Bird & Bird to add Hogan Lovells Insurance partner

As confirmed by Iberian Lawyer, Bird & Bird is in the process of approving the hiring of Luis Alfonso Fernández as partner of its Insurance and Reinsurance department

Fernández (pictured left), who took over Ruiz-Echauri´s position when he left the law firm to join Pérez-Llorca, is in the process of joining Bird & Bird as a partner of its Insurance and Reinsurance area, as confirmed by Iberian Lawyer with law firm sources. These same sources affirmed that the hiring will be officially approved in the upcoming days and that it is expected to be effective March 1.

On the other hand, the current partner in charge of Hogan Lovells Litigation and Arbitration area, Gonzalo Ardila (pictured right), will be responsible for contentious Insurance matters. Moreover, they don´t deny the possibility of future additions to the practice. Ardila joined the law firm last month (January) as announced by Iberian Lawyer.

For the last seven months, Fernández-Manzano has been head of Insurance & Reinsurance practice at Hogan Lovells Madrid office. He started in the law firm in 2007 as a senior associate, being named counsel later from 2009 to 2011, when he was appointed partner of the law firm. Subsequently, in 2019 he was named head of the Litigation practice, a role that he has been sharing with the one as head of the Insurance and Reinsurance area for the last period.

He is broadly experienced in Litigation with regard to Insurance matters, coverage disputes, reinsurance disputes, claims handling, industrial losses and aviation claims. He is also a highly regarded expert on Reinsurance contracts and practice and on the Regulatory aspects of the Insurance and Reinsurance industry. He started his career as a senior associate at EY Abogados.

In addition to this, Fernández has been teaching for the last 13 years, Insurance Law and Tort Law at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE) and he is a regular contributor of articles concerning Liability and Insurance regulation and co-author of books about Liability issues, Tort Law and Insurance Law.

He graduated in Law from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.