Wragges snatches Eversheds Birmingham chief

Eversheds has lost Birmingham senior partner and highly-rated property lawyer Adrian Bland to Midlands rival Wragge & Co.
The move follows a series of attempts by Eversheds to hold on to Bland, who last year ran for the firm's managing partner job before throwing his weight behind unsuccessful candidate Michael Brown.
At Wragges, Bland will become group leader of the firm's 25-partner national property team. He will work closely with Wragges' London-based national property chairman Gerald Bland, who joined last year from Herbert Smith. Bland will also sit on Wragges' management committee.
A statement from Eversheds said that extensive discussions with Bland had culminated in David Gray, managing partner elect, offering him an important new London-based role in the real estate group and on the Eversheds executive. "For a variety of personal reasons, Adrian does not feel that the role is something he wishes to pursue not least because he wants to stay in the Birmingham locality," the statement said.
The role of regional senior partner has lready been phased out elsewhere in the firm and Eversheds will not appoint another senior partner in Birmingham.