BLG shores up after losses with Richards Butler hire

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) has begun to rebuild its non-contentious capabilities with the hire of insurance restructuring partner Jon Yorke.

Yorke joins BLG from Richards Butler, where he was a partner and previously a member of the firm's management board.

The hire follows a number of departures from BLG's non-contentious teams, including the recent news that its three-partner outsourcing department - Christian Bartsch, Chris Holder and Simon Shooter - is leaving for Bird & Bird.

BLG senior partner Richard Dedman said: "The synergy is fantastic. We're committed to building up our commercial practice and we want to do it in line with our core markets."

Yorke shares clients including 'big four' accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers with BLG. He acts for insurers and other financial services organisations on insolvencies and restructurings within the insurance and reinsurance market, many with a cross-border aspect.

Yorke is the second partner to move from Richards Butler to BLG this year, following the hire of shipping insurance specialist Chris Zavos in April. However, in March 2005, BLG's Richard Spafford moved in the opposite direction. The two firms share the same building in EC3, with Richards Butler on the upper floors.