Three partners quit Hammonds

Three partners have resigned from Hammonds after the firm's partnership lock in for this year expired at the end of September.

Manchester corporate finance partner Gregg Davison is set to leave Hammonds for Pinsent Masons, while Leeds pensions partner Terry Saeedi is still negotiating her leaving terms.

Birmingham dispute resolution partner Ann Benzimra has resigned but will stay with the firm for the next seven months. The firm hopes she will continue to be associated with Hammonds in a consultancy capacity. The partners all formally resigned on Tuesday (30 September).

One Hammonds source said: “The three of them will be a loss to the firm as they’re all pretty good in their respective fields. If Ann does stay on that will be come as some consolation.”

Hammonds brought in a rule that only allows equity partners to resign on due specific dates each year. The change was brought in as an emergency measure following the firm's financial crisis two years ago. (TheLawyer.com, 1 August 2006).

The losses come as the firm prepares to meet former partners in court this November over a £3m profits dispute (The Lawyer, 14 August ).

A Hammonds spokeswoman confirmed that the trio have handed in their resignations but would not comment further than to wish them well.