The performance aspect was one factor that attracted this WRP Legal & Advisory associate to a career in law
Zachary Moore would have loved to be standing under the bright lights of a Broadway or a West End stage. While he ended up not going into show business, he let his inner performer help guide him to a career in commercial litigation.
In this interview conducted shortly after his promotion to WRP Legal & Advisory associate in July, Moore encourages young lawyers to put themselves out there, and encourages lawyers to always remember their duty to the court and the administration of justice.
What made you choose a career in law, and what's your favourite part of the job?
It’s hard to pinpoint a single reason. I’ve always liked performing and public speaking, so I think that’s probably what drew me to law and in particular commercial litigation. My favourite part of the job is formulating targeted strategies to help clients based on their particular circumstances.
I'm thrilled about the rapid growth of my firm, WRP Legal & Advisory; we've been expanding significantly. As an associate now, I'm excited to take on the role of mentoring some younger colleagues.
Certainly, managing my first settlement conference would be up there in terms of my proudest accomplishment in the last year. It was very rewarding to calmy and slowly chip away at the matters in issue, before ultimately achieving a fantastic outcome for my client.
My advice to other young lawyers, whilst nothing profound, is that you simply have to put yourself out there into situations that are going to test you professionally. I recall, not all that long ago, being terrified to appear at a very basic directions hearing! Take the leap and enjoy the ride, and of course, take learnings from every mistake you make along the way (there will be a lot of them).
I think it’s a bit bold of me to comment on the profession more broadly at this stage of my career, but I’ll do my best to take my naivety in my stride. I suppose it never hurts to remind oneself of first principles, so I’ll suggest our focus should be that our duty to the court and the administration of justice is paramount; a reminder most apt, I think, for those of us whose practice is founded on advocacy for our clients.
Well, most importantly, I am very excited to be getting married in February 2025 to my lovely fiancée.
As to my professional hopes, I’m looking forward to further developing my own practice, helping more clients, and becoming more confident in my capabilities.
What I think I would be doing isn’t anywhere near as fun as what I hope I would be doing. Most likely, I’d be working in policy or some other sort of white-collar job; however, ideally, I’d love to think I’d be on Broadway or the West End – wouldn’t that be nice!
