Fieldfisher lands ‘Midlands heavyweight’ as head of corporate
Well-known Birmingham lawyer Andy Lawton Smith has joined Fieldfisher as its head of corporate with the aim of weaving the European law firm “more directly into the fabric” of the Midlands’ market.
Lawton Smith has moved over from Gowling WLG, ending a 30-year association with the firm. He has been head of enterprise services at Wragges and Gowling since 2013, after returning to the firm having spent four years leading fast-growing data management software business Mercato Solutions.
He said: “I am an entrepreneur at heart and joining the team at Fieldfisher with their ambitious goals for growth is hugely exciting.”
Antony Phillips, managing partner at Fieldfisher Birmingham described Lawton Smith as “a real heavyweight presence in the Midlands business community”.
He said: “His joining the firm adds real firepower to our Birmingham office, which has gone from strength to strength over the past four years since Fieldfisher merged with leading Midlands firm Hill Hofstetter in 2016.”
Fieldfisher’s 60-strong Birmingham team is part of a network of more than 1,500 people operating from 24 locations – with London, Manchester and Belfast alongside 17 offices in Europe, three in China and one in the United States.
Lawton Smith, who will join the partnership at Fieldfisher, said: “To those in the know, Fieldfisher is the best underground success story in the Midlands’ legal market.
“The quality of their work, the scale and breadth of their client base and the national and international reach of the practice is the equal of anything the Midlands has to offer.”
His role as head of corporate will see him look to increase the firm’s reach in the region, particularly in Fieldfisher’s target sector of technology, manufacturing, and business services.
“With the practice having firmly established itself within the hugely successful Fieldfisher network, a key part of my role is to weave that capability more directly into the fabric of the Midlands’ market and business community – a place I have called my home for many years,” he said.
