Herbert Smith has added two new partners to its energy practice with a double hire from  Linklaters.

Martin Kavanagh and Matthew Job are set to join the partnership in Herbert Smith's London energy finance team in early summer, from their current roles as counsel at Linklaters.

The hires increase the headcount in Herbert Smith's energy finance team to 20 lawyers.

Kavanagh is an energy finance specialist, with experience of acting for lenders, borrowers, governments and multilateral agencies, particularly in Africa.

Job has experience advising lenders and borrowers on financing structures in the UK and European energy and infrastructure sectors, including syndicated loans, project bonds, leveraged finance, commodity hedging and structured finance.

The hires follow a number of recent management changes at Herbert Smith. The firm has rearranged the leadership of its finance team, with Malcolm Hitching named as the new global head of finance, taking over from Jason Fox, who has moved into a a fee-earning role as energy finance group head,

Kavanagh and Job will report immediately to Fox and indirectly to Hitching.

Commenting on the hires, Fox said: "The energy sector has been relatively unaffected by the recession; indeed energy and power finance account for a growing share of global lending. The recruitment of lawyers of the calibre of Martin and Matthew adds considerably to our client offering in this area, adding further skill-sets to our market-leading energy practice."