Global legal and business services provider DWF has significantly strengthened its major injury and casualty practice with the addition of 27 new staff in London and Leeds, responding to growing demand from insurers for specialist support on high-value claims. The move comes as insurers and brokers across the UK and beyond grapple with increasingly complex injury claims.
The expansion includes four partners who joined from Kennedys – Richard West, Claire Mulligan, Gareth Thomas and Jennifer Harris – alongside director Nicola Stickings, a cohort of senior associates, and other legal professionals. A fifth partner, Victoria Kennedy, will join in October from DAC Beachcroft.
The team brings expertise across liability defence, catastrophic injury, travel litigation, regulatory matters and crisis management. DWF said the hires enhance its ability to advise insurers and corporates on complex casualty exposures, which have been rising in both frequency and severity. Claire Bowler, head of Major Injury and Casualty at DWF, said the intake represents a major step in the firm’s strategy.
“Their collective knowledge and skills, together with their proven track record of advising leading insurers and corporates, represents a major step forward in the growth of our team," Bowler said.
Matthew Doughty, Group CEO and CEO of DWF’s Insurance Services division, added: “The breadth and calibre of this intake is outstanding and reinforces our position as a leading provider of legal and business services to the insurance industry.”
Meeting rising demand for complex claims expertise
Catastrophic injury cases often involve multi-million-pound settlements, with medical inflation, long-term care costs, and advances in life expectancy modelling pushing up claim values.
At the same time, regulators have increased scrutiny of claims handling and customer outcomes, while fraud trends add further complications to liability defence. These pressures have driven insurers to seek external legal partners with deep expertise in casualty risks and the resources to manage large-scale litigation.
DWF’s growing casualty practice reflects this industry demand. Its Insurance Services division, which employs around 2,000 people worldwide, has positioned itself as one of the largest integrated providers of legal and business services to the sector.
