DLA completes withdrawal as CMS adds RPC head
Mills & Reeve and CMS Cameron McKenna boosted their offerings at opposite ends of the insurance spectrum in June, taking staff from the Birmingham office of DLA Piper and the City office of RPC respectively.
Top-50 UK firm Mills & Reeve acquired a nine-strong defendant insurance practice from DLA, marking the conclusion of DLA’s withdrawal from the lower margin area of law, as first announced last year.
The team, which started at Mills & Reeve on 1 July, bringing its client book with it, is led by DLA’s former head of the Birmingham insurance group, Alan Jacobs, who joins with five fee-earners and three support staff.
The sale by DLA comes after its Manchester and Sheffield defendant insurance teams joined Hill Dickinson in late February this year. Neil Davis, head of Mills & Reeve’s insurance sector, said: ‘Both we and DLA Piper are convinced this is a positive step for the clients involved, and have worked together to facilitate a smooth transition.
‘Alan’s team has an impressive list of insurance and corporate clients, all of which fit well within our existing strategy for the development of a diversified and corporate focused insurance offering, across a national footprint. Our strategy is to grow our business in line with our sector commitments, including insurance and corporate services, while maintaining our reputation for outstanding client service. The fact that Alan’s clients have enthusiastically supported this move speaks volumes for the regard in which his team is held.’
The 384-lawyer firm also completed its merger with Manchester’s George Davies on 1 June.
Meanwhile, CMS announced on 18 June that it had recruited RPC’s head of reinsurance and longstanding partner Simon Kilgour to its ranks.
Kilgour advises domestic and overseas insurers and reinsurers on matters including high-value and non-standard coverage disputes, and has led numerous high-value disputes and arbitrations in London, the US and Bermuda.
CMS managing partner Duncan Weston said Kilgour’s arrival will add ‘strength and depth to our big-ticket capabilities across CMS’.