Former Hugh James Head of Insurance Joins NewLaw

Phil Dicken, former equity partner and Head of Insurance at Hugh James in has joined another Cardiff-based firm, NewLaw, as the firm’s Strategic Partnerships Director.

He has been joined at NewLaw by Pauline Lewis who was also a partner with Hugh James and Head of Technical Services within the insurance department. She has joined NewLaw as Head of the Brain Injury Team.

Between them, Dicken and Lewis have almost 40 years’ experience of working with insurers, brokers and corporate clients.

Phil Dicken and Pauline Lewis are joined at NewLaw by two more colleagues from the Hugh James insurance team; Kate Shorney, who was a Senior Associate and Head of the firm’s Streamline insurance product, and Melanie Oprey, a Technical Services solicitor.

The move by NewLaw to recruit a further two significant defendant personal injury lawyers is evidence of the firm’s strategy to develop closer bonds with the insurance industry. Despite NewLaw’s almost exclusively Claimant based practice, the senior management at the firm predominantly has defendant backgrounds. This is no coincidence.

Mr Dicken will manage his new firm’s relationships with insurance clients and promote the firm’s commercial propositions and services in the post litigation funding reform era.

‘There were many attractions to joining NewLaw,’ Phil Dicken explains. ‘The successful growth of the firm is outstanding. This has largely been achieved as a result of the firm’s unique understanding of the insurance industry and the nature of the commercial propositions required by insurers. On that basis there was an obvious fit.

Despite its current significant volume capability, NewLaw is committed to continued investment in the business in order to deliver its commercial propositions to a growing share of the market.

Add to this the firm’s undeniable expertise in all personal injury product areas and there is a great recipe for success.’

Mr Dicken explains, ‘The solutions that we can offer are innovative because the firm was specifically set up for that purpose. Those solutions have been designed to be commercially viable and relevant, whatever the outcome of the pending government funding reforms.

The move to bring my colleagues and I to NewLaw is further evidence of the firm’s continued dedication to working in partnership with insurers and to add value to their policies by providing access to market-leading personal injury legal services.’

ends

For further information, call Phil Dicken on 02920 784492

15/09/2011