Womble Bond Dickinson—Simon Beckwith & Mark Ratcliff

Transatlantic firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has welcomed Simon Beckwith and Mark Ratcliff to its London office as partners.

Both Simon and Mark join WBD from their former partner positions with insurance firm Plexus Law.

Simon (pictured) is a qualified barrister with more than 20 years of experience in the insurance, professional indemnity, financial services and pensions fields. He regularly handles claims against financial and mortgage advisers, banks, insurance brokers and investment professionals. He offers additional expertise in Financial Conduct Authority investigations and enforcement proceedings, and occupational pension schemes.

Simon commented: ‘WBD has strong credentials in the insurance sector with an impressive client portfolio.’

Mark is also a qualified barrister, and brings ample experience of acting for professional indemnity insurers in the defence of civil and regulatory claims. He also provides particular expertise in management liability claims involving a range of parties such as chartered institutions, charities, unincorporated associations and companies.

Mark said: ‘WBD’s insurance team is well regarded in the London market. I look forward to working with the team here in London, nationally and in the US.’

Jonathan Blair, UK managing partner and head of WBD’s London office, said: ‘We're delighted to welcome Simon and Mark to the partnership and to our growing London office. They both join the firm with a huge amount of expertise in the insurance and claims sector. Their experience as well as their specialist industry knowledge will play an important role in refining and bolstering our city and national insurance practice, which is pivotal to the firm.’