Leading international legal practice Norton Rose has appointed Kirsty Hick as a litigation and dispute resolution partner in the London office. Kirsty will join from CMS Cameron McKenna.
Kirsty focuses on disputes covering professional indemnity, financial institutions, cover holders, policy drafting and interpretation, coverage advice and international and domestic dispute resolution.
This is the fourth high profile insurance litigation hire into Norton Rose’s London team in the last fifteen months, following the recruitment of Patrick Foss and Chris Zavos from Barlow Lyde & Gilbert at the end of 2011 and of market-leading insurance litigator Liam O’Connell, also from CMS Cameron McKenna, in January. It also underlines the practice’s strategy for growth in insurance litigation alongside the London office’s non-contentious capabilities and complements the international reach of Norton Rose’s global insurance claims network.
Deirdre Walker, Global head of litigation and dispute resolution at Norton Rose, comments:
“Our litigation team has grown significantly in the last two years. As well as Kirsty’s hire and others preceding it, we made ten international partner promotions in the practice in 2012 and have grown the practice significantly through our international combinations, most recently in Canada and South Africa. When we combine with Fulbright & Jaworski on 1 June we will have 1,000 specialists, creating one of the largest global litigation and dispute resolution teams.
“Contentious insurance is an area of the business that we are committed to growing and developing, and one which is being driven by the calibre of our clients. Kirsty’s arrival significantly boosts our capability in this field. She brings a huge amount of experience which complements our existing expertise. I look forward to welcoming Kirsty into the team during this exciting stage in our development.”
James Bateson, Global head of financial institutions at Norton Rose, comments:
“Kirsty is a great hire and a proven name in the insurance market. She will strengthen our non-marine claims practice, an area we have targeted for growth, and helps us to build a strong reputation as a claims practice to complement our market leading brand in non-contentious work in London. We expect Kirsty to play a prominent role in helping build our international capabilities too, working with our excellent insurance claims businesses in Europe, Australia, Canada and South Africa, and from later this year, the US too.”
Legal 500 UK 2012 praises Kirsty as someone who: “always goes the extra mile, and is a pleasure to deal with”, and Chambers UK 2013 adds that she: “receives acclaim as an ‘impressive strategist’. Sources admire her enthusiastic approach and regard her as a face for the future.”
