Lovells

Pieter Van Tol has been appointed to the role of managing partner for Lovells’ New York office.  Pieter, a partner in the firm’s international insurance and reinsurance practice, succeeds current local managing partner Dave Alberts on 20 January.

Pieter has expertise in reinsurance arbitration and litigation, international arbitration, bankruptcy litigation and general commercial litigation.  He has represented domestic and foreign cedents and reinsurers in a variety of matters, primarily in property and casualty as well as life reinsurance, for over a dozen years.  In addition to reinsurance matters, Pieter has handled a number of international arbitrations and commercial litigation for clients located in Russia, Ukraine, China and Indonesia, and also has substantial experience in bankruptcy litigation.  

Following his six years in the role of local managing partner, Dave will focus on full-time client work within the Financial Institutions group and Insurance and Reinsurance practice.  Dave’s corporate and regulatory practice includes a range of transactional and advisory services to numerous financial institutions, including in particular corporate, regulatory, finance and commercial contract work for the life and non-life insurance industries.  

Marc Gottridge, Lovells’ US regional managing partner, said:

"Over the past six years, our US practice has grown considerably, reflected in the move of the New York team to new offices at 590 Madison Avenue in early 2006.  Within the 2007/08 and 2008/09 financial years alone, we have hired six new partners in our New York office across practice areas including business restructuring and insolvency, IPMT and litigation.  This operational and strategic growth is a key part of the office’s international development."  

Pieter Van Tol added:

"Given the current market conditions, 2009 may be a difficult year for the legal sector.  However, there are good opportunities for our practice, and our recent litigation and business restructuring and insolvency recruitment in New York positions us to capitalise on these.  I look forward to working with our US team to cement its reputation in the US as a leading international practice.”

Lovells’ US practice

More than 80 attorneys in New York and Chicago represent both US companies doing business in the US and globally as well as non-US companies conducting business in the US across a wide variety of commercial areas, including IPMT, insurance/reinsurance, corporate, banking and finance, capital markets/securities, tax, business restructuring and insolvency, and litigation and arbitration.  US lateral partner hires in the past two years include:

• Patrick Gennardo, litigation
• Kevin Townsend, IPMT
• Robin Keller, BRI
• Christopher R Donoho III, BRI
• David Leichtman, IPMT
• Veronica Mullally, IPMT