Hammond Suddards poaches indemnity teams from Dibbs

Hammond Suddards has scooped the professional indemnity teams from Dibb Lupton Alsop's Leeds and Manchester offices.

David Simon, the partner who heads up the team, decided to leave the firm he has worked for for 27 years because he wanted to put together what he describes as two "complementary teams".

Simon's nine-strong team - many of whom have been together for over eight years and which includes rated partner Brian McKendry - is long established nationally, and is joining forces with Suddards' London-based unit headed by Michael Robin.

John Heller, senior partner at Suddards, says it will create "the best professional indemnity team in the UK". He explains that while Suddards has grown organically to become very strong in London, it was Dibbs that held sway in the North. The opportunity to put the two teams together - giving the insurers a more national approach - is one which appealed to both Heller and Simon.

However, Dibbs has recruited one of the City's best-known financial regulatory lawyers, David Capps. He joins as an equity partner and head of the law firm's financial services team, which is the main legal adviser to the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation (IMRO) and the Personal Investment Authority (PIA).