Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has seconded another partner to a client, sending property partner Robert Bindless to Morgan Stanley Real Estate as the legal team's acting UK head of finance.

Bindless, who joined BLP's real estate department as a partner last year from Clifford Chance, moved after Morgan Stanley approached BLP to see if the firm could temporarily fill the role after its UK head of finance was promoted to cover Europe.

The move is the second high-profile secondment the firm has made, with corporate finance partner Frances McLeman currently on secondment to Tesco.

McLeman joined Tesco last year to stand in for insurable risk director Julia Penfold after she left the supermarket chain to join Goldman Sachs. McLeman is advising on insurance claims while the company finds a permanent replacement for Penfold.

The moves come as a growing number of firms look to offer partners instead of assistants to major companies, in a bid to deepen relationships with key clients.

BLP's head of real estate, Robert MacGregor, told Legal Week: "It is a tremendous opportunity for us to have one of our partners seconded to Morgan Stanley and to be given the incredible experience that being in one of the world's leading financial institutions in that role brings."