Bevan Brittan out in cold as Zurich revamps UK panel

UK general counsel Neil Hodges asked firms to tender earlier in the summer for places on the non-claims related roster.

Beachcroft and Pinsent Masons, which were already part of the company’s panel, have been appointed for a further three years, beginning in October.

Shoosmiths, which did some work for Zurich, will no longer be handed any mandates, although Glouchester firm Tanners will be given some property work.

Hodges said he decided to cut the panel from three firms to two in a bid to get more out of the relationships.

“We decided to reduce the size of our current UK panel to two legal providers because we believe it will help us to develop deeper, more strategic relationships with the firms and enable us to deliver a more effective service to the UK businesses,” he said.

“Both firms understood the need for legal services to be delivered on a cost-effective basis and certainty of spend wherever possible.”

The firms will support Zurich’s in-house team on commercial, property and employment work.

The UK panel will continue to operate alongside Zurich’s global panel, which is made up of CMS Cameron McKenna, DLA Piper, Herbert Smith and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.