A team of  three partners and 20 staff will be making the switch from DLA Piper to HWL Ebsworth, it has been revealed today. This development follows the departure of three senior lawyers from DLA Piper for Gilbert + Tobin last week.

The HWL-bound team is an insurance team led by Jenne Tzavaras, Joanna Apostolopoulos and Ivan Medak, all of whom will become partners in the HWL Sydney office.

The team has particular expertise in statutory workers compensation insurance across the full range of employer indemnity schemes operating in New South Wales. The new appointments mean that HWL now has a national team of 35 insurance partners.

"The name HWL Ebsworth has been inextricably linked to the insurance sector for its entire history,” said HWL managing partner Juan Martinez. “While much of the firm's recent growth has been in sectors such as banking & finance, property, building & construction, planning & environment, litigation and commercial, we refuse to be complacent and we are continuously looking for quality opportunities to broaden our offering in each of our core service areas.”

In a joint statement, the new HWL partners said: "We are delighted to be joining a firm that is so closely aligned culturally and strategically with our insurance practice. Our mutual success has been built on a service offering that delivers commercially and technically outstanding legal advice and unsurpassed value for money. Moving to HWL Ebsworth enables us to continue to service our clients in this way.”

ALB is hoping to secure comment from DLA Piper about the firm’s strategy in the insurance space in the coming days.