Shoosmiths has launched a social housing practice after hiring a 31-person social housing team from Cobbetts’ Birmingham office.
The four-partner team, led by Andy Ballard, joined Shoosmiths at the beginning of the month (1 March).
Details of the hires - finalised less than a month after Legal Week reported that the team was in talks to join Shoosmiths - come as Cobbetts moves to refocus its housing practice on property regeneration work.
Cobbetts’ well-regarded social housing team, which also includes partners Philip Heath, Yetunde Dania and Simon Denslow, were acquired through its tie-up with Midlands-based Lee Crowder in 2004.
Cobbetts will be left with a two partner, 25-lawyer social housing team operating from both its Manchester and Leeds offices. The lawyers will be incorporated into other existing teams, rather than operating as a standalone practice and will refocus their work on housing renewal and regeneration work for both public and private enterprises.
Shoosmiths chief executive Paul Stothard said: “We want to expand into the affordable housing sector. This requires a full-service approach from lawyers with a track record of delivering advice to registered social landlords and local authorities. We do not currently have this expertise so when this team decided that its future did not fit with Cobbetts’ strategic direction and refocused housing offer, we were happy to secure positions for them at Shoosmiths.”
Cobbetts managing partner Michael Shaw said: “We have a large developer client base and an established public sector practice already. We have taken this opportunity to refocus our housing practice to ensure we move on the delivery of our capabilities in the broader context of our public sector offering.”
