Cowen ditches retirement for Read Hind Stewart post

Addleshaw Booth & Co's former senior partner has come out of retirement to join Leeds firm Read Hind Stewart.

Maurice Cowen retired from Addleshaw Booth & Co two years ago. Following his departure, he spent a year working in business before retiring completely to the US.

Cowen was regarded as one of the leading players in the region. He joined Booth & Co in 1970 and eventually became head of corporate.

Four years before his retirement, he became joint senior partner of the firm he helped create through a merger with Manchester-based Addleshaw Sons & Latham.

Cowen has since returned to Leeds, come out of retirement and joined Read Hind as a partner.

Although his move back to the UK was prompted by personal reasons, he claims that his return to private practice was to stave off the boredom of retirement.

He adds that returning to Addleshaws was never an option. "I joined Booth & Co originally because I wanted to leave a large firm to go to a small one. Ironically, it became a large firm during the years I was there," he says.

Because of this, he only looked at medium and small firms when planning his return to private practice.

He says: "Once you retire from a large firm it's very difficult to go back, and it wasn't what I wanted to do. Addleshaws has become a different organisation. I'm trying to get back to doing the work, rather than managing a major organisation."

Cowen is based in Read Hind's corporate department doing a range of corporate finance work. Read Hind has 15 partners and focuses particularly on commercial work, mostly property.

Cowen has no set time in mind as to when he will retire from Read Hind, although he does say that 60 would be a suitable age to end his career.