Stewarts today welcomes two new partners to the firm. Alex Leitch joins the firm’s Commercial Litigation department and Chloe Derrick joins the Policyholder Disputes department.
Alex Leitch
Stewarts continues to grow its Commercial Litigation team with the hire of Alex Leitch. Alex joins from Paul Hastings, where he was Head of Complex Litigation.
Alex has over 30 years’ experience as a litigator, and a proven track record in resolving high-value and strategically important international disputes for both institutional clients and high net worth individuals.
He has a broad practice encompassing the financial services, banking, technology and life sciences industries, whilst also having experience in data privacy, cyber and pharma.
Alex’s arrival marks an exciting period of growth for the Commercial Litigation team, which is integrated into a team of over 75 lawyers, the largest practice in the firm.
Lucy Ward, Co-Head of Commercial Litigation comments:
“We’re delighted to welcome Alex to Stewarts. His extensive experience acting in high-value complex disputes complements our existing practice and is aligned to the approach and direction of the Commercial Litigation team.”
Mo Bhaskaran, Co-Head of Commercial Litigation comments:
“Alex is a great addition to the Commercial Litigation practice and his wealth of experience and market reputation will be invaluable to the continued success and growth of the group.”
Alex comments:
“I am delighted to be joining Stewarts and advancing my ability to win more substantial, high value complex disputes. I am excited to combine both my hands on experience and expertise to strengthen my own and Stewarts’ client relationships.”
Chloe Derrick
Chloe Derrick joins the Policyholder Disputes department, founded by Aaron Le Marquer in September 2022, from Mishcon de Reya.
Chloe has more than 10 years’ experience advising on insurance issues, having acted on disputes arising from business interruption, property, directors & officers (D&O), warranty and indemnity (W&I), political risk, pharmaceutical, cyber and professional risks policy lines amongst others. Her casework often involves high profile multi-jurisdictional disputes.
Having previously acted for insurers in disputes, Chloe now acts exclusively for individuals and corporate policyholders. Chloe joins Stewarts from Mishcon de Reya’s insurance disputes team and was previously Lead Associate for the professional negligence offshore offering at RPC.
Aaron Le Marquer, Head of Policyholder Disputes, comments:
“Chloe is a stellar coverage lawyer and a valuable addition to the Stewarts Policyholder Disputes team. Her broad experience advising on all forms of commercial coverage disputes, coupled with her deep expertise in professional indemnity claims provides additional strength in depth to our rapidly growing policyholder offering.”
Chloe comments:
“I am delighted to be joining the Policyholder Disputes team at Stewarts. The team is very much at the forefront of some of the most ground-breaking insurance disputes this year, particularly within the business interruption sector. I am very much looking forward to contributing towards the team’s impressive experience and reputation across all lines of insurance claims, as well as drawing upon the wider strengths of Stewarts’ unique litigation platform.”
About Stewarts
Stewarts’ Commercial Litigation department was founded in 2009. In May 2023, Mo Bhaskaran and Lucy Ward took over as Co-Heads of the department. Stewarts is the largest litigation-only law firm in the UK. We act in some of the most complex and high-value disputes in the English courts. The firm has 400 staff including 80 partners across 15 contentious departments.
Since its foundation in 2022, the Policyholder Disputes department at Stewarts has acted exclusively for policyholders in high-value, complex insurance disputes, and has more than doubled in headcount in less than 12 months. The team recently represented the London International Exhibition Centre in the lead of “six expedited test cases”, where the Commercial Court recently found emphatically for policyholders. This was previously selected as one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2023.
You can find further information regarding our expertise, experience and team on our Commercial Litigation and Policyholder Disputes pages.
If you require assistance from our team, please contact us or alternatively request a call back from one of our lawyers by submitting this form.
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