Thursfields Solicitors has head-hunted a top lawyer from a large, global legal firm to become Head of its Employment department.

Helena Morrissey will join Thursfields next month after spending the last 14 years with Squire Patton Boggs (formerly Hammonds), where she started as an Assistant Solicitor and left as a Director in its Labour & Employment team.

Her experience has seen her act for a wide range of commercial clients, from small family businesses to household name corporates, covering the full range of employment law services.

Michelle O’Hara, Commercial and HR Director of Thursfields, said: “We’re really pleased to welcome Helena to the company to lead our employment practice.

“Helena is the second key growth hire in as many months for our Employment Team.  We have built a team of seven employment law specialists based across our regional network.  We have the depth and breadth of expertise to advise employers of all sizes on their employment law and HR issues.

Helena initially studied music at the University of Birmingham and worked as a researcher and producer for BBC Radio 3 in the 1990s. She then retrained part time for four years as a lawyer at UWE Bristol, qualifying in 2003.

Helena said: “Having spent many years at a large, global law firm, I felt it was time for a change.

“I wanted to work for a firm that offers me the autonomy to make my own decisions and to implement my own ideas and business plans, and Thursfields felt right to me.

“I was attracted by the collaborative and enterprising culture at Thursfields, and I think the firm’s vision, values and aspirations align with my own.”

Helena, who lives in Shirley, is a founder member and current Chair of Friends of Shirley Park, and a member of Shirley Street Watch.

She also serves as a governor at Our Lady of the Wayside RC Primary School and has just become a trustee of the Solihull School Parents’ Association.

Helena added: “I’m very much looking forward to heading up the employment team at Thursfields.

“It’s a fantastic team and I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to develop and expand the reach and profile of the employment team and building on the excellent reputation that the team has achieved to date.”

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For further information, please contact:

Dani James, Business Development Manager, Thursfields Solicitors

Email: djames@thursfields.co.uk Tel: 01905 677066

Or

Steve Dyson at ASAP PR – 01789 490786.

www.thursfields.co.uk, Twitter – @Thursfields, LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/company/thursfields

Notes to Editors

Thursfields Solicitors is one of the region’s longest established and reputable law firms, with more than 150 staff in six offices across Worcestershire and the West Midlands. Thursfields Solicitors provides a full range of legal services to business and the private individual, including property, family, employment and commercial law as well as probate and litigation. The firm has offices in Worcester, Kidderminster, Halesowen, Sedgley, Solihull and Birmingham.