Roderic McLauchlan

Full Profile

His practice has grown from its roots in financial lines insurance coverage and defence (notably directors and officers, insurance brokers, architects and engineers, lawyers and accountants) to also encompass property and casualty insurers in the construction, cyber, and energy sectors. 

His practice is primarily focused on Canadian and North American matters, principally for London Market-based insurers and reinsurers. 

He, nevertheless, has extensive and ongoing experience in the English Courts and London arbitrations, and in depth knowledge of the London insurance market. 

He has significant experience in dispute resolution through litigation, arbitration and mediation, which he gained not only as a solicitor but also in-house with a major insurer. He also provides non-contentious advice on insurance issues and policy wording.

He is admitted to the Bar in Ontario and Quebec and is a practicing member of the Law Society of England & Wales. Bilingual (English – French), he has published in the field of D&O, securities litigation, and insurance, and is a regular speaker at professional seminars.

His practice has a substantial international component: including the US, Argentina, France, South Africa, Brazil and Nigeria. In addition, he was named as a leading lawyer by the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and consistently recommended in the Litigation – Commercial Insurance category.

Experience

Sample cases in Professional Negligence

• Acting for top auditors firm defending a complex multimillion pound claim by offshore trade finance company.
• Defending French insurance brokers in USD 480 million Commercial Court case.
• Defending an accounting firm in multimillion tax advice claim by a property developer.
• Dealing with a series of Continental European claims involving international accounting firms, including assessment of exposure to liability, reserving, and strategy while protecting the interests of commercial insurers.
• Defending a UK auditing firm in large claims by company liquidators arising from a failed merger and acquisition.
• Defending an international firm of solicitors in a highly sensitive professional indemnity claim in Singapore.

Directors’ and officers’ liability and insurance

• Acting for insurers in international corruption SEC, DoJ and SFO investigations of a multinational company.
• Acting for insurers of D&Os of high profile UK corporate collapse leading to civil claims and directors disqualification proceedings.

Financial Institutions claims and litigation

• Acting for (re)insurers of a worldwide insurance programme for international bank, on claims in Jersey, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa and other jurisdictions.
• Acting for insurers in a large coverage dispute with fund manager of suspended UK retail investment funds facing massive FSA compensation demands.
• Representing Lloyd’s managing agent E&O insurers in respect of coverage for “bad faith” claims and related coverage issues.
• Acted for or am acting for insurer clients in numerous offshore financial centre disputes involving fund managers, administrators and/or custodians, notably in Jersey, Guernsey, Caymans and Bahamas.
• Acted for Lloyd’s Underwriters on one of the largest Financial Institution Insurance claims in Canada.

Sample non-contentious work

• Reviewed and prepared numerous PI, D&O and other specialised wordings and proposal forms for Lloyd’s syndicates and London market insurers.
• Performed claims audits for Lloyd’s syndicates and London market insurers in the UK and Canada.
• Prepared comprehensive risk and litigation reviews on various UK professions and sectors.