Since it was founded in 2016, Harbour Underwriting Ltd has been a leading provider of dispute insurance, both in the UK and internationally. Praised by clients for its ‘personal service, efficiency and industry knowledge’, the firm insures both claimants and defendant-side clients active across a range of sectors, and can underwrite for both the parties in the disputes (e.g. individuals or listed companies) as well as the stakeholders in the disputes (e.g. litigation funders and law firms). The underwriting team, which includes three practicing solicitors, is led by underwriting director and managing director Rocco Pirozzolo. ’Extremely skilled’ and ‘a pleasure to work with’, Pirozzolo, who has held the position since the firm was founded, boasts more than 25 years of experience in the market. The ’stand out’ Macella Wan, the firm’s underwriting manager, is also recommended.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Personal service, efficiency and industry knowledge are at the heart of Harbour's offering. Rocco is a well-known figure in the industry. He is extremely skilled at identifying the key issues and where necessary pragmatically working through the same for presentation. He is a pleasure to work with and is consistent and fair in how he treats people, even if there are difficult discussions ahead as there sometimes can be for brokers in the ATE space. He is very well supported by the team at Harbour, with particular mention of Macella Wan who, like Rocco, is excellent and always on top of the detail.'
- 'Rocco Pirozzolo - as noted above Rocco is the consummate professional. He knows the market backwards, does not overpromise, and is a delight to work with throughout the case. He is consistency personified, including when things get more difficult, and always remembers the personal aspect of what he does, which is so important to instilling confidence in clients and for client retention. Rocco is a class act. Macella Wan - Macella has been working with Rocco for a while now and it shows. She displays many of the same characteristics of care and attention to client's needs. She is always on top of the detail and is very efficient in her delivery.'
- 'We worked closely with Rocco Pirozzolo at Harbour on a matter which required adverse costs insurance in order to make the litigation possible. Typically third party funders and insurers tend to shy away from patent/IP related cases, but Rocco took this one on and enabled an excellent outcome for our clients.'
- 'Rocco inspired a great deal of confidence in our legal team that the insuring party understood the case and the risks involved and was prepared to back us to get the result that our client deserved.'
- 'What is unique is the experience amongst the team, in particular, Rocco Pirozzolo. There is very little he has not seen in this market and is a complete professional and pleasure to work with.'
- 'They are simply a joy to work with. No ego or ulterior motive - they just want to get deals done and will be as commercial as they can be in order to do so.'
Work highlights
Breach of contract claim regarding the provision of cryptocurrency services by the claimants to the defendants.
A class action before the Competition Appeal Tribunal claiming abuse of dominance by the respondents in the passenger rail service market in breach of the Competition Act 1998. The damages claimed represent the losses suffered by rail passengers holding TFL Travelcards who allegedly paid twice for parts of rail journeys that overlapped with the zone of validity of their Travelcards.
Practice head
Rocco Pirozzolo