Paul Wordley: Meeting Client’s Legal Requirements since Inception

Wordley Partnership is an international legal practice. Bringing together unrivalled City experience and quality on realistic terms, it serves the London and International legal markets in the widest sense.

The firm has a strong international presence through its insurance and reinsurance, corporate, finance, commercial & regulatory teams and dispute resolution (litigation and international arbitration) specialists.

The firm was founded by three of its six partners in early 2019, who have many years of experience working on the largest and most complex disputes globally.

Leadership Team

The partners of the firm are all from leading international law firms who believe that clients can be better served in a focused niche dynamic practice, free from the demands and constraints of a large complex international law firm. With the added advantage that the firm can provide a more flexible workplace for experienced lawyers to work collegiately.

The partners, whilst moving to a smaller enterprise still receive the same quality of instructions: complex, high value, and international as well as national in character.

Paul Wordley is one of the founding partners of Wordley Partnership. His expertise is completely geared towards advisory, complex claims, dispute resolution, and coverage issues in the international insurance and reinsurance market, working mainly for policyholders, insurers, brokers, intermediaries, and reinsurers.

Over the years he has been involved in multiple high-profile international insurance and reinsurance claims. In recent years Paul has advised on major gas, oil, and mining claims. Paul also has significant experience in mediation after representing clients in several successful multi-million dollar mediations.

Graham Denny, another founding partner of the organization, specializes in national and international dispute resolution as well as insurance and reinsurance including advising on (re)insurance product development; defending clients against proceedings and regulatory investigations; and, advising clients on insurance and reinsurance coverage disputes.

Having been brought up in Sierra Leone, but having been schooled in England, Graham had an interest in different cultures and international business. ‘Lawyers are there to support businesses and provide advice on which the leaders and boards of businesses can make decisions. In starting the new firm, our aim was to do the same quality work as we had become accustomed to do but in a collegiate environment.’

Described as a ‘rising star’ in the Legal 500, Alison Proctor is another of the founding partners of Wordley Partnership with insurance coverage and defence expertise and significant experience in commercial disputes, insolvency and employment. Alison also has broad expertise in the resolution of large, complex, cross-border disputes arising from energy, power, property, natural resources, and casualty risks.

Expanding Team

New partner appointments bolster the insurance and reinsurance, commercial litigation, international arbitration and corporate practices at Wordley Partnership.

Nick Foster joined Wordley Partnership to head up the Corporate and Commercial Team in November 2019. He is an experienced corporate lawyer with over 20 years’ experience acting for large corporations, SME’s, start ups, and individuals. Nick’s practise encompasses corporate finance, particularly market listings on the Standard List and AIM, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions and private equity.

Simon Schindler joined Wordley Partnership in August 2021. Simon was a partner in a leading international insurance law firm for over 25 years. He has worked in the insurance sector for more than 30 years. Simon’s focus has been “hands on” dispute resolution, whether working for insureds (or)insurers where early identification of the issues, the commercial imperatives, and workable strategies is key. He has successfully handled numerous complex claims, advising on coverage and defence issues, on a wide range of insurance products, internationally and domestically, including most third party liability and specialist lines.

Costas Frangeskides joined Wordley Partnership in December 2021 coming from a major international City law firm where he had been partner since 2002. Costas is highly experienced in insurance and reinsurance disputes, commercial litigation, and international arbitration. He is regularly commended in leading legal guides nationally and internationally, with comments such as “a great person and an even better attorney… great at cross border work.. always willing to drop everything for a time sensitive project.. excellent experience in International
Arbitration and excels in disputes across the US, Europe and the MENA region” (Legal 500, 2021).

Helping with Legal Services

As a law firm, Wordley Partnership provides specialist corporate, commercial, regulatory, and dispute resolution services in its specialist sectors and to senior-level management.

The firm is often instructed to advise boards and C-Suite in relation to difficult losses and situations, often where there is a significant threat of brand damage, business collapse, or regulatory investigations. The firm has particular expertise in asset protection and claims against insurers on behalf of policyholders.

Wordley Partnership’s client base comes from a broad range of industry sectors: Mining and Natural Resources; Energy; Financial Services; Commodities; Sport and Entertainment; and Professionals.

A Dynamic Industry

Wordley Partnership is seeing a growth in smaller law firms set up by partners from various large international firms seeking to escape from the bureaucracy and heavy-handed management of those firms, in addition to the growing number of conflicts as international firms seek increasing growth to gain greater market share with the added cost burden.

In addition, Wordley Partnership is seeing clients, who would traditionally focus and instruct large international firms, moving their business to niche firms like itself where they have confidence in the partners and lawyers’ expertise.

Suggestions for Young Lawyers

The partners of Wordley Partnership believe, whilst technology is seen as a significant advantage to the legal world, enabling lawyers to support and advise clients worldwide, as well as providing lawyers with the flexibility of where they work, technology places greater restrictions on young lawyers in learning from more experienced lawyers on a day to day basis in the office.

Technology reduces the level of face-to-face communication which, whilst this is seen as being more efficient, the restriction of face-to-face communictaion is an important loss in a profession where communication is of such importance.