On Monday 1 July, Penningtons Manches LLP became Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP, following our merger with Thomas Cooper, a firm known for shipping, international trade and international arbitration. For the travel team and our clients, the merger presents a hugely exciting opportunity to expand the ways in which we are able to work together.
We now have offices in Paris, Madrid, Piraeus, Singapore and Sao Paulo, in addition to our offices in London, across the south east of England and in San Francisco. Most of these new offices are in popular holiday destinations and the union therefore enhances our ability to support UK holidaymakers involved in accidents abroad.
All of our colleagues in PMC’s international offices are bilingual and some are dual qualified. The merger will mean that we can keep more of our services in-house, thus reducing risk for our insurer clients. Their significant expertise in mediation and arbitration will also enable us to explore alternative means of settlement, both in the UK and abroad.
As the UK still wrestles with political uncertainty, the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal remains. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, a higher proportion of claims will be litigated in EU member states, rather than in the UK. With local lawyers in key UK holiday destinations such as Spain, France and Greece, we now have an extra layer of support for claims pursued in these jurisdictions.
Although our global network will still be made up of the fantastic international experts with whom we have worked for many years, it will now be complemented by PMC lawyers who share the same systems, the same cultural perspective and who are able to work seamlessly together.
If you are interested to learn more about the merger, and/or the services that the travel team offer, please contact the team partner Mark Lee.
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