The Legal 500

Deacons’ sizeable insurance team handles major defence litigation for leading insurers and re-insurers in Hong Kong and throughout Asia. Department heads Christina Hung and Michael Turnbull have broad contentious practices, and are recognised for their personal injury expertise. The firm also has an active non-contentious insurance group, which handles insurance joint ventures, business portfolios and regulatory issues. Clients include Royal & Sun Alliance, Allianz Insurance and Aviva Life Insurance.

Kennedys is ’one of the top firms for insurance matters in Hong Kong’, and has ’great knowledge of the local insurance market’. Rupert Skrine and Chris Sharrock are experienced in financial and professional risks, and Meiling Yip is ’good at providing support in casualty cases’. On the non-contentious side, the ’highly approachable’ Richard Bates is extremely well regarded for life insurance and transactional matters. Clients include Chubb, AXA and ING.

Mayer Brown JSM is ’a responsive and knowledgeable firm that attends to clients’ requests proactively’. Practice head Angela Yim is ’good at handling complicated cases’, and has a broad contentious practice that includes policy interpretation, defending contractors risk claims, public liability, employees’ compensation and professional indemnity. The ’hands-on’ Tow Lu Lim leads the D&O liability and professional indemnity sub-group, and recently represented a leading insurer in mis-selling claims arising from its distribution of Lehman Brothers-related products. Jacob Tse is also recommended.

DLA Piper benefited from the arrival of ex-Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP partners Joyce Chan and Heng Loong Cheong in 2012. Chan specialises in life insurance and regulatory issues, and Cheong handles corporate insurance matters. Both recently represented Alleghany Corporation on the Hong Kong insurance and regulatory aspects of the client’s merger with Transatlantic Holdings. Will Harrison and the Shanghai-based Roy Chan are also recommended.

Herbert Smith Freehills advises on corporate, regulatory and contentious aspects of the insurance and reinsurance industries, and impresses with its ’very quick responses, spot-on advice and great value for money’. Practice head Gareth Thomas leads the Hong Kong commercial litigation team, in addition to the Asia insurance practice, and is hailed as being ’at the top of his game’ for both contentious and non-contentious insurance matters.

Howse Williams Bowers was formed in January 2012 by former Reed Smith Richards Butler lawyers. Name partners Chris Howse, who specialises in clinical negligence and shipping insurance, and Kevin Bowers, who handles commercial insurance matters, lead the insurance team. David Kan and Bernard Murphy are also recommended.

Ince & Co’s shipping roots mean that the insurance practice is often called on to handle marine insurance matters, but it is equally adept at handling non-marine matters involving property, professional negligence, D&O liability, political risks and business interruption. The firm is also developing a niche in insurance premium financing for investment bankers. Rosita Lau and Kelvin Lee have expertise in both contentious and non-contentious matters.

Simon McConnell, Mun Yeow and the majority of the insurance team at Allens are set to join Clyde & Co in late 2012. Both partners have contentious and non-contentious expertise in insurance and reinsurance matters.

Paul Tan’s insurance team at Baker & McKenzie provides ’fast turnaround times, expert advice and good industry knowledge’. Non-contentious work highlights included restructuring a German insurer’s Hong Kong business, while on the contentious side, the firm handled a High Court liability action for a Hong Kong insurance company. The ’very responsive and client-focused’ Martin Tam is also recommended, as is Gary Seib.

At Clifford Chance, Asia insurance head Mark Shipman is ’excellent when it comes to regulatory-related issues’, and advises asset managers, insurance companies and other financial institutions on non-contentious matters. Shipman works closely with Roger Denny on advisory matters. On the contentious side, Brian Gilchrist is also recommended.

Clyde & Co suffered some turbulence in 2012, when several ex-Barlow Lyde & Gilbert partners, who joined as a result of the merger, left the firm. David Smyth, Antony Sassi and Andrew Horton went on to establish RPC’s Hong Kong office in August 2012. Nevertheless, clients remain ’very content with the firm’s service quality and industry knowledge’. Although better known for its marine insurance capabilities, Gloria Jones also handles aviation matters, as well as a range of contentious issues, and Andrew Holderness and William Tsang are active in corporate insurance.

Holman Fenwick Willan’s insurance practice benefits from the firm’s well-respected shipping capability, an area where George Lamplough is singled out. For construction-related insurance matters, Nick Longley is the key contact. The team also advises clients on regulation surrounding Hong Kong’s Insurance Companies Ordinance.

Reed Smith Richards Butler no longer handles clinical negligence work, following the departure of a team of lawyers, including Chris Howse and Kevin Bowers, to set up Howse Williams Bowers in 2012. The key contacts are Nathan Dentice, David Harrington and Asha Sharma, who handle D&O claims, professional indemnity, solicitors’ indemnity and related regulatory matters. The team works closely with the shipping group for marine insurance issues.

At Simmons & Simmons LLP, ’the advice is technically excellent, prompt, and delivered with a keen eye on the commercial environment’. ’A zealous tactician, and unshakeable during negotiations’, Robert Lewington leads a team that handles professional liability, contractors’ all risks insurance, and D&O claims for clients such as Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance and Credit Suisse. In August 2012, Tom Fyfe joined from Clyde & Co (and, prior to the merger, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert).

Stephenson Harwood draws praise for its shipping insurance expertise, although it also handles a range of non-marine matters. Andrew Rigden Green relocated from the firm’s London office in 2012. Work highlights included a number of instructions from The People’s Insurance Company of China.