, future leaders are grown. You're marked out as a leader pretty much the day you qualify."

They added: "This is how it was with Ed [Braham]. He was primed for years for the role. He was a favoured son. When he became senior partner, it was more a coronation than a competition."

In this vein, a recent partner leaver suggested that Long too had been "primed". But they also indicated that, while Bergmann and Long are "by some way the frontrunners" and are both "very well respected", anything can happen.

"In fact, if you look at the fine grain, you wouldn't really call Long a major global player," another ex-partner said. "He's had a City domestic focus for a generation. He's London establishment. But what the firm needs is two people with an international outlook, especially if it wants to peel away from the sticky spot it's in."

Star of Bethlehem

If Long proves too divisive, another popular option appears to be London healthcare and M&A co-head Jennifer Bethlehem.

"Bethlehem's a born leader, highly ambitious, with international credentials and an exceptional client base"

Nearly all the people Legal Week spoke to agreed that she was one person "destined" to steer the firm, "in whatever capacity".

Jennifer Bethlehem

Described by one former partner as "a devastatingly impressive person" and "a f**king amazing lawyer", Bethlehem possesses what a second ex-partner called "that edge" required to lead a firm of Freshfields' size and reach.

"She's a born leader, highly ambitious, with international credentials and an exceptional client base," is gifted with "that kind of formidable personality typical of natural leaders", and comes from "unconventional beginnings".

Bethlehem started working life as a nurse in South Africa, according to people who have worked with her, and came to the profession in her 30s. She climbed the ranks at Freshfields, becoming a partner 10 years ago, all the while maintaining a roster of clients that includes multinational pharmas such as Novartis. 

Other contenders

Though they are perhaps the favourites, the trio of Bergmann, Long and Bethlehem were not the only partners marked out as possible successors.

Four former partners and a person close to the firm put Freshfields' global client partner Alan Mason firmly in the mix, as well as former U.S. managing partner and current London corporate partner Julian Pritchard, who one person said was "as good as anyone to lead the firm".

But another ex-partner is more sober in his estimations of each.

"They're both top players in their respective fields, but they're still relatively young. They'll want to keep up the deal work."

Other names thrown into the mix include Frankfurt-domiciled Rick van Aerrsen, co-head of the firm's global transactions. In 2014, van Aerssen in fact replaced Braham as global corporate head, in his first leadership role at the firm.

"But," said a rival Magic Circle partner, "the top guys at Freshfields tend to be around 55. Not too old, but old enough to have acquired the requisite international experience and gravitas." This may discount the likes of van Aerssen too.

All the touted candidates declined to comment.

Managing partner elect

Much is likely to depend on Bergmann's view, given how the firm's leadership process works. According to two former partners, at Freshfields the elected senior partner appoints the managing partner. The firm declined to comment on the article.

"So really it all depends," said one current partner. "If Bergmann gets in, he could choose anyone in any one of the global offices [to be managing partner]. Yes, it's very unlikely there won't be a U.K.-based leader, near-impossible I'd say, but it would be up to the senior partner. That's assuming Bergmann gets in, which we know he will if he puts himself up for it."

On the question of whether Bergmann would likely select a woman to co-run the firm with him, the Freshfields partner said: "I don't see why not. The firm needs something like this. So if he's smart, he will."

At Freshfields, the senior and managing partners perform quite different roles.

"Consider the senior partner the chairman, and the managing partner the CEO," a former partner said. "The managing partner is very much involved in the day-to-day running of the firm. It's a huge undertaking. It helps to have a 'numbers' person in this role. Someone good at getting to grips with the details, the small stuff, the unsexy stuff."

Whatever happens, the new leaders of the £1.4 billion business will have the chance to sit atop one of the oldest and most profitable law firms in the world. But the leaders face a significant glut of challenges to overcome if the firm is to keep pace with the likes of Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins.

Three former partners regard such "sticky spots" as including the "clear U.K.-Germany culture divide", as well as "a U.S. contingent that can't compete with the U.S. white shoes on M&A, private equity and restructuring".

"The firm's only real strength in the U.S. is antitrust," one added.

It is a task that could deter all but the most determined. As one past leadership candidate puts it: "Who'd want the job anyway?"