Profile

David is a Partner in our London office who qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1992. His practice has a particular focus on policies involving political and financial risk, professional indemnity and insurance and reinsurance.

A specialist in insurance, David has vast experience advising political risk insurers in relation to the adjustment and defence of claims involving all types of political risk policies, such as confiscation, expropriation, nationalisation and deprivation, and contract frustration and contingency (change of law) policies. He has also advised clients on credit insurance policies and has acted on a range of political violence and ‘discord risk’ claims, building up significant experience involving multi-jurisdictional claims in Africa, EMEA and Latin America. David is also a member of our Caribbean practice team.

Another significant area of focus for David is the financial institutions sector, in which he has a wide range of experience acting for insurers on matters such as claims including civil liability, bankers blanket bonds and directors’ and officers’ claims. He has had heavy involvement in some of the most high-profile claims to affect the financial markets, often comprising cross-jurisdiction exposure. In addition to his contentious experience in this space, David also regularly advises on wordings-related issues and is experienced in the area of policy drafting.

David handles a wide range of professional indemnity matters, acting for professionals such as investment brokers, management consultants, solicitors and surveyors. He also often acts for insurers and reinsurers in relation to claims involving litigation, pre-contractual risk assessment, policy reviews and drafting, and both treaty and facultative business.

Finally, David also acts on a wide range of transactional risk claims, including claims relating to warranty and indemnity policies, and tax indemnities.

He is a member of the Forum of Insurance.

David also contributed to the fourth edition of Kennedys’ Global Legal Handbook, one of our most popular guides, which outlines the main legal and procedural issues that case handlers may encounter when dealing with claims across 53 jurisdictions globally.

Qualifications

  • Qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales in 1992
Best in class.

Market recognition

  • Listed in the Hall of Fame and recommended lawyer for 'Insurance and reinsurance litigation (London)'
    The Legal 500 UK 2024
  • Nominated by respondents for delivering outstanding service in the last 12 months
    The Gracechurch London Market Insurance Law Monitor 2023
  • Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Insurance: Contentious Claims & Reinsurance (UK-wide)'
    "David Chadwick is a leader in the market. He is knowledgeable and experienced".
    Chambers UK 2023
  • Listed in the Hall of Fame and recommended lawyer for 'Insurance and reinsurance litigation (London)'
    "David Chadwick is an expert in his sector and my go-to lawyer every time".
    "David Chadwick is the number one lawyer in his field".
    The Legal 500 UK 2023
  • Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Insurance: Contentious Claims & Reinsurance (UK-wide)'
    "He is really good and sensible to work with - a pragmatic lawyer who finds a way forward."
    "David has a very engaging manner which made the whole process much easier to deal with. He also assimilated facts quickly and gave good advice on how to achieve a sensible outcome."
    Chambers UK 2022
  • Listed in the Hall of Fame and recommended lawyer for 'Insurance and reinsurance litigation (London)'
    The Legal 500 UK 2022
  • Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Insurance: Contentious claims, reinsurance and Volume claims (UK-wide)' 
    "He is a leader on political risk matters." "He is well known and has a good profile in the market."
    Chambers UK 2021
  • Listed in the Hall of Fame and recommended lawyer for 'Insurance and reinsurance litigation (London)'
    The Legal 500 UK 2021
  • “We have some pretty big cases that have come to a good resolution for everyone concerned, and his work was absolutely instrumental in making that happen.”
    The Gracechurch London Market Insurance Law Report 2019
  • “I nominate him for his very commercial and practical advice.”
    The Gracechurch London Market Insurance Law Report 2019
  • Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Insurance: Contentious Claims (UK-wide)'
    According to a client, "David shows excellent commercial acumen and is very good at getting right to the heart of a point, identifying the pertinent issues and communicating them effectively."
    Chambers UK 2020
  • Leading Individual and Recommended Lawyer for 'Insurance and reinsurance litigation (London)'
    "David Chadwick is an excellent communicator and is technically very sound. His commercial acumen is a real plus"
    The Legal 500 UK 2019/20
  • Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Insurance: Contentious Claims (UK-wide)'
    Sources say he "remains a leader in his field" and consider him to be a "technically fantastic" lawyer who offers "great commercial judgement."
    Chambers UK 2019
  • Leading Individual and Recommended Lawyer for 'Insurance and reinsurance litigation (London)'
    The Legal 500 UK 2018/19
  • Recommended Lawyer for 'Professional negligence (London)'
    The Legal 500 UK 2018/19
  • Included in the The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom 2019 for Insurance Law (London)