Major hire ‘reflects ambition’ for Squire Patton Boggs’ Birmingham office

Squire Patton Boggs has hired Ellie Pinnells to lead its litigation team in Birmingham as the next step in its growth plans for the region.

She joins from Fieldfisher just over a year after corporate partner Tom Durrant moved from Gateley to become managing partner of Squire Patton Boggs’ Birmingham office.

The hiring of Pinnells, who begins work at her new firm this week, is in response to “new opportunities to win disputes arising from the expansion of our corporate practice in Birmingham,” Durrant said.

He added: “Ellie’s entrepreneurial and creative approach to building her practice is impressive and her combined national and international perspective reflects our ambition for the continued development of our office.”

Pinnells specializes in class action litigation and competition litigation and she has developed technology to handle class action litigation.

“We’re at the cutting edge of AI,” she said.

Pinnells trained with Reed Smith and qualified in 2010 and stayed with the firm, becoming Hill Hofstetter and then Fieldfisher. She was made a partner at Fieldfisher in 2020.

She told TheBusinessDesk.com: “It was time to move into a leadership role and Squire Patton Boggs is a great firm. It’s very international, which is what attracted me.”

Pinnells is a German speaker and wants to strengthen links between Birmingham and Squire Patton Boggs’ offices in Berlin, Frankfurt and near Stuttgart.

Its client base is in the manufacturing, engineering and construction sectors and is highly focused on German-speaking countries.

She will lead the commercial litigation team in Birmingham, which is currently all-female. Pinnells aims to grow the team organically, building on existing consolidations in areas including pensions, property and construction, while also expanding its general commercial litigation work.

She said: “Its globally recognized disputes team, strong presence in Birmingham and commitment to DEI, as demonstrated by the firm’s diverse leadership team, made Squire Patton Boggs the right place for me and my firm” .