He was an active member of the Lowtonian Society, standing for election to posts in the society in 1816 and giving a dinner for them when he was appointed joint solicitor to the Bank of England in 1819. This was a time of change in the banking system, and Freshfields were involved in a considerable amount of litigation. Freshfield was in correspondence with the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool and more distressingly involved in litigation relating to misappropriation of Bank funds by the firm's partner Charles Kaye, which led to the resignation of the latter. Other important clients for whom he acted included Lord Carrington and Earl Stanhope.