The office increases Clyde & Co’s presence in Germany, where it already has offices in Düsseldorf and Hamburg, and demonstrates the firm’s commitment to building a unique and market leading insurance offering in the three key cities in the country, home to the operations of many of the world’s leading insurance businesses. Eva-Maria Barbosa, Dr Andreas Börner, and Dr Sven Förster, who provide comprehensive and joined up corporate, transactional, claims and disputes services to the insurance sector, will join as Partners from Norton Rose Fulbright, where they have worked together since 2006.
The hires complement Clyde & Co’s existing insurance claims and regulatory teams in Düsseldorf and Hamburg and add market leading warranty & indemnity (W&I) insurance underwriting and claims expertise – one of the fastest growing business lines in the country – as well as extensive disputes expertise.
The joining partners are:
Eva-Maria Barbosa, a corporate insurance lawyer with broad experience of insurance regulatory and corporate insurance matters who has led on many insurance related M&A and restructuring projects, with clients regarding her as a leading dealmaker, focusing on projects including exit strategies for discontinued businesses, run-off and cross-border outsourcing service agreements, as well as mergers and cooperation agreements.
Dr Andreas Börner, a corporate and regulatory lawyer for the insurance sector who advises clients on corporate, capital market, compliance and regulatory issues, and focuses on a broad range of transactions including cross-border M&A, reorganisations, regulatory capital, portfolio transfers, discontinued business and insurance linked securities.
Dr Sven Förster, a litigation and dispute resolution lawyer with a focus on complex domestic and multi-jurisdictional (re-)insurance claims and disputes. He has extensive experience of acting as coverage and defence counsel covering litigation, international arbitration and all forms of alternative dispute resolution.
The initial team will include a total of eight fee earners and two support staff, with additional hires being imminent.
The expansion is the latest growth for Clyde & Co in continental Europe where it has offices in Paris, Madrid, Nantes, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, the latter opening in February 2019 following the hire of four leading marine partners and their teams.
James Cooper, chair of Clyde & Co’s Global Insurance Practice Group, comments: “Our insurance clients are increasingly looking for law firms to support their organisations in a consistent manner around the world. This need has been brought into even sharper focus thanks to the global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and in Europe thanks to the uncertainties and disruption created by Brexit. Our Munich office will significantly bolster our offering to clients and give us a presence in a city which is home to many of Europe’s biggest insurers.”
Dr Henning Schaloske, member of Clyde & Co’s European Board and head of our German insurance practice, comments: “Opening in Munich enhances our offering to clients across Germany. The hire of such high quality, well renowned group of lawyers, who bring with them such diverse insurance law expertise, underlines Clyde & Co’s commitment to building a market-leading insurance practice across the country.”
Eva-Maria Barbosa adds: “Clyde & Co is the foremost insurance law brand in the world, and as a team we feel that it’s the natural home to house and further develop our practices, and provide our clients with the high quality, joined up, and global services they require. We are a team who have worked very closely together for almost 15 years and we are really looking forward to joining and forming a cohesive team with our new colleagues in Dusseldorf and Hamburg and around the world to allow us to be even more efficient and effective in servicing our clients.”
The team will join and the office will open on 1 February.
The German insurance practice and the Düsseldorf office of the firm have been growing steadily since entering the German market in 2016. Operating at the heart of the market, our lawyers service domestic and international insurance clients. The claims and product teams support clients across all major business lines, including financial lines (D&O, E&O, PI, Crime), casualty, property and CAR/EAR, and have built a reputation as a leading team for emerging risks such as cyber and W&I. In addition, the team advises insurers, reinsurers and other market participants on all aspects of regulatory and insurance distribution law, run-off solutions, insurance competition law, as well as on other insurance legal and compliance matters.
Source: www.clydeco.com
