Law firm Duncan Cotterill has announced the appointment insurance law expert Rob Merkin QC to special counsel.
In his new role, Merkin will serve as an extension of the Duncan Cotterill team from his base in the UK, providing expert guidance and consultation as needed, with plans to visit New Zealand a minimum three times a year.
“We are fortunate to have someone of Rob’s calibre as part of our team, adding another string to our bow with specialist international experience in insurance and connections that span the globe,” Duncan Cotterill litigation partner Jonathan Scragg said.
Merkin was a former president of the British Insurance Law Association, vice-president of the International Association of Insurance Law, and a consultant to the English and Scottish Law Commission. In 2015, he was made a QC honoris causa by the Crown and acted as special adviser to the House of Lords Special Public Bills Committee on the Insurance Bill (now Act).
Merkin was also appointed to the Hotung Fellowship by the University of Canterbury in 2012 to deliver a series of lectures on earthquake insurance. To date, he remains as a lecturer in insurance law at the University of Auckland.
“I know the Duncan Cotterill team well and am thrilled to be joining them in a more formal capacity to offer my expertise where it may be useful,” Merkin said.
“I feel very at home in New Zealand and have spent a lot of time here over the course of my career, so I look forward to returning on an ongoing basis.”
