RPC has hired a three-lawyer team from Weightmans to strengthen its cyber insurance practice after a previous team decamped to DAC Beachcroft.
The team is led by Ed Lewis, who joins after 18 years at Weightmans, 16 of them as partner. Originally an infrastructure risk and coverage lawyer, Lewis created Weightmans’ cyber practice, CyXcel GLS, using a multidisciplinary approach to meet client needs across the insurance sector. He also helped the London market set up the Cyber Monitoring Centre.
Writing on LinkedIn, he paid tribute to his former firm, saying: “Building it meant persuading people from very different professional backgrounds to try something new together. I remain immensely proud of every one of them.”
Lewis specialises in advising the insurance and reinsurance market on cyber coverage, defending tech E&O (errors and omissions) claims and handling high-profile cyber breach response matters. He joins the firm with two associates: Michela Resta and Rebecca Jackson.
Simon Laird, global head of insurance at RPC, said: “We have bold plans to continue building our international insurance offering, and Ed’s appointment is another significant step towards realising that ambition. Ed is widely regarded as a leading name in cyber, with a rare combination of incident response capability and deep insurance market expertise, and we are delighted to welcome him to RPC.”
Lewis said: “I’m looking forward to joining the team and supporting clients navigating cyber incidents, coverage and technology risk in an environment where the challenges are becoming more complex by the day.”
Lewis’s arrival follows RPC’s recent appointments of fellow insurance partner Tom Mungovan in London – who joined with a senior associate, Emma Smith – and cyber specialist Sumyutha Sivamani in Singapore.
The firm also previously hired data and cyber partner Cavan Fabris, who joined from Deloitte Legal last June and will work with Lewis alongside Jon Bartley in its data and cyber team.
However, RPC saw a three-partner team depart to insurance rival DAC Beachcroft in August, which included former head of RPC’s cyber and technology insurance team Richard Breavington alongside Rachel Ford and Bristol-based partner Daniel Guilfoyle.
It also follows the election of one of the firm’s largest partner classes on record, and the appointment of a new senior partner, Simon Hart.
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