Manchester-headquartered international law firm DWF Group plc has announced an update on its restructuring, saying it will operate from May 1 under three units — Commercial Services, Insurance Services and Legal Operations.
DWF said Commercial Services will combine its commercial legal advisory teams with business services including global entity management, forensic accountants, ESG consulting and regulatory consulting.
The firm said Insurance Services will bring together more than 1,600 specialists and combining its insurance-focused legal and business services expertise under a single leadership team.
And DWF said Legal Operations will be its “alternative legal services provider” delivering services including eDiscovery, contract management, compliance, legal technology, consulting and operations, and knowledge management.
Commercial Services will be led by the group’s existing Legal Advisory CEO, Paul Rimmer.
Matthew Doughty has been appointed CEO of Insurance Services and will continue in his role as Chief Growth and Strategy Officer.
“These roles have substantial overlap in responsibilities, not least in terms of implementing the group’s integrated strategy with more of its key clients and leading on inorganic expansion opportunities,” said DWF.
Legal Operations will be led by existing Mindcrest CEO, Rob Marks.
“The complementary range of products and services, currently housed within Connected Services, will now sit in either Insurance Services or Commercial Services,” said DWF.
“Connected Services has performed strongly in recent years, with revenue increasing from £21m in FY20 to £34m in FY22 and gross profit more than doubling in that period.
“Over 70% of those revenues come from the insurance market.
“These changes to the Group’s internal structure are a natural evolution to those made at the start of FY22, and will allow DWF to go further in how it delivers its integrated offering to clients.”
DWF recorded revenue of £416 million and net revenue of £350.2 million in the year ended April 30, 2022.
DWF Group CEO Nigel Knowles said: “This is the next step in our strategy, integrating colleagues in such a way that our internal operations align with the services we provide and the clients and markets we serve.
“Many of our largest global clients are insurers and our integrated legal management approach is of particular relevance to them.
“By bringing legal and business services colleagues together into our two largest divisions, we will deliver a truly integrated offering to clients, drive greater internal collaboration and support profitable revenue growth.
“As we look to drive collaboration, scale our offerings and grow our business globally, we will, consistent with our stated strategy, also continue to look for opportunities to grow through M&A, adding further capability in each division with a particular focus on core jurisdictions.”