Old face returns to Squire Sanders Hammonds

A WELL known face to Birmingham’s legal community is making a return to the city after a decade away in a top in-house role.

James Retallack spent 20 years with Edge Ellison and was senior partner at the firm when it became Hammonds following its merger with Hammonds Suddards in 2000.

He became head of the Birmingham office and a member of Hammonds’ partnership board until he left in 2001 to take up a board appointment role as Group Resources Director at Aggregate Industries, later becoming Legal and Compliance Director.

He is now rejoining Hammonds to take up a new role as a partner in its labour and employment team.
 
Mr Retallack said he was excited about the move, adding the decision to rejoin the firm followed its merger earlier this year to become Squire Sanders Hammonds.

“The merger has certainly presented the firm with new opportunities. I was talking with Caroline Noblet (a partner at the firm) in January in London and we were discussing the state of the Birmingham market and the opportunities available there,” he said.

“When she asked me if I would be interested in coming back and developing these opportunities I was delighted.”

In his new role, Mr Retallack will be working with some of Hammonds’ younger lawyers, mentoring them and offering them the benefit of his considerable experience gained over 30 years – 20 in private practice and the last decade at Aggregate Industries.

“I’m looking forward to working with people I know in Birmingham and to developing the Squire Sanders Hammonds’ brand,” he said.

“The merger has opened up international markets and the firm now has access to clients with a global reach.

“The strength of the brand also means that you can recruit the best talent and I shall be helping to develop that talent by implementing the best professional training programmes.
“My role will be to help the young lawyers get more great clients.”

His team will include local partners, Charlie Frost – who heads the employment team – Ramez Moussa, and eight other lawyers.  The team is top ranked in the West Midlands by Legal 500.  Clients of the Birmingham team include Goodrich, Jewson (part of the Saint Gobain Group of Companies), Enterprise Inns, National Australia Bank, Bayer, Ryder, Investec and Unipart plus Aggregate.

Nick Green, head of Squire Sanders Hammonds’ Birmingham office, said: “We are delighted to have James back with the firm.  He brings a wealth of experience, both from his time in private practice and latterly as a client of the firm, and is a force to be reckoned with in the Midlands market. We are extremely excited by his arrival and the significant contribution he will make to the continued growth of our employment practice.”