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RPC (Reynolds Porter Chamberlain)

Interesting selling points

  • RPC is known for its work in the insurance and banking and finance sectors. 
  • Chambers and Partners Band 1 rankings for its Banking Litigation: Mainly Claimant, Commercial Contracts, Defamation/Reputation Management, Media & Entertainment: Advertising & Marketing, Media & Entertainment: Publishing and Tax: Contentious: Fraud departments. 
  • Notable clients include Tropic Skincare, Pizza Express, Jet2Holidays, New Look, Saracens, Women’s Professional Leagues Limited and MOH Nippon plc.
  • RPC’s approach to cross-border work involves collaborating with pre-eminent insurance law practices across the world, indicating its lawyers have the opportunity to work alongside and learn from some of the best lawyers internationally (see here).
  • In 2023, the firm launched its commercial awareness app focused on providing lawyers with relevant commercial updates. The app is called “RPC Snapshots”. 
  • RPC has a “Female Insurance Group” aimed at helping females within the insurance sector to connect and benefit from sharing experiences. It has been running since 2013.

We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics.

Practice areas / services

RPC is a full-service law firm, offering the following services: 

  • Accident and health – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Accountants, pensions and actuaries – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Advertising and marketing
  • Advertising and marketing – Regulatory 
  • Africa disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • Anti-bribery and corruption – Regulatory 
  • Anti-financial crime – Insurance and financial services regulation
  • Anti-money laundering – Regulatory 
  • Anti-trust – Competition and anti-trust 
  • Arbitration challenges – Dispute resolution 
  • Art and specie – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Asia disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • Banking and finance – Corporate 
  • Banking and financial markets disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • Banking and financial services – Corporate 
  • Banking and lending – corporate 
  • Blockchain – Technology and telecommunications 
  • Brokers E&O – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Capital markets – Corporate 
  • Civil fraud and asset recovery – Dispute resolution 
  • Claims handling – Market services 
  • Commercial – Commercial, IP, technology and media 
  • Commercial contracts – Commercial 
  • Commercial disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • Commercial, IP, technology and media 
  • Competition and anti-trust – Regulatory 
  • Competition litigation – Competition and anti-trust 
  • Confidential information – Intellectual property 
  • Construction 
  • Construction and projects – Real estate and Construction 
  • Construction disputes – Construction and projects 
  • Construction insurance – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Content advice and regulation – Media 
  • Contingency – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Copyright – Intellectual property 
  • Corporate 
  • Corporate advisory – Corporate 
  • Corporate and business crime – Dispute resolution 
  • Corporate insurance – Insurance 
  • Corporate investigations – Dispute resolution 
  • Corporate real estate – Real Estate 
  • Corporate tax – Tax 
  • Cyber breach response – Market services 
  • Cyber fraud – Dispute resolution 
  • Data advisory – Regulatory 
  • Data advisory – Data and cyber 
  • Data and cyber – Commercial, IP, technology and media 
  • Data disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • Dawn raids – Regulatory 
  • Debt advisory – Corporate 
  • Designs – Intellectual property 
  • Development and construction – Construction 
  • Development and construction – Real Estate 
  • Digital – Technology and telecommunications 
  • Directors’ duties – Dispute resolution 
  • Dispute resolution 
  • Distribution and commercial contracts – Corporate insurance 
  • Employment, engagement and equality – Corporate 
  • Energy – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Enforcement and disputes – Data and cyber 
  • FI/D&O – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Financial professionals – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Food and drink – Commercial, IP, technology and media 
  • Former Soviet Union (FSU) disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • GDPR – Data and cyber 
  • General liability – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Health, safety and environmental – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Health, safety and environmental – Regulatory 
  • HMRC criminal investigations and prosecutions – Tax 
  • HNRC Dawn raids – HMRC criminal investigations and prosecutions 
  • Insolvency and restructuring – Corporate insurance 
  • Insurance 
  • Insurance and financial services regulation – Regulatory
  • Insurance disputes and claims – Insurance 
  • Intellectual property – Commercial, IP, technology and media 
  • International arbitration – Dispute resolution 
  • International construction disputes – Construction and projects 
  • International trade and commodities – Dispute resolution 
  • Investment – Real estate 
  • Investment funds – Corporate 
  • IP disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • Joint ventures – Corporate insurance 
  • Judicial review – Tax 
  • Lawyers – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Life and longevity transactions – Corporate insurance 
  • Life sciences – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Manufacturing, industrial and mining 
  • Marine insurance – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Market services – Insurance 
  • Media – Commercial, IP, technology and media 
  • Media disputes – Media 
  • Medical and life sciences – Dispute resolution 
  • Medical and life sciences – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Mergers – Competition and anti-trust 
  • Mergers and acquisition – Corporate 
  • Motor – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Multilateral Development Banks – Regulatory 
  • Outsourcing – Corporate insurance 
  • Outsourcing commercial contracts – Commercial 
  • Outsourcing disputes – Construction and projects 
  • Patents – Intellectual property 
  • Policy wordings solutions – Market services 
  • Political risk and trade credit – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Post Merger, Acquisition and other disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • Private equity and investments – Corporate
  • Product regulation – Regulatory 
  • Products – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Professional practices – Regulatory 
  • Property – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Real Estate – Real Estate and Construction 
  • Real Estate and Construction 
  • Real estate finance – Real Estate 
  • Real estate litigation – Real Estate 
  • ReAssure – Regulatory 
  • Recoveries and subrogation – Market services 
  • Regulation and governance – Corporate insurance 
  • Regulation and governance – Regulatory 
  • Regulatory 
  • Regulatory enforcement – Regulatory 
  • Regulatory enforcement – Insurance and financial services regulation 
  • Reinsurance – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Restructuring and insolvency – Corporate 
  • Retail real estate – Real Estate 
  • RPC and Hinshaw & Culbertson alliance – Insurance 
  • Sanctions – Regulatory 
  • Shareholder disputes – Dispute resolution 
  • Sport and entertainment – Commercial, IP, technology and media 
  • Support for litigation in other jurisdictions – Dispute resolution 
  • Surveyors – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Tax 
  • Tax investigations and dispute resolution – Regulatory 
  • Tax investigations and dispute resolution – Tax 
  • Technology and Cyber Risk – Insurance disputes and claims 
  • Technology and telecommunications – Commercial, IP, technology and media 
  • Technology transactions – Technology and telecommunications 
  • Telecommunications – Technology and telecommunications 
  • Trademarks – Intellectual property 
  • Transactional – Construction and projects 
  • Treasury – Corporate 
  • Trusts and wealth – Dispute resolution 
  • VAT – Tax 
  • White Collar Crime 

Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded RPC its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments:   Banking Litigation: Mainly Claimant, Commercial Contracts, Defamation/Reputation Management, Media & Entertainment: Advertising & Marketing, Media & Entertainment: Publishing and Tax: Contentious: Fraud. See here for more information

Key sectors / industries

RPC services a broad range of industries, with its most profitable clients operating in the following sectors: 

Work

RPC’s work includes: 

  • Tropic Skincare: the firm advised Susie Ma, the founder of Tropic Skincare, after she decided to buy out investor Lord Sugar for an undisclosed sum. Sugar acquired a 50% share of Tropic in 2011 following Susie’s appearance on Lord Sugar’s BBC 1 show, The Apprentice. 
  • Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL): The firm acted for Women’s Professional Leagues Limited on its historic multi-year sponsorship renewal with Barclays for the Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) and Barclays Women’s Championship.
  • MOH Nippon plc: RPC advised MOH Nippon plc on its listing on the London Stock Exchange, making it the first Japanese company to do so.
Older examples
  • Markel: the firm advised Markel on a loss portfolio transfer transaction with Marco, involving UK motor insurance claims, providing cover of up to £200 million in claims reserves. The deal is the twelfth in a recent series of significant legacy market transactions handled by RPC, and was the sixth in 2023 alone. 
  • Milk: RPC advised award-winning London based VFX studio Milk on its acquisition of independent, BAFTA award-winning VFX studio Lola Post Production. It is part of a wider plan to expand in this growing sector. 

Offices / global footprint / expansion

Headquarters: London, Tower Bridge House. 

Offices: The firm also has offices in Singapore, Bristol and Hong Kong. 

Insights, internships and other opportunities

RPC offers a two-week summer scheme in both its London and Hong Kong offices. The firm recruits the majority of its trainees from the summer scheme, which includes assessment exercises such as a group discussion, a group presentation and a written test. The scheme provides prospective trainees with the opportunity to learn more about the firm. 

Alongside this, the firm runs a number of first year workshops, including insight days hosted at both its London and Bristol offices which give attendees the opportunity to learn more about the firm. These are targeted at aspiring lawyers in their penultimate or final year of a Law degree, final year of a non-law degree, or those who have graduated. In addition, the firm runs a virtual experience programme which is free and self-paced. This enables participants to learn more about commercial and insurance law. 

Training contract

The firm’s training contract is made up of four six-month seats. RPC offers training contracts at both its London and Bristol offices (there are 15 training contract vacancies at the London office and 4 at the Bristol office). 

Trainees benefit at the beginning of their training contract from the firm’s Trainee New Starter Programme, which introduces them to the firm and enables trainees to meet partners, current trainees and the trainee development team. Trainees also have two supervisors per seat, and are offered responsibility on tasks from the beginning. 

Alongside informal feedback from supervisors, trainees are given formal reviews every three months. The structure of the training contract is slightly different for trainees in Bristol, where the majority of trainees are based in the firm’s insurance teams (although they may have the opportunity to spend six months in one of the firm’s commercial teams such as IP & Technology).

Secondments

Trainees have the opportunity to apply for an international secondment at the firm’s Hong Kong or Singapore office, as well as the opportunity to apply for a client secondment. 

Technology and innovation

RPC understands that “technology drives all businesses” and as such, has invested in technology and innovation. For example:

  • Insurance Covered Podcast: the firm has its own podcast focused on innovations and developments within the insurance industry. It provides updates on what’s going on within the market, including key trends. 
  • RPC Tectonic: the firm has its own legal accelerator programme, which focuses on ESG-centric technology businesses. The programme provides participants with advice, learning sessions, office access, networking opportunities, events, and even templates for a variety of legal documents. 
  • RPC Snapshots: in 2023 the firm released its own app, “RPC Snapshots”, which keeps lawyers abreast of key legal and regulatory developments. It includes key commercial cases as well as data, digital consumer and advertising developments. 

Corporate social responsibility

RPC “cares about people” and its pro bono work reflects this need to support the communities it works in. For example:

  • Launch It: the firm works in partnership with Launch It, a charity that supports young entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds to start a business through the provision of workspace, mentoring and training. The firm also helps to run workshops and provides pro bono legal advice. 
  • LawWorks: the firm is a member of pro bono charity LawWorks, an organisation that connects law firms with individuals, charities and NGOs that require pro bono legal assistance. The firm’s UK-based lawyers provide pro bono advice to members of the public on matters of consumer, debt, and employment law through a LawWorks platform called ‘Free Legal Answers’. 
  • Liberty: RPC helps Liberty, an independent membership organisation and human rights campaign group, to run its weekly Advice Line. This is a service that offers advice to members of the public relating to human rights and related issues such as privacy concerns and employee rights. 

Diversity and inclusion

RPC believes that “great minds do not all think alike”. To that end, it is committed to diversity and inclusion, with related initiatives including: 

  • RPC Communities: the firm has eight DEIB ‘Communities’, which are groups that members from across the firm can join. These groups include: belief, disability (ENABLE), ethnicity, families, gender, LGBTQ+ (RPC RAIN), mental health, and social mobility. These communities provide support, share updates regarding diversity and inclusion within the firm, and collaborate on the firm’s policies in this area. 
  • Peppy: in 2023, the firm partnered with the app Peppy, which is a digital health and well-being app designed to support people through major transitions at various stages of life, including menopause, fertility, parenthood and more. This is to reflect the firm’s commitment to supporting its people at various stages of their lives. 
  • Female Insurance Group: RPC established this network to enable females working in the insurance industry to connect in order to provide support and facilitate professional development. It was launched in 2013, with the aim of improving gender equality within the insurance industry.