DLA Piper confirmed that the move was the result of a mutual decision
Barry Nilsson has added six new principals to its ranks after six insurance litigation partners made the jump from DLA Piper.
The new principals are Cameron Maclean, Jock Campbell, Carmen Elder, James Berg, James Morse and Sophie Devitt. They will bring their team members with them to Barry Nilsson once the transition has been finalised.
Barry Nilsson chairman Peter Murdoch said the six principals would operate across three of the firm’s offices. Working from Perth will be Maclean as part of the directors and officers, professional indemnity and insurance litigation practice, and Campbell as part of the professional indemnity, casualty, statutory prosecutions and inquiries practice.
Joining the Sydney office are Elder (directors and officers, professional indemnity, inquiries and statutory prosecutions), Berg (professional indemnity, public/products liability and casualty) and Morse (transaction liability / warranty and indemnity, professional indemnity and insurance litigation). Devitt will be based in Brisbane as part of the professional indemnity, directors & officers, inquiries, statutory prosecutions and regulatory practice.
“Insurance has long been a key practice area for our firm, and we’ve seen a steady increase in demand for insurance law services over the past few years as a result of the rapidly-evolving risk landscape”, Murdoch said. “Beyond strengthening our capacity to service our current clients in this environment, these teams bring additional expertise in warranties and indemnities, general commercial litigation and regulatory work, and add scale to our well established financial lines and casualty lines of business, significantly growing our insurance service offering”.
According to DLA Piper, the move was the result of a mutual decision that followed a “considered and consultative process”.
“We wish the departing partners well with the move to a new firm. Looking forward, we remain focused on elevating our offering to insurers and others operating in the sector to support them on their most complex challenges and as they continue to deal with a rapidly changing business environment and accelerating pace of technological change as AI transforms the way we work and deliver services. In tandem, we are consistently looking to appoint new partners based on client needs, and in line with our strategic objectives”, country managing partner Shane Bilardi said.
The firm indicated that it would strengthen its focus on complex, contentious and non-contentious transactional, regulatory and other corporate commercial advisory mandates.
