Pair swoop on Hammonds

Eversheds and DLA have swooped on Hammond Suddards Edge to pick up partners who have been freed from a lock-in agreement by Edge Ellison's merger with Hammond Suddards.

Edge Ellison partners had voted to abide by a three-year lock-in agreement, which came to an end in June, ahead of the May 2001 deadline, because of its merger with Hammond Suddards.

Hammond Suddards Edge's Birmingham office has lost Edge's insolvency head, John Sullivan, to Eversheds this month.

Partner Roger Collier is planning to join DLA in January at the end of a six-month notice period.

Chris Rawstron, DLA's Birmingham head, who was held to 12 months notice when he left Edge Ellison in 1997, said: 'Roger is certainly the leading aggregates and minerals specialist.'

Hammond Suddards Edge partner Paul Cliff said Edges had emerged from a 'difficult' three years after failing to merge with Leeds and Birmingham firm Pinsent Curtis and is now ready to go out and win new clients.

'After the Pinsent Curtis debacle we adopted a plan to remain an independent firm for three years with growth targets for London, the midlands and internationally,' he said.

'We achieved our London and international targets.

As part of that we asked partners to agree to a lock-in.'

Edge Ellison closed its Leicester office as part of the merger agreement with Hammond Suddards.

Anne Mizzi