Berrymans Lace Mawer LLP (BLM) has bolstered its property damage insurance team with the appointment of two new partners. Mark Aitken and John O’Shea join the firm on 10 February, further strengthening its property and litigation expertise offering.
Mark and John join BLM from Greenwoods and bring a wealth of property insurance expertise, especially in relation to first party policy coverage advice.
Mark has acted for insurers for over 20 years, specialising in property and commercial claims involving fraud and related policy coverage issues. He has extensive experience of high value and complex claims involving arson, staged theft and other deliberate or exaggerated damage.
John brings with him an extensive insurance background having worked on both the insurer and loss adjuster side of the market. John spent over 12 years in various claims technical and managerial roles for a leading insurer and then spent time as a loss adjuster, before qualifying as a solicitor. John advises clients on all classes of property related loss with a particular focus on policy coverage, fire and flood claims, construction disputes and geotechnical claims including subsidence.
Commenting on the appointments, BLM partner and head of the property damage insurance team, Cathy Hawkins said: “Mark and John bring an exciting wealth of experience to BLM and they are strong additions to our workforce. Their unrivalled reputation and diverse career history means they are both well equipped to build on the firms current relationships across the insurance sector with a particular focus on the London Market, and work successfully with our national teams.”
Mark and John are also joined by two lawyers, Raphinder Sandhu-Jhinger and Rosemary Scott, also from Greenwoods.
The team was joined by partner David Vaughan in December 2012 which particularly bolstered its expertise in relation to the railway industry. Mark and John’s appointment comes hot on the heels of new London Market partner Caroline Berens who joined on 5 February from Kennedys.
