Fenchurch Law launches new Reinsurance and International Risks practice
Fenchurch Law, the leading UK legal firm working exclusively for policyholders and brokers on insurance coverage disputes, has launched a new practice group focused on Reinsurance & International Risks. The new group will focus on representing non-UK policyholders in complex and high value insurance disputes under policies placed either directly into the London Market, or placed locally and then reinsured, into the London Market.
Led by the firm’s Managing Partner, David Pryce, the new practice group will also take instructions from captives, and from non-UK insurers which have coverage disputes with London Market insurers.
Commenting on the launch of the new practice group, managing partner, David Pryce explained:
“The London Market has a long and well-established reputation for paying claims. However, it is a fact of business life that occasionally disagreements do arise between policyholders and insurers, particularly when losses are large.
“We’ve launched this new dedicated practice group to reflect the increasingly international nature of our work, which is itself a reflection of the way the London Market continues to be a global leader in writing bespoke and complex risks. In doing so, we’re furthering our purpose of levelling the playing field between policyholders and their insurers, not just in the UK, but across the world”.
Visit the Reinsurance & International Risks page for more information.
Fenchurch Law joins City law firms in commitment to levelling up on social mobility in the profession
A group of trailblazing City law firms including Fenchurch Law Ltd have published a pioneering action plan to boost social mobility and widen opportunities within the legal sector and launched a Levelling Up Law Coalition to deliver on the recommendations.
Fenchurch Law and fourteen other City of London Law Society (CLLS) member firms have been working with Rt Hon Justine Greening’s Social Mobility Pledge on a strategy to open up the sector to a diverse range of backgrounds.
The firms have collaborated with a number of universities across the regions, including Bradford, Staffordshire, Lincoln, York St John and Liverpool John Moores in a bid to create new and wider pathways from higher education into the legal sector.
The action plan sets out recommendations for leading law firms to work together on solutions that benefit the whole legal profession. Research shows that more diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform less diverse peers on profitability* and the plan looks at how the profession can tap into talent from a range of backgrounds.
The project has been led by former Government Minister, Member of Parliament and city Solicitor, Seema Kennedy OBE. Fenchurch Law and the other firms now plan to go further and play a leading role in Britain’s national recovery from coronavirus, opening up greater access to careers in the legal sector.
The publication of the action plan also marks the launch of the group of firms forming a Levelling Up Law Coalition, coming together to take leadership on the levelling up agenda through the lens of the legal sector.
Seema Kennedy said: “The pandemic has caused many young people to lose jobs or have their future opportunities restricted. Meanwhile, there is now a building demand and need for reskilling and career changes.
“What is now abundantly clear is that levelling up needs to go far beyond just government action, we need businesses to play their role if we are to succeed. Through this action plan, CLLS members have shown that they are committed to playing their part in boosting opportunity and social mobility as part of our recovery.”
David Pryce, Managing Partner, Fenchurch Law “Levelling Up Law is the most effective initiative that I’ve come across with regard to promoting social mobility within the legal profession. The project’s goal of creating true equality of opportunity is vitally important not just in terms of basic fairness, but also because law firms have for too long drawn on an artificially limited pool of talent.
“If the UK is to retain its place as a leading global legal market, it is essential we start to recruiting based on potential, and stop favouring people based on their background and upbringing. Like most firms we have further to go on our journey to creating a truly diverse team, but I have no doubt that we will only be able to unlock our full potential once we do”.
Fenchurch Law awarded “Gold” for client care experience
We’re delighted to announce that Fenchurch Law has achieved a ‘gold’ award from the independent Investor in Customers (IIC) assessment process for a fourth year running.
IIC is an independent client experience agency which conducts client experience assessments, helps develop insights into client satisfaction, and awards annual accreditations. IIC also compares the views of staff and senior management to identify how embedded the customer is within the company’s thinking.
Comments from Fenchurch Law clients included:
“They have always been a solid, consistently high-quality business, who add genuine value for policyholders”.
“I have been very impressed by Fenchurch Law in all my dealings with them. I particularly value the fact that, unlike the majority of the large law firms, they never act for insurers and accordingly there is no conflict of interest”.
“Fenchurch Law is clearly passionate about what it does. They have given invaluable advice to me and my clientele and I would recommend and have recommended them to many clients and contacts”.
“Great to have a customer facing law firm with the level of expertise Fenchurch Law has”.
“The service that they offer is a real value add to my clients so a great strategic partnership”.
Sandy Bryson, Director at IIC, commented: “Investor in Customers has been working with Fenchurch Law for 4 consecutive years. Every year, the firm has demonstrated that it provides its clients with an exceptional experience attaining IIC’s highest award for client experience, Gold, each time. There is, and always has been, a genuine passion and culture within the whole Fenchurch Law team to continue to improve its service to all its clients and to consistently deliver the highest quality outcomes for them. It is such a pleasure to work with the firm.”
David Pryce, Managing Director at Fenchurch Law added: “Providing an exceptional service is one of our key principles. Improving outcomes for our policyholder clients is number one priority and we are confident that the IIC process will help us improve every aspect of our service in the future”.
Webinar - Virtual Coverage Symposium
A series of short topical sessions on a variety of insurance coverage issues. This virtual event is aimed at providing brokers with information on common coverage issues and tips on how to avoid them arising.
Session 1: Excess layer insurance
Session 2: Key exclusions in Construction All Risks insurance
Session 3: Reinstatement: when is it the appropriate measure of indemnity?
Session 4: Cover for COVID-19 under BI & other policies
Fenchurch Law expands property coverage disputes team
Fenchurch Law, the leading UK firm working exclusively for policyholders and brokers on complex insurance disputes, has appointed Nicola Bowen as an associate in its Property Risks practice group.
Nicola has spent a number of years working in insurance litigation with a specific focus on property related matters. She has acted for leading insurers on first party and liability claims disputes and complex defendant matters. She has also acted jointly for insurers and their insureds in a number of large subrogated recovery actions.
Nicola joins Fenchurch Law from BLM, where she was a solicitor in their property damage team and was previously a property damage solicitor with DAC Beachcroft.
Joanna Grant, partner and head of the Property Risks group practice at Fenchurch Law, said: We are delighted to welcome Nicola whose dedicated property damage litigation experience expands the coverage disputes capabilities the team can offer our clients.”
Nicola Bowen is an associate at Fenchurch Law
Fenchurch Law celebrates a hat-trick!
Fenchurch Law, the leading UK firm working exclusively for policyholders and brokers on complex insurance disputes has received its third consecutive ‘gold’ award from customer experience experts, Investor in Customers (IIC).
There were many complimentary comments from their happy clients, some of which included:
• “Fenchurch provide myself, my team and my clients with an excellent service and give an honest and balanced response. I rate them as the best in the business.”
• “Service focused, excellent knowledge, great at communicating sometimes difficult points.”
• “I believe the firm offers a unique service in this market and hence is vital to a number of clients.”
• “The service we receive from Fenchurch Law is second to none so we would have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending them to any client - in fact we actively do recommend them.”
• “They offer offer a service that is quick, personable and professional. I would add that they know my industry back to front.”
IIC is an independent assessment organisation that conducts rigorous benchmarking exercises. These exercises determine the quality of client service and relationships across several dimensions, including how well a company understands its clients, how it meets their needs and how it engenders loyalty. IIC also compares the internal views of staff to identify how embedded the client is within the company’s thinking.
Sandy Bryson, Director at Investor in Customers commented: “I am absolutely delighted for the whole Fenchurch Law team. They are rightly thrilled and proud to have achieved a third consecutive IIC Gold award, evidencing that they continue to provide their clients with an exceptional experience. The firm clearly cares deeply about its clients and its employees. The Fenchurch Law management team has embedded a culture of continuous improvement within the firm and they are passionate about making the marginal improvements identified within the IIC report to improve further still. They are a genuine pleasure to work with.”
David Pryce, Managing Partner of Fenchurch Law added: “Providing an exceptional level of client service is something that the whole team at Fenchurch Law cares deeply about. But we know we can always do better, and Investor in Customers give us the insights and the tools to help us keep improving our clients’ experience”.
Fenchurch Law expands coverage dispute team with Le Marquer appointment
Fenchurch Law, the leading UK firm working exclusively for policyholders and brokers on complex insurance disputes, has appointed Aaron Le Marquer as partner expanding its capabilities and international expertise.
Aaron specialises in insurance disputes for policyholders with a focus on product liability and recall and complex international losses. His experience extends to all commercial lines of business and he has handled many significant London market losses and represented manufacturers and insurers in high-profile cases in the tobacco, automotive, consumer electronics, pharmaceutical, and medical device sectors.
He joins Fenchurch Law from Tilleke & Gibbins, a leading Southeast Asian regional law firm, where he established a leading insurance practice and subsequently became a partner based in Thailand. Previously, he was assistant general counsel for Asia Pacific with AIG in Singapore. He originally trained and practised as an insurance and product liability lawyer with City and US firms based in London.
Managing Partner of Fenchurch Law, David Pryce said: “The start of 2020 marks a period of growth in our capabilities. Aaron is recognised for his insurance disputes work in Asia and now brings this substantial experience acting for policyholders and brokers on large scale and complex claims disputes together with strong insurance industry expertise and multi-jurisdictional experience. There is no doubt both Fenchurch Law and our clients will benefit significantly from his appointment. We will be making further announcements about the expansion of our team in the coming weeks.”
Fenchurch Law launches "The Associate Series"
Fenchurch Law’s new initiative, The Associate Series, is being launched with a view to sharing our knowledge and experience of coverage disputes with junior-mid level brokers. In doing so, we hope to enhance brokers’ ability to add value to their portfolios.
Fenchurch Law are specialists in coverage disputes. We act exclusively for policyholders and work shoulder-to-shoulder with (and never against) brokers.
The associates, whose specialisms span across a number of classes of insurance, are now sharing their expertise to assist junior-mid level brokers and claims handlers in their own careers. The associates are well-placed to do so as coverage specialists with prior experience as either brokers or insurer-side lawyers.
The Associate Series will enable us to share our knowledge and encourage you to cultivate relationships. Talks are being delivered to brokers across the UK between now and Christmas, with more seminars being planned for 2020.
The (free!) talks will be no more than 30 minutes each and focus on practical issues affecting the junior-mid tier. The fact that the talks are being delivered by your peers will, it is hoped, allow for relaxed interactive sessions.
The menu of talks will be regularly updated to reflect market developments but retain some core topics. The current menu is:
- Notification
- Coverage Disputes 101
- Damages for late payment
- A claims handler, broker and lawyer’s perspective
- Property Risks
- Third Party Rights against Insurers
- D&O
- Combustible cladding
- Contractors and traps for their brokers
Some of these talks will also be the subject of webinars, and there will be regular blogs looking at issues and trends in the market. Keep an eye out for our events and material!
If you have any queries about The Associate Series please contact James Breese on 020 3058 3075 or via james.breese@fenchurchlaw.co.uk.
Fenchurch Law adds Goodship to Construction Risks team
Fenchurch Law, the leading UK firm working exclusively for policyholders and brokers on complex insurance disputes, has appointed Rob Goodship as an associate further expanding its coverage dispute team capabilities.
Rob specialises in insurance disputes and has considerable experience in property damage, construction and professional indemnity coverage issues. He joins Fenchurch Law from Kennedys where he was an associate in their property, energy and construction team.
He has acted for several leading insurers in relation to coverage disputes across a broad range of first party and liability claims, as well as defending claims against professionals. He has also acted jointly for insurers and their insureds in a number of large subrogated recovery actions.
Managing Partner of Fenchurch Law, David Pryce said: “Rob is an experienced insurance litigator and his background in advising both insurers and insureds in coverage disputes in some of our core business areas, makes him an important addition to what is the UK’s largest team of policyholder–focused insurance disputes solicitors”.
Rob Goodship is an associate at Fenchurch Law