The in-house trend towards panel downsizing is again in evidence as AIG today (26 September) revealed a 25-strong list of advisers with a view to ultimately reducing that number to as little as single figures.
Phase one of AIG’s Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regional legal panel review – covering AIG’s claims and corporate legal panels for the UK and its nine largest European operations – has seen firms including Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, CMS Cameron McKenna, Clyde & Co, DAC Beachcroft and Kennedys reappointed.
Other firms awarded a place on the panel, following the review led by EMEA general counsel Chris Newby, include BLP, Bond Dickinson, DLA Piper and Simmons & Simmons.
Following the merger of AIG’s European and UK businesses in December last year, the insurance giant has also introduced a Legal Operations Centre (LOC), with the objective of achieving centralised management of the legal panel for AIG’s EMEA businesses.
Newby said: ‘We are aiming to partner with fewer law firms across EMEA and build broader and deeper relationships with these firms. Our objective is to manage our law firm relationships centrally and to ensure an excellent legal service to all areas of the business – claims, underwriting and corporate.
‘Having set up an excellent structure, the next stage is to improve the way we manage our legal panel. Better management information and closer working relationships will help us to drive efficiencies and, more importantly, improve quality of service. For example we may choose to adopt alternative fee arrangements connected to the delivery of business objectives. We see the potential for further consolidation in the future but we are currently focused on quality of service.’
francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk
UK LAW FIRMS APPOINTED:
Linklaters
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Berwin Leighton Paisner
Mayer Brown
Bond Dickinson
Mills & Reeve
BTO
Morrison & Foerster
Chadbourne & Parke
Murphy & O’Rawe
Clyde & Co
Norton Rose Fulbright
CMS Cameron McKenna
Plexus
DAC Beachcroft
Robin Simon
DLA Piper
RPC
Simmons & Simmons
Hill Dickinson
Simpson & Marwick
Holman Fenwick Willan
Travers Smith
Kennedys
Weightmans
