Southampton law firm Womble Bond Dickinson bolsters public sector team

Law firm Womble Bond Dickinson has grown its public sector and local government practice with a number of senior hires across the UK, including legal director Sian Ballingall, who joins in Southampton.

Sian Ballingall is a real estate and regeneration specialist with extensive local government experience, advising on a broad range of projects, including development schemes, delivery and trading structures, and local government law. She joins the Womble Bond Dickinson Southampton office from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council where she held the post of Head of Legal Services and Deputy Monitoring Officer, having supported and advised two of the predecessor unitary authorities on local government reorganisation. Prior to joining local government, Sian was a senior associate in the real estate team at Clifford Chance, acting on a variety of work, including acquisitions, disposals and landlord and tenant work.

Also joining the team are London-based legal director Sarah White, Leeds-based managing associate Helen Robinson, and Newcastle-based associate Umi Filby.

Womble Bond Dickinson works closely with UK Local and Central Government authorities, as well as other organisations in the wider public and third sector. The firm advises the UK Government Legal Department, providing a full-service of legal expertise across a range of disciplines, including general commercial, litigation, and employment advice. The firm was appointed in Spring 2017 as a Tier 1 firm on the Crown Commercial Service Framework (CCS) for Central Government Departments, Agencies and Arms’ Length Bodies; the firm was also appointed to the CCS Framework for the wider public sector in the Autumn 2018.