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DWF to take 9 partners from Hall & Wilcox
Following its recent acquisition of an Australian claims management business, global practice DWF is set to swell its insurance litigation offering with the appointment of nine partners from national firm Hall & Wilcox, who will transition in the next six months.
Jerome Doraisamy
In September, DWF acquired Australian claims management business Proclaim as part of its push to bolster its presence Down Under.
Now, the global provider of integrated legal and business services – which has approximately 4,500 people and offices globally and recorded net revenue of £435million in the year ending 30 April 2024 – has reached an agreement to recruit the London market team of Hall & Wilcox, which includes nine partners.
The team of nine, led by Matt Curll and Rachael Arnold, also includes Paul Baxter, Hannah Peddie, Zoe Keith, Clare Campbell, Gemma Dehn, Tina Lung, and Ahranee Vijayaseelan.
Most of the team will be based in Sydney, DWF noted in a statement, with colleagues also based in Brisbane, Newcastle and Melbourne.
It is expected that the team will join the global player by May 2025, at the latest.
Speaking about the pending arrivals, DWF chief executive of insurance services, Matthew Doughty, said: “It has long been a strategic priority to grow our business organically in key markets such as Australia, including through senior lateral hire recruitment. We believe this move will significantly strengthen our ability to support clients across Australia and globally.”
DWF Australia managing director Matt Dudakov said: “We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to the business. Our team here in Australia has driven dramatic growth in recent years, and the addition of this stellar team will add further momentum to our success. It builds on, and is highly complementary to, our recent acquisition of Proclaim, the leading Lloyd’s of London claims management business in Australia.”
Proclaim managing director Jon Broome said: “We, and a number of our clients, know the team well, and this presents an opportunity for us to deliver a more integrated service in the future across the whole claims life cycle whilst at the same time respecting clients’ preferences as to outside counsel and their existing panel arrangements.”
Hall & Wilcox chief executive partner Graydon Dowd – who assumed that role in July – issued a statement following the announced move, saying that the national firm practises across many commercial and insurance service lines and sectors, experiencing “significant growth and success” over recent years.
“Much of this growth has resulted from partners and teams joining our great firm. It is inevitable that, from time to time, partners will decide to join another firm,” he said.
“While the departure of these partners is unfortunate, they primarily handle claims for London insurance syndicates. This is, to a significant extent, a discrete practice.”
“Our ability to service our insurance clients (across all general, statutory, professional, and specialised lines) will not be impacted, and we are focused on ensuring minimal disruption to our people and clients.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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