Clyde & Co to strengthen Airmic relationship following BLM merger

BLM’s teams are now part of Clyde & Co’s global insurance practice, becoming the biggest legal provider to the UK casualty market with the largest data set of any firm, facilitating valuable insight into Airmic members’ risk profile. Other sizable groups from BLM have joined Clyde & Co’s professional liability, healthcare and business advisory teams.

A global offering

As a result of the merger, Airmic members will now have access to a significantly enhanced solution which will offer real value to their businesses. Members will now benefit from an expanded offering with a comprehensive range of legal services and advice to businesses operating at the heart of global insurance, trade and commerce.

This includes leading Cyber, Aviation, Marine, Financial Lines, Environmental, and Energy and Natural Resources teams.

Clyde & Co’s lawyers are firmly established as the ‘go to’ specialists on matters relating to global supply chains and geopolitical risk. Over the past year, this has included advising clients on matters ranging from the effects of China’s zero-Covid policy to helping them mitigate the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Size matters

The merger is in response to the changes taking place in the market, where clients are increasingly consolidating to realise efficiencies and economies of scale. At the same time, panel sizes are reducing, and insurance composites are increasingly looking for national, full-service firms with leading individuals that can offer regional support – a demand that the combined firm will meet.

Matthew Harrington, a Partner at Clyde & Co and BLM’s former Senior Partner, said: “The merger will allow clients to benefit from our expert teams across the UK and Ireland, while benefitting from Clyde & Co’s unparalleled international presence too. Size matters as clients are increasingly looking for end-to-end support from trusted suppliers across business lines and geographies as they seek partners to support their growth and drive to improve margins in what is an ever-competitive sector. We are delighted that our clients will now be able to benefit from all the merged firm as to offer.”

One of the key areas of focus for Clyde & Co is offering clients innovative, technology-based solutions, with one of the first visible outputs from the merged firm being the rebranding of Clyde & Co Newton.

Newton combines the firm’s casualty insurance legal expertise with claims automation and artificial intelligence – factors that are central to the firm’s strategy for delivering the lowest overall indemnity spend for clients and using technology to better enable organisations to manage risk.

Market-leading insight

As well as continuing to actively support Airmic events and initiatives such as the annual conference, talks and forums, members will enjoy greater access to leaders in their fields, supporting all major jurisdictions, offering thought leadership and knowledge sharing on the issues that matter most to risk professionals in 2022 and beyond, such as ESG, People Risk, Cyber, Fleet and Terrorism.

Recent examples of global legal insight from the firm have included recommendations on how to prevent cyber fraud in international trade, consideration of the potential impact of port strikes in the UK and recommendations of how HR professionals in financial services can contribute to ESG goals.

The firm has also recently published in-depth commentary following the announcement that the UK Government is to adopt the Law Commissions’ recommendations on automated vehicles.

Clyde & Co’s Connected World blog provides up-to-the-minute analysis of the latest global legal news, ranging from the implications of the first greenwashing aviation lawsuit recently filed against KLM to the first ESG-related settlement by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

And a podcast series seeks to bring to life leading news stories, significant developments and defining trends across sectors through discussion and analysis from a global network of lawyers. Recent episodes have covered issues as diverse as causation and risk assessments, climate change and digital transformation.

Finally, Airmic members can also expect to hear from the firm’s legal experts at global industry events such as September’s Cyber Insurance conference in Düsseldorf, where Clyde & Co will be discussing liability risks after cyber attacks.

We are excited at how the merged firm can support Airmic members in sharing knowledge and offering enhanced solutions across multiple jurisdictions. If you would like to learn more about Clyde & Co, please contact James.Harvey@clydeco.com. For the latest legal insights from the firm, please visit clydeco.com/en/insights.