London-based boutique Bellevue Law has hired Lianne Craig, the former managing partner of specialist disputes firm Hausfeld’s London office, as a senior consultant as it seeks to expand its commercial disputes offering.
Craig joins Bellevue after taking a career break for personal reasons following her departure from Hausfeld in 2024. She will combine the role with coaching work, having recently trained as a leadership coach.
With more than 25 years’ legal experience, she has a broad domestic and international disputes practice acting for both claimants and defendants and spanning commercial, financial services and competition matters.
Her arrival follows Bellevue’s recruitment last month of former Latham & Watkins partner Catherine McBride, who also joined as a consultant. McBride also spent time in-house at Swiss Re, RBC, Deutsche Bank and KPMG.
The pair will help the firm grow its disputes practice alongside its highly regarded employment law practice.
Florence Brocklesby, an employment law specialist who founded Bellevue Law in 2014, said: “Lianne is a formidable disputes lawyer whose strategic insight and international experience significantly strengthen our commercial disputes offering.”
Craig added: “Florence is an inspiring business leader who I have admired for many years. In Bellevue Law, she has built a values-driven B-Corp and filled it with talented and passionate senior lawyers.”
Craig spent 14 years at Hausfeld, two as London managing partner, after spells of six years at Weil Gotshal & Manges and three years at Clifford Chance, where she trained and qualified.
Her time at Hausfeld saw her gain significant experience in multi-party and group claims, including large-scale financial services disputes. She is highly experienced in the use of litigation funding and insurance products.
In a LinkedIn post, she said Brocklesby was “an inspiring role model for women in law [as] over the last decade she has built and led a sustainable, values-driven law firm which has become a genuinely attractive platform for talented senior lawyers, many with backgrounds in leading international and UK firms”.
She said her move to Bellevue would allow her “to offer independent strategic litigation advice for clients and referral firms with a value proposition that is highly attractive, whilst continuing to build my complementary leadership coaching and consulting practice”.
She explained: “Increasingly, I see the overlap between the skills developed as a litigator and those used in coaching – both involve creating the space for clients to navigate complex and often emotionally demanding situations.”
Anthony Maton, Hausfeld’s global co-chair, said: “When Lianne stepped away from Hausfeld, now almost 15 months ago, we supported her decision, after what had been a difficult time.
“It’s good to see she has found a new home at Bellevue Law, founded by the fantastic Florence Brocklesby and that she is able to combine this with her coaching practice.”
In 2024, Bellevue Law became one of only a small number of UK law firms to be B Corp certified, a certification for businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
Earlier this week, Hausfeld added a partner to its Amsterdam office. Nima Lorjé has moved across from prominent Benelux independent firm Stibbe, where he was a counsel.
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