Hammonds
No of UK Partners: 132
No of UK Assistant Solicitors: 266
www.hammonds.com
When Hammonds took over the ailing Edge Ellison in 2000, sceptics believed the Yorkshire firm was only interested in its London office which enjoyed relationships with clients such as the advertising agency WPP and even went so far as to say that the Birmingham presence could disappear altogether.
Five years on, the Birmingham office is very much still around and, at 35 partners and 110 lawyers in all, constitutes a major part of the firm’s overall network of 200 partners and 850 lawyers.
The years before and immediately after the Hammonds/Edge Ellison merger were characterised by a stream of partner departures. This has continued to an extent but the tide is turning as the firm has also attracted some high-profile lateral hires of its own, including Wragge & Co partners Peter McLintock (private equity) and Ann Benzimra (litigation), Lattice Group’s general counsel Patrick Somers and Pinsents’ Amanda Allen and Sukh Ahark (banking specialist).
The firm has also enjoyed some significant client wins in the Midlands. Notably, it replaced Pinsents Masons as lead UK legal adviser to the world’s largest automotive component supplier, Visteon. Other significant local clients include Ryder, SIRVA and Yuasa batteries.
Hammonds as a whole is organised on a sector-based approach - these being automotive, cemicals, pharma, biotech and life sciences, construction, energy/utilities, industrial engineering, media and communication, real estate and technology. The profile of the Midlands’ economy inevitably means that the Birmingham office is particularly orientated towards automotive, engineering and aerospace, food manufacturing, property and construction clients. However, Hammonds’ “one firm” approach means all the offices serve clients from other parts of the network. Their client list boasts 30 FTSE100 clients and includes Allied London Properties, Amec, BWD Securities, Barclays Bank, English Partnerships, FKI, Kelda Group, National Grid Transco and the Royal Mail.
This sort of client base requires heavyweight international capability and Hammonds now describes itself as a European law firm. It does this with a little more justification than many of its rivals, having gone straight into mergers with its correspondent firms in Germany, Spain, Italy and France rather than the alliance route favoured by many of its national rivals.
A blue chip client base also needs blue-chip lawyers. To make it at Hammonds, the firm says, the sector-based approach means that recruits will also need to show their entrepreneurial side as well as a commitment to thoroughly learning about and understanding their clients’ businesses. The firm is also proud of its flexible benefits package, which sees 10% of its workforce working part-time including some partners. The firm also achieved Investors in People status in 2003.
Unfortunately, while Hammonds’ Midlands practice has shaken off most of the baggage which came with Edge Ellison, it has been unable to lose one unwanted legacy – its rather gloomy offices in Edmund Street. The firm abandoned its 3 year search for new office premises in the city in 2004 when it became evident that it would not be able to escape the lease and so will have to make do with refurbishing them instead.
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