Ayo Babatunde
UK
Associate Solicitor
“I was attracted to Fenchurch Law because of the breadth of expertise it has across all lines of insurance for brokers and policyholders. I was also drawn to Fenchurch Law’s openness and approach to neurodiversity as I am dyslexic and dyspraxic. I believe it will ensure I work to the best of my ability and fulfil my potential.”
Ayo is an associate solicitor specialising in coverage disputes and is a member of our Construction and Property team.
Prior to joining Fenchurch Law, Ayobami trained at DAC Beachcroft, completing seats in Property Casualty, Professional & Financial Lines, Commercial Health and Real Estate. Ayobami graduated from the University of Nottingham, achieving a first-class degree, before achieving a distinction in his LPC at BPP University.
Rest of the Construction & Property Risks team
Donna Baldwin
UK
Practice Manager
“Fenchurch Law is a small, niche firm – like an extended family – with a group of supportive and forward-thinking colleagues who each make a real and valid contribution to the success of the firm and are united in their commitment to putting the policyholder first.”
Our Practice Manager, Donna, has a wide range of management responsibilities at Fenchurch Law, including overall responsibility for Finance and Accounts and supplier relationships and acting as head of the Operations team overseeing Compliance, Human Resources and all administration. She also assists our Managing Partner, David Pryce, with the day-to-day running of the firm.
Donna has over 30 years’ experience within the legal sector – including 17 years as a Practice Manager / Practice Director. She began her career with E.L. Murphy before moving to City of London firm of solicitors WHCG as Practice Manager in 2003. Donna is one of our original team, having joined Fenchurch Law in November 2010.
Rest of the Operations team
Jessica Chappell
UK
Senior Associate Solicitor
“I was attracted to Fenchurch Law due to its excellent reputation within the legal insurance market. But I was equally impressed by the business’ commitment to ensuring that when a dispute arises, the policyholder has the same advantage as the insurer, in an industry where traditionally this has not been the case. This purpose together with its forward thinking and unique values, drew me to Fenchurch Law from the start.”
Jessica is a Senior Associate specialising in coverage disputes and is a member of the Financial and Professional Risks team.
With over eight years of experience as a commercial litigator, she has worked on complex and high-value matters, including professional negligence claims against law firms and/or accountants, and has dealt with coverage issues such as condonation, construction of the policy, aggregation, and quantum.
Jessica has represented a range of clients, including resident and non-resident individuals, as well as companies. Having worked at boutique litigation firms for the majority her career, she has a breadth of High Court/Commercial Court litigation experience and has had successes at trial and in the Court of Appeal.
Rest of the Financial & Professional Risks Team
Emily Clarke
UK
Operations and Business Development Assistant
“Fenchurch Law’s culture can be described as friendly, modern, and fresh thinking. I have a wide range of responsibilities which means no day is the same.”
Emily is an Operations and Business Development assistant. She works alongside the Practice Manager and Business Development Manager to provide administrative and business development support to the fee earners. Emily also ensures the smooth running of our Leeds office.
Before joining Fenchurch Law in March 2022, Emily began her career in administrative roles both in the legal and construction industries.
Rest of the Operations team
Dru Corfield
UK
Associate Solicitor
“I was attracted to Fenchurch by the size, purpose and direction of the firm. Despite being a fairly young firm, Fenchurch has quickly established a very strong reputation within the legal insurance market for first-rate protection of policyholders’ interests. Fenchurch Law’s core values – which emphasise forward-looking personal responsibility – also drew me to the firm, as the entrepreneurial culture is one in which Fenchurch lawyers are able to think outside the box to get the best possible results for their clients.”
Dru is an Associate Solicitor specialising in coverage disputes.
Prior to Fenchurch Law, Dru trained at Elborne Mitchell LLP, a busy litigation practice in the heart of the London insurance market. He completed seats in Employment, Insurance and Reinsurance, Regulatory and Transactions. Dru graduated from McGill University, Montreal, Canada with a degree in History and Political Science before achieving a distinction in his LPC at BPP, Holborn.
Rest of the Financial & Professional Risks Team
Jonathan Corman
UK
Partner
“I was attracted to Fenchurch Law by the opportunity to act for policyholders – who traditionally have not had access to specialist coverage lawyers as compared with the huge choice available to insurers. I enjoy the intellectual challenge, the problem-solving and the need for precise thought and precise language to secure the best possible client outcome.”
Fenchurch Law partner, Jonathan Corman, is a member of our Financial & Professional Risks team. He acts exclusively for policyholders pursuing claims for indemnity against their insurers or defending uninsured claims made against them.
Jonathan has been an insurance specialist for almost 30 years, concentrating primarily on professional indemnity, as well as D&O, Financial Institutions and construction.
He has litigated at all levels of the court system, is familiar with the arbitration process, and is a strong believer in mediation whenever it is appropriate.
Jonathan acted for the successful policyholder in the recent Court of Appeal case of RSA v Tughans, which concerned indemnity for a claim relating to the policyholder’s own professional fees.
Legal 500 has described Jonathan as “at the foremost of his field, and a pragmatic and realistic lawyer who quickly identifies the issues and ways to address them … He is razor sharp and pulls no punches in achieving the best outcome for policyholders”.
Likewise, the Chambers & Partners Directory has said that “Jonathan is an absolutely exceptional insurance lawyer; he knows the field inside out and has real gravitas.”
Jonathan is a member of the British Insurance Law Association and the Society of Construction Lawyers.
Rest of the Financial & Professional Risks Team
Joanna Grant
UK
Managing Partner
“In Fenchurch Law, I was delighted to find a law firm that not only shared my ambition to level the playing field for policyholders but whose sole focus was to achieve that vision. I enjoy being part of a specialist, collegiate team with a shared vision and common goals.”
The firm’s Managing Partner, Joanna, is a highly regarded policyholder side coverage specialist. Joanna also leads Fenchurch Law’s Construction & Property Risks team, advising policyholders in high-value commercial coverage disputes relating to all types of property risks including under Commercial Property Policies and Building Defect Guarantee Policies. Her practice area includes a Financial & Commercial Risks element, including in particular advising on Trade Credit and Warranty and Indemnity Policies.
She is recommended by Chambers & Partners, where she is individually ranked for representing policyholders in insurance disputes and is recognised by Legal 500 as a leading individual with one referee commenting: Joanna Grant is a brilliant litigator. Tenacious, brilliant with the detail but never losing sight of the commercial objective. You would always want her on your team.’ Business Day gave Joanna top billing in its top ten list of ‘policyholder lawyers in UK 2023 providing substantial insurance influence’, referring to her as an “experienced insurance lawyer” whose expertise is “pivotal” in property-related claims.
A significant part of Joanna’s caseload in the past two years has related to Covid-related BI claims. In 2023 she acted on four cases being managed by the Commercial Court as part of its Covid List, and currently has a number of cases due to be heard by the Court of Appeal in 2024. During 2023, she successfully recovered amounts considerable in excess of £100m + for her policyholder clients who include large commercial clients with household names.
Joanna also has particular experience in combustible cladding cases, advising building owners, managing agents and groups of leaseholders living in high-rise buildings in respect of their insurance claims for the cost of replacing the ACM cladding and/or other defects.
Joanna joined Fenchurch Law in 2016 after 18 years at Allen & Overy, where she gained broad experience in complex multi-jurisdictional proceedings and arbitrations acting for financial institutions and global corporates, including advising policyholders on political risk, crime, and D&O policies.
Joanna graduated from the University of Oxford with a BA (Hons) degree in Oriental Studies and a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, before completing her CPE and LPC. She is a member of the British Insurance Law Association, the Society of Construction Law and Women in Property.
Rest of the Construction & Property Risks team
Michael Hayes
UK
Business Development Manager
“I was attracted to Fenchurch Law by the opportunity to work for one of the UK’s leading teams in insurance disputes for policyholders. I’ve found it to be a fresh thinking, modern firm with a supportive management team and I really relish working with a great team to build existing client relationships and develop new ones.”
Michael is Fenchurch Law’s Business Development Manager, working with each member of the team to optimise their business development and marketing activities. His responsibilities include events management, managing the firm’s social media channels, organising seminars, production of newsletters and other communications and management of the firm’s CRM database
Michael graduated from Loughborough University in 2014 with a BSc. in Information Management & Business Studies. He began his career as an Operations Manager for workspace solutions provider Regus, before joining Fenchurch Law in 2016.
Rest of the Business Development team
Christopher Ives
UK
Partner
“I was attracted to Fenchurch Law by the top tier reputation in the field, clarity of vision, simplicity of business model and connection with everyone I have met.”
Chris is a Partner in the Financial and Professional Risks practice group and is an experienced insurance disputes lawyer, who specialises in resolving complex and high value claims for corporate policyholder clients across a range of different risks. Key experience is as follows:
- He has dealt with many Warranty and Indemnity claims (e.g. for breaches of accounts warranties and tax covenants) involving complex coverage and quantum issues worth tens of millions of pounds in relation to the purchase of target groups across a range of sectors;
- Providing advice to the boards of PLCs in relation to Directors and Officers Liability policies, including on issues such as non-disclosure and allegations of fraud;
- Claims relating to infrastructure and energy projects for example a +£50m claim by the project owner of a biomass plant on a Delay in Start Up policy; and
- Advising institutional landlords in relation to claims on loss of rent policies following the Covid pandemic; and
- Providing coverage and strategic advice to clients in relation to their entitlement to claim on cyber risk policies following data breaches in a number of different jurisdictions.
Chris also regularly advises policyholder clients in relation to non-contentious insurance issues, for example the funders of construction projects in relation to their rights to rely on borrower insurance policies and in respect of title/no diligence policies.
Prior to joining Fenchurch Law, Chris worked in the Insurance and Reinsurance team at Eversheds Sutherland where he acted for policyholders, insurers and international brokers in relation to E&O claims, in a range of different forums (including before arbitral panels, the Commercial Court and a multi-billion dollar fraud claim in the Abu Dhabi Courts). He qualified at Addleshaw Goddard and also worked at DACB, which provided a valuable insight into the workings of the professional indemnity market and where he dealt with coverage and defence of claims against solicitors, brokers and other professionals.
Rest of the Financial and Professional Risks team
Amy Lacey
UK
Partner
Amy advises on coverage under a wide range of first party and liability insurances, with a focus on Construction and Property Risks. She has experience of litigation, arbitration and alternative forms of dispute resolution, arising from residential developments, commercial property, engineering projects, infrastructure and hotels.
Amy has specialised in representing policyholders on insurance claims for over 15 years, often involving international risks, across a variety of industry sectors. Joining Fenchurch Law as a partner in 2016, she has acted for owners, contractors, consultants, asset managers, financial institutions and high net worth individuals on recoveries under property, construction, business interruption, public liability, management liability, crime/fidelity and professional indemnity policies.
In Legal 500, Amy is ranked as a Next Generation Partner – Insurance Litigation: For Policyholders.
Amy sits on the Insurance Committee of the British Property Federation. She is a member of the British Insurance Law Association, Society of Construction Law and Association of Insurance Risk Managers in Industry & Commerce.
Rest of the Construction & Property Risks team