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Leading commercial law firm DAC Beachcroft LLP has established a new commercial insurance team in Newcastle as part of its strategic growth plan for 2012.
The new team is headed up by sector specialist Paul Davison, a graduate from Newcastle University who joined the firm from Eversheds in Manchester, where he spent 12 years leading the regional insurance team. Paul is working alongside professional indemnity specialist Gill Burnett with whom he has previously worked at CMS Cameron McKenna in the City.
Since the Newcastle office opened in 2008, there has been continuous growth in the number of high value instructions received into the office from leading professional indemnity insurers and Paul believes that Newcastle has real potential as a dynamic hub for professional services firms. “DAC Beachcroft is committed to becoming the first-choice firm for the full range of commercial insurance services and specialist legal advice across the North of the country in tandem with our existing teams in Leeds and Manchester,” he said. “We have the people, the experience, the client base and the technical know-how to provide the highest level of service at a regional price. Newcastle currently has very low-key legal service in this field but has a sizeable community of potential users of the type of service we can provide."
In Newcastle, DAC Beachcroft has established a reputation as a key player in a number of specialist markets, most notably personal injury and healthcare. Its financial performance has gone from strength to strength, with turnover up by almost 20 per cent last year and a raft of blue-chip clients, including many public and private sector health organisations. The number of staff has doubled over the same period, and the total now stands at more than 60 legal professionals, including a team of partners who are all ranked as leading experts in their field by national directories, Chambers UK and Legal 500.
Regional senior partner David Weatherburn believes one of the keys to Newcastle’s future prosperity lies in the city’s ability to attract high level talent back to the area as well as ‘growing its own’ and re-establish its position as a strategic hub for specialist services: “DAC Beachcroft’s success in Newcastle is down to the true specialisms we have developed, and our ability to tailor our offering to the needs of individual clients. We already have a market-leading reputation in our chosen areas of work, but there are clear opportunities to develop closely aligned services.
“Our model makes us constantly review and adapt to reflect changes in the marketplace and new opportunities. Paul’s appointment and the new commercial insurance offering is part of that process and another step towards our goal of bringing the very best legal talent to the North East.”