Hogan Lovells Birmingham marks milestone start to 2021

Hogan Lovells opened in Birmingham in December 2014 with 10 people. Six years on the now 75 strong team including 40 fee-earners across real estate, construction, finance, corporate and commercial, intellectual property and litigation; supported by 25 Business Services and Support colleagues, advise on projects for market-leading clients in the UK and around the world. High profile clients of the Birmingham office include: Argent Related, Aston Villa FC, HSBC Bank Plc, ESTEVE, Grafton Capital, M&G Real Estate, and  Veolia Environmental.

The Birmingham office is also home to Hogan Lovells UK Legal Delivery Centre, led by Rachel Dabydoyal. The team work on some of the firm's most complex client work, carry out document review and due diligence projects, and also provide an outsourcing resource for financial institutions. Rachel was part of a team, led by Head of Hogan Lovells Financial Institutions, Insurance and Investments sector, Sharon Lewis, who developed the firm’s FT Innovative Lawyer and Lawyer Award-winning LIBOR tool to help financial institutions clients to transition from LIBOR to a new financing rate.

The promotion of real estate lawyer Mohammed Alam and corporate lawyer Simon Grimshaw to counsel, effective 1 January 2021, reinforces the firm’s investment in its people and commitment to Birmingham. Mohammed was among five hires in the Birmingham real estate sector team in 2018, as senior associate, while Simon was a founding lawyer of Hogan Lovells Birmingham office in 2014, and the office’s first promotion to senior associate in 2017.

In August 2016 the office took on the firm’s first two trainees in Birmingham, who in August 2018 qualified into the real estate and corporate practices. Also in 2018, Hogan Lovells moved to expanded premises in the Colmore Building, having outgrown the existing space in Birmingham through the natural growth of the business and increasing support for the firm’s offices around the world.

Real estate partner, Gill McGreevy, assumed the role of Office Managing Partner on 1 January 2020, succeeding Michael Gallimore at the end of his three-year term. Gill commented: “Our Birmingham office forms a critical part of our UK and wider client offering, as our continued investment shows. We have achieved true integration between the Birmingham and London teams and that is very much evidenced by the seamless collaboration between both offices on projects and transactions.

“To get the very best from our people and for our clients we provide our people with challenging and exciting client work, a supportive and ambitious culture, and invest in their career progression. I am delighted to have been able to support the first counsel promotions, emphasising the investment in our people and growth strategy. Our commitment to Birmingham is reinforced not only by our physical growth here, but also our investment in our local community, through our citizenship and pro bono activities.”