Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has removed an Australian partner from the firm following an internal investigation into a social media post directed at a Jewish lawyer at another firm.
The controversy stems from a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) by corporate partner Damien Hazard referencing Jeremy Leibler, a Jewish lawyer at Australian firm Arnold Bloch Leibler. The online interactions were in relation the recent fire at Melbourne synagogue, which is being investigated as a terrorist arson attack.
According to reports in the Australian media, the post read: ‘Never too soon for @jeremyleibler to just invent a link with anti-genocide protests,’ and went on to accuse Leibler of ‘cynically politicising this crime’ and sowing a ‘life long disinformation campaign’ conflating the ‘genuine evil of anti-semitism with the basic humanism of condemning Israeli genocide’.
HSF chair and senior partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage said in a statement that HSF’s council had resolved to remove Hazard, and that that notice had been issued to him.
Hazard had been with HSF and legacy Australian firm Freehills – which merged with the UK’s Herbert Smith in 2012 – for almost three decades.
Maslen-Stannage also underlined the firm’s commitment to supporting its Jewish network, stating: ‘We have reached out to leaders of our firm’s Jewish network to ensure they feel supported at this difficult time.’
The move comes at a critical time for HSF, as it is gearing up for a partnership vote on its proposed tie-up with US firm Kramer Levin, a firm which has strong Jewish connections. Name partner Ezra Levin was inducted into the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame in 2016 and is known as an advocate for the civil and social rights of Soviet Jews.
If the merger goes ahead as expected, it will create Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, a global firm with more than $2bn in revenue and over 2,700 lawyers, significantly expanding HSF’s presence in the US.
