Shipping and insurance firm Hill Dickinson has restructured its senior leadership team and is looking to hire its first chief operating officer (COO).
As part of the restructure, Hill Dickinson has appointed its first chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman but despite the reshuffle the firm’s senior management remains unchanged.
Managing partner Peter Jackson will become Hill Dickinson’s first CEO while senior partner David Wareing will take up a new role as chairman.
Jackson has led the firm for the last ten year and was elected unopposed for the position of CEO. The two partners’ titles will change on 1 November.
The firm is also on the hunt for its first chief operating office (COO) is expected to announce the successful candidate in the coming weeks.
The COO will be responsible for all operational aspects of the business and will head up the firm’s support functions. In the traditional law firm model the managing partner usually carries out these responsibilities.
COO positions are becoming increasingly common in UK firms. In May Nabarro appointed Shiree Murdoch as its first chief operating officer. The hire was made as part of a reshuffle of Nabarro’s senior management team, which saw real estate partner Ciaran Carvalho elected as senior partner.
The restructure altered the responsibilities of the senior partner, who is now expected to focus on client relationships as well as carry out transactional work. Carvalho continues to work as the firm’s head of real estate as well as its senior partner.
Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) recently appointed Justin Young as its new chief operating officer. Young joined HFW from Clifford Chance where he worked for six years as regional general manager for South East Asia. Young replaced Alastair Mitchell who left to become Pinsent Masons’ first COO.
