RPC hires financial services disputes partner from Foot Anstey 

Financial services disputes specialist Terence Dickens has today (12 September) joined the insurance group of international law firm RPC. Dickens is based at the firm’s Bristol office.

The new partner joins from Foot Anstey LLP, where he led firm's contentious retail financial services offering. Dickens trained at Allen & Overy, before moving to Eversheds Sutherland and Foot Anstey.

Dickens has more than 18 years' experience in financial services disputes with a regulatory focus. He defends claims across the financial services industry, including against directors and officers (D&O), financial institutions (F&I) and pension professionals.

The specialist will join the firm's FI/D&O team, which has acted for insurers in relation to most of the major market losses of the last two decades, including for insurers of the large clearing banks, global investment banks, fund managers, hedge funds and global insurers.

Dickens is the second partner to join the team in three months, following the arrival of FI and D&O specialist Mike Newham in London. The team is part of RPC's insurance group, which launched Global Access Lawyers last year, alongside five other leading insurance law firms, to offer insurers access to more joined up global claims' solutions.

RPC's Bristol office celebrated its 10th birthday earlier this year, having grown ten-fold and now led by 19 partners. It also moved to a new, larger office, at Bridgewater House, and has ambitious growth plans.

RPC's global head of insurance, Simon Laird, commented: “Bringing in Terence to help build out our D&O defence work in Bristol, alongside our first class FI/D&O team in London led by James Wickes, makes perfect sense for us.

“As the financial services industry continues to grapple with the effects of the pandemic, coupled with the increasingly challenging socio-economic conditions, we see a continued rise in claims in professional and financial lines. Terence's arrival will give us the bench strength to continue to support our clients in all their financial services defence work across Bristol and London.”

RPC managing partner, James Miller, said: “We have ambitious growth plans for the future as we look to continue to help our people and our clients to achieve their ambitions. Terence is our ninth new Partner this year and we will continue to invest in good people, including in our market-leading Insurance Group.”

Dickens commented: “RPC's reputation in the Insurance market is first-class, in particular in defence work. I am excited to join this market-leading team to continue to capitalise on existing client relationships as well as help grow its financial services sector work.”

Terence is the ninth new partner to join the firm, alongside Newham, in the last eight months (Nicholas Lauw, Arash Rajai, Reshma Raja (general counsel and partner), Shai Wade, Tania Williams, Rathi Thiagamoorthy and Peter Kwon) across its commercial and insurance groups, as well as promoting ten new partners in May. RPC now has 126 partners across its four offices.