International law firm Clyde & Co has today announced that it will open offices in Sydney and Perth on 1 October 2012 with the recruitment of a team from Australian law firm Allens.
This includes:
In Sydney:
––John Edmond – Group Leader of Allens’ Insurance & Reinsurance practice
––Dean Carrigan – Insurance & Reinsurance
––Oscar Shub – Insurance & Reinsurance
In Perth:
–– Jenny Thornton – Financial Services, Energy/Natural Resources, and Insurance Litigation
Also joining Clyde & Co from Allens are:
In Hong Kong:
––Simon McConnell – who headed up the Hong Kong disputes practice
––Mun Yeow – a specialist in Professional Indemnity and Financial Lines disputes
In Singapore:
––Matthew Skinner – who headed up the Singapore disputes practice
–– Ian Stewart – Corporate/M&A in Insurance, Natural Resources and Transport
Clyde & Co’s Australian practice will initially be mainly contentious and have a strong focus on insurance and reinsurance.
CEO Peter Hasson said: “Australia is an immensely attractive market with a robust and diversified economy. The country has a growing insurance industry and continues to experience a boom in the natural resources, infrastructure and construction sectors. It is also an important base for servicing the South East Asia region and a presence in Australia will help us achieve critical mass. The partners joining us form part of the premier insurance team in the Asia Pacific and also have extensive experience handling a wide range of commercial disputes, financial services matters, as well as insurance M&A.”
Management Board partner James Burns said: “The Australian insurance market is highly dynamic and underwriters based in Australia are writing business all over the wider Asia Pacific region. We have the opportunity to increase the work we currently do for some of our key insurance clients, whilst expanding our reach across Asia. The partners joining us have a wealth of experience acting for clients in the Australian, US, London and Asia Pacific insurance markets. Our model of expansion in the US and Canada has proved successful and we are confident that this new operation will grow rapidly. In Hong Kong and Singapore, Simon, Mun and Matthew enjoy an outstanding reputation for their disputes work and they will add considerable depth to our teams there. Ian is a rising star in corporate insurance. This is an extremely exciting development for Clyde & Co.”
Sydney partner John Edmond said: “Clyde & Co has an unrivalled reputation in the global insurance industry and is a clear leader in dispute resolution, particularly following its mergers with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert and Nicholl Paskell-Mede. It has a long history of operating in the wider Asia Pacific region and a considerable international footprint. It is a very natural fit for us, not least because several of us trained and qualified at Clyde & Co. My partners and I will have an excellent base from which we can continue the existing high quality service we provide to our clients. There is tremendous potential for growth.”
With the addition of the Sydney and Perth offices, Clyde & Co will have 29 offices across six continents.
