Duo of partner hires lead the charge as Hill Dickinson confirms new Birmingham base

International commercial law firm Hill Dickinson has announced the appointment of two new partners to its national corporate team. The hires form the vanguard of a new Birmingham-based presence for the firm, which over the next two months will also see real estate and real estate litigation teams join the office.

It comes as the business confirms it has secured over 2,500 sq ft of office space within the heart of the city, commencing operations in the historic Grade II-listed Louisa Ryland House from 1 February 2024. 

Corporate partners Nick Dawson and Emma Callow join from Irwin Mitchell where they spearheaded their respective team offerings in Birmingham and the Midlands, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions activity and private equity transactions. They are joined at Hill Dickinson by their corporate colleagues, Matt Smith (legal director), Tom Wisniewski (senior associate) and Alexandra Bloomer (associate).

Their arrival enables Hill Dickinson to establish a dedicated presence within the city for the first time. Setting up an office in the Midlands is a logical step in the firm’s regional growth strategy, connecting its rapidly growing presence across all the northern regions with London. It also comes as the firm’s national corporate and real estate teams work across an increasing flow of instructions from the region.

The news follows six years of consecutive growth for Hill Dickinson both across the UK and internationally, with profit growth increasing by over 400% in that time. 

This latest regional expansion follows the recent launch by the firm of a new restructuring sub team in Leeds under partner Lemi McAuley and the arrival of senior employment partner Glenn Hayes to establish a Leeds-based employment sub team as part of the firm’s planned Yorkshire expansion. Both appointments preceded an announcement on 22 January 2024 that the firm has relocated its Leeds offices to 11 Wellington Place, one of the city’s newest and most sustainable developments. 

In July 2023, the firm also confirmed its commitment to invest in the North West when it signed a 10-year lease for 18,000 sq ft of premium office space in St Michael’s, Manchester, the ‘visionary’ blueprint for the sustainable development led by Gary Neville’s Relentless. That move is slated to happen in 2025.

The Birmingham team will complement Hill Dickinson’s existing fast-growing corporate and banking offering nationally, which already numbers more than 100 lawyers across six major UK cities.

Craig Scott, current head of Business Services at Hill Dickinson and recently announced CEO-elect, shared: “This latest expansion into Birmingham and the hire of these two partners and their team is a major milestone for our national corporate practice and also for the ambitions of the firm more widely. On behalf of everyone at Hill Dickinson, I am delighted to extend a warm welcome to Nick, Emma and their team, who are joining us at yet another exciting point in our current growth story.

“The Midlands is home to a multi-billion-pound economy and is an important region to a number of our clients, so we have always remained open to the possibility of establishing a presence here provided that it is led by people who are present and respected at the heart of its business community. That is certainly the case with Nick and Emma and I am delighted to welcome them to the firm. Our new Birmingham base will help us really understand and work with local market forces to better serve our clients.

“The legal market in the Midlands is becoming increasingly competitive, but we are confident in our ability to continue to attract high calibre people to come and work for us, which will be essential to our long-term growth in the region. Our new corporate team will play a fundamental role in establishing our Birmingham office and we expect to announce further hires in due course.”

Emma Callow, corporate partner at Hill Dickinson said: “Hill Dickinson’s strong values and culture, together with our shared commitment to providing pragmatic and robust commercial advice, is great news for clients and the legal market in the Midlands.” 

Nick Dawson, corporate partner added: “The members of the corporate team have worked together for a number of years and are thrilled to be joining Hill Dickinson at such an exciting period of growth for the firm”.