Sam Cottman

Prior to his appointment as the firm's first Director of Pro Bono in March 2020, he spent 12 years in the firm's Dispute Resolution team during which time he was promoted to Senior Counsel, ranked by Legal 500 as a 'Rising Star' and co-led the team which won Commercial Litigation Team of the Year at all three major legal awards.

Earlier in his career he was selected as a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal (ultimately working for the Lord Chief Justice) and also seconded to the Serious Fraud Office in a high-profile role in one of the regulator’s blockbuster investigations.

Throughout his career Sam has played a significant role in the firm's pro bono practice, with a particular focus on acting for victims of domestic violence and international development work. He has taken a lead role in shaping the firm's pro bono work, including creating teams to act for victims of domestic abuse and human trafficking. He also runs the firm's partnerships with a number of pro bono brokerages and with human rights organisation JUSTICE (looking into the over representation of BAME youth in the criminal youth justice system).