DAC Beachcroft has made a double partner hire from Clyde & Co, securing two lawyers who held senior positions at legacy firm Berrymans Lace Mawer (BLM) before its merger with Clyde & Co in 2022.
Joining in London is professional practices liability specialist Julian Smart, while David Caswell joins the firm’s corporate insurance and risk team, one of DAC Beachcroft’s key growth sectors, in Manchester.
Smart was a partner at BLM for 19 years prior to its merger with Clyde & Co and served on the combined firm’s partnership board.
At BLM, he led the professional and financial lines team and developed its international network. His practice focuses on significant, legally complex liability claims against professionals, particularly solicitors, accountants and surveyors. These include matters involving civil and criminal fraud and dishonesty.
He has also developed a niche in commercial crime recovery claims, with several significant recovery actions currently in progress for an insurer client.
Smart will work alongside solicitors’ liability specialist Sam Kneebone, who joined from RPC in 2023 and was promoted to partner in January.
Suzanne Wharton, head of DAC Beachcroft’s risk practice, said Smart’s “considerable leadership and management expertise, long-held relationships with key clients and commercial acumen will be invaluable to the business”.
Caswell, meanwhile, was previously Clyde & Co’s lead partner for employers’ and public liability claims and claims management generally.
Like Smart, he enjoyed a long career spanning 16 years at BLM, where he led the claims solutions, costs group and occupational disease teams, as well as overseeing innovation.
His broad-based expertise extends to the retail, construction and logistics sectors, as well as representing local authorities.
James Tallant, the firm’s commercial director of corporate insurance and risk, said the hire was a “significant step forward in growing our end-to-end corporate provision”.
The hires follow DAC Beachcroft’s announcement in July of a 6.4% rise in revenue to £348.1m and a leadership transition that will see head of insurance Helen Faulkner succeed David Pollitt as managing partner in November with a brief to continue a programme of international expansion at the firm, which saw it launch a US practice in December.
At their new firm, Smart and Caswell will be reunited with former Clyde & Co senior partner Simon Konsta, who joined DAC Beachcroft in 2023 as its international and business development lead, focusing on global insurance strategy.
Recent Clydes hires, meanwhile, include that of former RPC partner Sam Tate, who joined with his team in a global regulatory and investigation leadership role in March 2025.
In May, the firm announced the promotion of 25 new partners, including six domestic promotions in Manchester, four in London and two in Edinburgh.
A Clydes spokesperson said: “We thank David and Julian for their contribution over the years and wish them well in the next stage of their careers.”
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