Eversheds has appointed
Leeds chief Stephen Hopkins as its first-ever global client management partner as the national giant attempts to bolster its international client base.
Hopkins will now coordinate relationships with the UK law firm’s top international clients and will divide his time between London and Europe.
The change follows Eversheds’ appointment as the sole adviser to international clients including Tyco, Akzo-Nobel and Samsung earlier this year.
Hopkins told Legal Week: “Many of our major international clients are looking to consolidate their legal advisers right now, so we need to ensure that we have a consistent approach to service those clients as well as we possibly can.”
Northern regional head of corporate Keith Froud will replace Hopkins as head of Eversheds’ Leeds office.
Both appointments will take effect from 1 November.
As part of the shake-up, Hopkins will take on an additional role as head of private sectors, which will give him responsibility for the firm’s energy, financial services, food, retail and technology, media and telecommunications clients.
Hopkins, who joined the top 10 national firm 19 years ago and is the former regional head of Eversheds’ northern offices, will work in tandem with Cardiff chief Alan Meredith, who oversees the firm’s public sector relationships.
The move is the latest reshuffle of Eversheds’ administration following a period of change that has seen the firm twice overhaul its national management structure in three years.
First Eversheds reshaped its business around ‘chosen market’ sector groups in 2004, then earlier this year the firm abolished its regional head positions — which covered the northern, eastern and central regions of the UK — in favour of local practice chiefs across each of the company’s 10 UK locations.
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