Moves follows Davies Lavery's merger with Kennedys.
DWF has appointed Graham Dickinson, one of the UK’s leading insurance and catastrophic injury lawyers, to oversee the launch of its new London office.
Dickinson, who was previously head of the catastrophic injury team at Davies Lavery, will be joined at DWF by fellow partner, Claire Bowler, and other members of his team.
Their move comes as Davies Lavery announces its merger with Kennedys.
In a statement DWF said that their arrival would further strengthen DWF’s insurance practice while giving the firm its first office outside of the North of England.
Dickinson, who has more than 25 years’ experience in insurance law, spent 11 years as senior partner at Rowley Dickinson during the early part of his career. He joined Barlow Lyde & Gilbert in 1994 as Head of General Insurance, a position he held for 12 years before moving on Davies Lavery.
Dickinson has been involved in some of the most high profile cases of recent years, including Halsey v Milton Keynes NHS Trust (2004), the landmark Court of Appeal decision on mediation and costs sanctions, and Freeman v Lockett (2006), a judgement on key damages issues in catastrophic claims.
He said: “DWF is a leading regional law firm with a strong reputation in insurance. We see this as an excellent opportunity to help it develop a significant practice in the City of London. Within the next two years we will have a strong, well-established full service insurance practice in the capital providing a high quality product for the UK and European insurance and reinsurance markets.”
Paul Berry, DWF’s head of insurance, said the firm would initially be based in Bury Street, EC3 and was looking for larger office space in the EC3 area of London to accommodate planned growth.
He said: “As a leading UK insurance practice we have been considering a move to London for a while and securing a team of this calibre is exactly the opportunity we were looking for. Immediately we have a highly credible offering on which to build our insurance business in the capital. Their strong reputation in London and their broad client base fits in well with our own expertise.
“Overall this new development will help us to strengthen our insurance practice and highlight our position as a leading national force. In addition it provides a base for us to service our clients from London and we will be looking to expand into other areas, particularly litigation, in the near future.”
