Herbert Smith Freehills has further strengthened its Advocacy Group, with the addition of Partner Gary Milner-Moore and the launch of a new associate secondment programme.
A qualified Solicitor Advocate and an accredited mediator, Gary is an example of real 'home-grown' talent - having trained with the firm before becoming a Partner in 2004. He will now join existing partners Adam Johnson QC, who was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge last year, and Tom Leech QC, to lead the firm's Global Advocacy Group.
The firm will also introduce a new associate secondment programme, which will see two associates per year join the Group in London. Secondees will spend one-year in the Advocacy Group and then return to their original team. The firm is starting to take applications from existing Herbert Smith Freehills associates (of at least 2 years PQE), and the first secondee will take their place in the Group this coming September.
First set up in 2004, the Advocacy Group introduced a Global Advocacy Initiative, which combines around 160 lawyers across the globe and forms an integral part of the firm's global Dispute Resolution practice. The firm offers clients an accessible and economic one-stop-shop service, advising on and preparing all aspects of cases before all courts and tribunals – either from the outset or ‘parachuting in’ in particularly complex or urgent cases.
Tom Leech QC, who leads the Advocacy Group in London, said: "One of the original objectives for the Advocacy Group was the promotion of home-grown advocates, which we have already started to see come to fruition. We can see this through Adam Johnson taking silk and then being appointed as Deputy High Court Judge, and now the recruitment of Gary Milner Moore. As a firm we want to continue to encourage advocacy from within the firm and we believe this secondment programme plants that seed with associates."
Damien Byrne Hill, Head of Disputes in London, added: "I am proud of what we have achieved with our Global Advocacy Initiative and am excited about the further plans we have for the offering. We believe that advocacy is a skill which lies at the heart of everything we do as disputes lawyers. Our ambition is to develop advocacy skills and court craft throughout our disputes division and the underlying raison d'être our Advocacy Group is to help us achieve that. The fantastic work they do for our clients as advocates is therefore only a fraction of the transformational work they do in developing the skills base of our entire team."