For those of you that read my blog last week, you will remember that I wrote about how some Barrister’s are “jumping ship” and going in-house – this week however sees the return to the Bar of one quite influential game player for in-house barristers.
Murray Rosen QC, the co-head of Herbert Smith Freehills’ Advocacy Unit has decided to return to the Bar, whilst his next move is undecided, it has been formally confirmed that he will be returning to the Bar and continuing his work as an advocate. Rosen was made silk in 1993, and was also head of Chambers at 11 Stone Buildings before he joined HSF.
As you may remember, just a few weeks ago HSF recruited Tom Leech QC (formerly of Maitland Chambers), which marked a very rare silk hire for this particular firm.
Rosen has stated that when he leaves the Advocacy Unit in April 2014, the unit will not be impacted by his decision and will continue to thrive. He stated, “As far as I am concerned personally, this job is done.. The nine years which have passed since we launched the unit have seen massive market changes, but our unique model and staffing has made us stronger leaders than ever. So it is time for Unit version 2.0 – the Next Generation.”
So it would seem that Rosen believes that the Advocacy Unit is due for a slight refurbishment, but will remain strong and continue to grow, based on the firm foundations which have been built up over the past nine years.
Before the Advocacy Unit was founded in 2005, Rosen has acted for Herbert Smith more than 50 times, and so it was really only the next step when he (alongside co-head Ian Gatt QC – formerly of Littleton Chambers) launched the Unit. Whilst the Unit will see the departure of Rosen in April, Gatt will continue to head this up from its office in Exchange House, alongside two other partners, Adam Johnson and Tom Leech.
Back in 2005, when the advocacy unit was first founded and HSF made the decision to hire silks, many traditionalists of the bar were unhappy. However, in their first interview with The Lawyer (23 May 2005) after Rosen and Gatt joined Herbest Smith they were adamant that the in-house silk model was here to stay – and 9 years on and still developing, they were right!
rebecca x
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