Leading Boutiques Combine to Form SDV Fenchurch, a Global Law Firm for Insurance Policyholders

Business Wire

Operating in eight jurisdictions across North America, EMEA, and APAC, the new firm provides policyholders and their brokers with a single source for the full spectrum of insurance coverage counsel.

TRUMBULL, Conn., & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. (SDV), Fenchurch Law, Wesolowski Abogados, and CLIR & Fenchurch and their partner members in Asia, Europe and North America combined today to launch SDV Fenchurch, a global law firm built exclusively to represent policyholders and the brokers who advise them.

Structured as a Swiss verein, SDV Fenchurch unites dedicated insurance-recovery practices across eight jurisdictions in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, and Singapore. With over 90 lawyers devoted to insurance coverage matters, the firm is among the largest policyholder-side practices in the world and, by number of jurisdictions with full-time policyholder counsel capabilities, the most geographically extensive.

The founders are brought together by a single shared mission: to act solely for policyholders, never the insurers, in insurance disputes. This is in stark contrast to most international firms with insurance practices, which mostly represent insurers only.

“For thirty years, we have believed that policyholders deserve lawyers whose loyalty is never divided,” said Tracy Saxe, Chair of SDV Fenchurch and founder of SDV. “Every firm coming together to create SDV Fenchurch shares that goal: to level the playing field for policyholders in their dealings with insurers, and to perform the highest-quality legal work in the world while we do it.”

One global firm, deep local expertise

SDV Fenchurch is organized as a verein under Swiss law, allowing the member firms to perform for clients as a single, coordinated firm while remaining separately regulated legal entities in each jurisdiction. The structure was chosen in order to support the firm’s expansion into all key insurance jurisdictions across the world, while preserving the entrepreneurial cultures and independence that have made each founding firm successful.

The verein structure also allows the firm to be selective about who joins. Membership requires an exclusive policyholder focus and a top-tier reputation in the local market.

Why the timing matters: a global firm for a global industry

The new verein was formed in response to the market’s growing need for cross-border legal counsel.

Ownership structures, insurance towers, and insurance claims have been international for years, while the counsel available to policyholders has remained national. For instance, a policy issued to a U.S. manufacturer may be governed by New York law and resolved by arbitration in London. A program covering an infrastructure project in Asia may be subject to English law and arbitrated in Singapore.

"Insurance is a global market, and the disputes that come out of it have been global for a long time," said David Pryce, Chair of SDV Fenchurch and founder of Fenchurch Law. "What has been missing is a firm built specifically to meet policyholders on that footing. We have been the first firm to practice on a policyholder-only basis in several of the markets we operate in, and we know how much of a difference that focus makes. The creation of SDV Fenchurch means that, for the very first time, multinational policyholders are able to access specialist representation from a firm that is both truly international and comprised of lawyers with deep roots in each of their respective jurisdictions and insurance markets."

Advisory services and deep relationships with insurance brokers add value

While SDV Fenchurch lawyers are experienced litigators and arbitrators, a vital aspect of their work today is advisory in nature—strengthening policy language before a loss occurs, reviewing endorsements, flagging changes in the law, and adding legal muscle to coverage negotiations.

Central to that model is a close collaborative relationship with the world’s leading global and independent insurance brokers. The member firms work in lockstep with brokers to counsel them and their clients on coverage issues, co-host educational sessions, and help resolve disputes. SDV Fenchurch approaches coverage disputes with the client's ongoing commercial relationships in mind and works with brokers to reach outcomes that prevent damage and preserve long-term business continuity.

"More and more, we do a significant amount of important work long before anyone files a lawsuit," Saxe said. "We sit alongside a client's broker at renewal and explain what a new endorsement may mean when a claim arises two years from now, or how a decision handed down last month changed the coverage they thought they had bought. Now, however, we’ve expanded our reach. A client can have that same conversation about a U.S. policy, a London policy and a Singapore arbitration all at one firm."

Serving a wide range of high-risk industries

The platform’s deepest roots are in construction and energy, where business-interruption losses can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

SDV Fenchurch also acts for insurance brokers, financial institutions and professional services firms, with strong practices in directors and officers liability, representations and warranties and transactional risk, real estate and facilities, and transportation and marine cargo.

A firm built to grow

"Eight jurisdictions is the starting point rather than a destination," Pryce said. "Our ambition is to be undisputably recognized as the leading firm in the world for policyholders. Getting there means continuing to bring in firms and lawyers who share this goal. We expect to explore opportunities in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America very soon."

Growth is also planned within existing markets, too. SDV recently opened in Massachusetts and is evaluating further U.S. expansion, with potential outposts in Houston, Chicago, and the District of Columbia, as well as additional California locations. For its 30-year history, SDV grew entirely through organic growth and internal promotion. Now, as SDV Fenchurch, the firm is open for the first time to lateral partners and established teams.

"There are excellent policyholder lawyers sitting inside full-service firms that also act for insurers or as insurance defense counsel, and many of them have spent their careers managing around that," Saxe said. "We’re proud to be able to tell these attorneys that there is somewhere to go where the whole firm is pointed in the same direction."

About SDV Fenchurch

SDV Fenchurch is a global law firm dedicated exclusively to representing policyholders in insurance coverage matters and supporting the brokers who advise them. Operating in eight jurisdictions across North America, Europe, and Asia, the firm advises clients on policy wording and program structure, claim strategy and recovery, and coverage litigation and arbitration. SDV Fenchurch is organized as a Swiss verein comprising member firms licensed to practice in their respective jurisdictions. www.sdvfenchurch.com