Hammonds eyes real estate revival with trio of senior hires

National firm makes Mishcons, SJB and Eversheds hires for City planning launch and real estate drive

Hammonds has expanded its real estate team and launched a planning group in London with three senior hires.

The national law firm is to launch a planning group in the City with the hire of Oliver Goodwin (pictured), who is set to join the firm in April from Mishcon de Reya, where he was head of planning and environment.

As a barrister, Goodwin will join Hammonds as a partner equivalent, and will be responsible for growing a planning team in London focusing on urban regeneration schemes and a wide range of public and private sector projects.

In addition, the firm is bolstering its broader City real estate practice with the hire of SJ Berwin partner Patrick Ryan, who will join the national firm as a partner in April.

The recruitment of Ryan, who focuses on commercial conveyancing work, comes after the January recruitment of former Eversheds property partner Simon Taylor, who joined Hammonds as a senior consultant but is due to join the partnership shortly.

Hammonds head of real estate Liam Buckley said: "The appointments of Patrick, Simon and Oliver will ensure we are well positioned to take advantage of an upturn in demand for real estate services as the market improves. We believe that boosting our team at this critical time will enable us to be quick out of the blocks as activity returns, and we anticipate further growth of the practice in the coming year."

The hiring spree comes after the firm bulked up its corporate practice earlier this year with the hire of Birmingham corporate partner Geoff Perry from local rival Shoosmiths, with the firm also adding to its Leeds corporate team with the hire of finance regulatory partner Paul Anderson from Addleshaw Goddard.

Hammonds on the Legal Week Wiki