About

Team size: 30
Major law firms used: Clifford Chance, DAC Beachcroft, Hogan Lovells, Linklaters, Pinsent Masons

It has been a frenetic few years at the UK arm of French insurer AXA, with major corporate transactions and increased regulatory pressure keeping GC Edward Davis and his legal team busy.

Identified as the most important piece of legal work in recent times by Davis, AXA UK undertook a landmark transfer of its historic disease liability book to rival Riverstone in 2017, including mesothelioma and noise-induced hearing loss. He says it was the culmination of over three years’ work when it finalised in October 2018.

Behind the scenes, he and his team have also been busy preparing for Brexit, in whatever guise it may ultimately take. ‘As we trade across borders, we have put a lot of work into making sure we are ready, assuming a hard Brexit,’ Davis says.

Regulation has also become tougher, with the likes of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) taking further steps to impose itself on the insurance industry. In particular, the FCA wants to improve customer outcomes. ‘That’s a challenge we want to meet. It is vital we improve customer experience. We have to have a dynamic relationship with our regulators.’

He has joined a slew of GCs exploring managed legal services, where aspects of the legal function are outsourced to external providers. In the case of AXA UK, litigation as a whole has been offloaded to panel firm DAC Beachcroft, meaning the in-house team is freed up to focus on non-contentious matters.

He notes: ‘I’m very keen on the whole concept, and I’m thinking about expanding it even wider in the years to come.’ Davis also indicates AXA UK’s five-strong panel, currently comprising DAC, Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Hogan Lovells and Pinsent Masons, is up for review in 2019.

Overall, he emphasises the need for lawyers to be proactive within their respective businesses. ‘Always try your best and try to make a difference. It’s easy to sit on the fence as a lawyer, but it’s really important we don’t do that. We should be as comfortable as anyone else when it comes to making decisions.’