DAC Beachcroft has boosted its commercial disputes practice in London with a partner hire from Signature Litigation,.
Paul Brehony brings almost 30 years of experience to DACB. He specialises in complex, multi-jurisdictional banking, commercial, fraud and insolvency-related disputes and has advised on some of the most high-profile recent banking cases and insolvencies, including Kaupthing, Sa'ad and Stanford International Bank.
Brehony has spent the past six years at Signature, before which he was a partner at Stewarts for a decade and also led the commercial litigation team at PwC.
John Bramhall, head of DACB's commercial disputes team, said Brehony's arrival came as the firm continued to expand its international work.
“Through collaboration with colleagues in our international offices, we will be building on Paul's expertise in international fraud and asset recovery work in particular, to develop new areas of international instructions," he added.
His hire follows DACB opening its first office in the Middle East last month, in Dubai, with a trio of insurance partners hired from Clyde & Co. Over the past few years the firm has also opened a trio of offices in the US, debuted in Hong Kong, established an association with Australian insurance law firm Gilchrist Connell and built its presence in Latin America with office launches and a local alliance.
The firm posted revenue of £348.1m for the year ended 30 April 2025 – £21m more than in the previous 12-month period. Gross profit before tax was up by 7.1% to £76m, while profit per equity partner rose at a similar rate to hit £750,000.
Separately, Signature hired international fraud partner Catherine Naylor in London last week from Gowling WLG, where she led its fraud, asset recovery, trusts and contentious insolvency offering and headed its Channel Islands and Brazil country desks.
She advises on complex, high-value and multi-jurisdictional civil fraud matters, asset tracing, offshore trusts and insolvency litigation. She also handles high-stakes litigation and commercial arbitration, from advising pre-action through to full trial and beyond to the Court of Appeal and the UK Supreme Court.
Naylor said the move would enable her to "deepen Signature’s ties with international markets like Brazil, where disputes often carry a strong fraud and investigations dimension.”
The firm’s senior partner and founder, Graham Huntley, said: “First and foremost, Catherine is absolutely the kind of practitioner that we want in our community. She will be part of our commercial litigation team, providing invaluable and in-demand services in the complex fraud and asset recovery insolvency arenas.”
Her arrival brings Signature Litigation to 27 partners.
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