Major hire ‘reflects ambition’ for international law firm’s Birmingham office
Squire Patton Boggs has hired Ellie Pinnells to lead its Birmingham Litigation team as the next step in its growth plans for the region.
She joins from Fieldfisher just over a year after corporate partner Tom Durrant moved from Gateley to become Squire Patton Boggs’ Birmingham office managing partner.
The recruitment of Pinnells, who begins work at her new firm this week, is in response to “new opportunities to win disputes work coming out of the expansion of our Corporate practice in Birmingham”, said Durrant.
He added: “Ellie’s entrepreneurial and creative approach to building her practice is impressive and her combined national and international outlook reflects our ambition for the continued development of our office.”
Pinnells’ specialisms are in group litigation and competition litigation and she has developed technology to manage group litigation.
“We are at the cutting edge of AI,” she said.
Pinnells trained with Reed Smith and qualified in 2010, and stayed with the firm as it became Hill Hofstetter and then Fieldfisher. She was made a partner at Fieldfisher in 2020.
She told TheBusinessDesk.com: “It was time to step up to a leadership role, and Squire Patton Boggs is a great firm. It is very international, which is something that attracted me.”
Pinnells is a German speaker and wants to strengthen links between Birmingham and Squire Patton Boggs’ offices in Berlin, Frankfurt and near Stuttgart.
Her client base is in the manufacturing, engineering and construction sectors, and is heavily-focused on German-speaking countries.
She will head up the commercial litigation team in Birmingham that is currently all-female. Pinnells is looking to grow the team organically, building on existing strengthens in areas including pensions, property and construction, while also broadening the general commercial litigation work.
She said: “Its globally-recognised disputes team, strong Birmingham presence and commitment to DEI, as evidenced by the firm’s diverse leadership team, made Squire Patton Boggs the right home for me and my practice.”
