Hammonds finance chief jumps ship to Hunton

Hammonds has suffered again at the hands of Hunton & Williams, losing its third partner to the US firm. This is the sixteenth partner to quit the firm since January 2004.

Corporate partner and head of the financial services market group Jonathan Marsh will rejoin his former partners Martin Thomas and John Deacon at Hunton on 1 March after spending just two years at Hammonds.

Marsh has previously held in-house roles at the Securities and Futures Authority, the precursor to the Financial Services Authority, and the London Metal Exchange.

Marsh's move follows last week's news (first revealed on www.thelawyer.com, 16 February) that Hammonds Leeds corporate partner and former head of finance Patrick Mitchell joined Cobbetts on 1 February. Mitchell is the third partner to defect from Hammonds to the regional firm this year, following James Bessey and Mark Robinson.

The latest departures brings the total number of partners to have left the firm since January 2004 to 16, including seven so far this year. At the beginning of February, the firm announced a 12 per cent cut in partner drawings as a result of an anticipated drop in profit.

Hammonds managing partner Peter Crossley said: "We're very disappointed that Jonathan has decided to leave, but we we wish him well."