RPC has appointed insurance head James Miller as the firm’s new managing partner, effective immediately.
Miller (pictured) assumes the role after RPC’s long-term managing partner Jonathan Watmough stepped down in December last year. At the same time Rupert Boswall has been re-elected as senior partner for a second term. Both leaders have a three year term.
After beginning his career as a registered osteopath Miller joined RPC as a trainee in 1995 and made partner in 2003.
Since Watmough’s exit from the firm, Miller and head of commercial Tim Anderson have been running the firm as de facto joint managing partners. Anderson was considered another front runner for the top job, also standing for the role.
Until his retirement, Watmough had spent the past 10 years leading RPC, spending two years as elected chair of the firm’s management board and serving as managing partner since 2008.
RPC’s revenue for the last financial year was up 6% from £94.4m to £100.5m. The firm, which is known for its work with the insurance industry, has recently branched out into consultancy launching RPC Consulting with the hire of former Towers Watson global head of risk consulting Rory O’Brien. RPC Consulting has since grown to 56 employees with offices in Cambridge and France, as well as RPC’s London headquarters.
The firm also added Julia Chain to lead RPC Perform in 2016, a consultancy for in-house lawyers.
Miller told Legal Business: ‘My aim is to build on the continued success of the firm. At the top of my agenda is our client service and that’s not going to change. I have been on our management board in strategic decisions and have been very supportive of those.’
The former insurance head added: ‘Insurance is a very competitive market – it is a core strength of the firm and has been for some time. There is no reason we won’t continue to play a significant role in that market. My remit is slightly wider now and I am looking forward to it.’
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
