Bell's documented life is centered on Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, where he studied law at the University of Sydney and built his legal career. His professional life began in Sydney in 1982 at Freehill Hollingdale & Page, one of the Big Six Australian law firms, which he later led.
Bell studied law at the University of Sydney and received a Bachelor of Laws degree. Founded in 1850 by an act of the New South Wales Parliament, the university opened to students in 1852 and awarded its first degrees in 1856. Its founders intended it to admit students on merit rather than religious affiliation, in contrast to Oxford and Cambridge, which at the time still barred non-Anglicans from degrees.
Bell was admitted to the bar in New South Wales in 1982. He joined Freehill Hollingdale & Page in Sydney in the same year, shortly after leaving university.
Bell joined what was then Freehill Hollingdale & Page in Sydney in 1982, shortly after leaving university. The firm's Sydney practice traced its origins to Bernard Austin Freehill, who established a practice in Sydney in 1871. The firm took the name Freehill Hollingdale & Page in 1947 under partner Brian Page, who guided it toward corporate and commercial work within Australia and internationally. In 1978 it became the first major Australian law firm to appoint a female partner, and in 2000 its state partnerships combined into a single national partnership called Freehills.
Bell's career advanced within the firm over the following decades. He was a partner in the Projects Group and later served as chief operating officer before being appointed chief executive officer in 2005, succeeding Peter Hay in that role. He was also managing partner of Freehills from 2005 until the firm's merger with Herbert Smith. Under his stewardship, Freehills established itself as one of Australia's leading law firms.
On 1 October 2012 Freehills merged with Herbert Smith, a London-based international firm, to form Herbert Smith Freehills as a single global partnership spanning about 20 offices. Bell and David Willis, Herbert Smith's managing partner, became joint chief executive officers of the merged firm.
In February 2013 Bell suffered a heart attack while on holiday with his family and was off work for several weeks. In September 2013 the firm announced that he and Willis would leave on 1 May 2014. Bell said family considerations were his sole motivation for stepping down, and he rejected the suggestion that the firm's difficulties after the merger were a factor.
Under Bell's stewardship as managing partner and chief executive of Freehills from 2005, the firm, one of the Big Six Australian law firms, established itself as one of Australia's leading law firms, according to Lawyers Weekly.
Bell was one of the principal architects of the 2012 merger of Freehills and Herbert Smith, which created Herbert Smith Freehills as a single global partnership, according to the merged firm's senior partner Jonathan Scott.
Quotes from others about the person
Jonathan Scott, senior partner of Herbert Smith, described Bell and David Willis as two of the principal architects of the merger and said that their work as joint chief executives had been very successful and effective.
Bell is married to Belinda. In 2013 he had five children, aged between eight and 21.
He said that his wish to pursue a less demanding lifestyle and spend more time with his children was central to his decision to step down from Herbert Smith Freehills.
