Barlow Lyde & Gilbert was founded in 1841 in the City of London and quickly cemented its reputation as the UK’s leading insurance law firm.

In 1880, Cuthbert Heath OBE became a Lloyd’s underwriter and a client of the firm. He is credited as “the father of non-marine insurance at Lloyd’s” and  “the first man to see the potentialities of insurance in the modern world.” We worked exclusively for Heath for many years, drafting the UK’s first professional indemnity policies and wordings.

Since then, we have continued to play a key role in the day-to-day life of the London and international insurance markets. Whether handling contentious insurance and reinsurance matters (including ‘bet-the-company’ litigation), dealing with complex non-contentious issues such as alternative risk transfer, restructuring, product development and distribution, or advising on regulatory requirements, BLG is at the heart of the insurance industry. In these volatile times, we help our clients manage their risk and protect their solvency.

Over the past 25 years, we have responded to our clients’ needs by extending the breadth of services. We enjoy an unrivalled reputation in major industry sectors including financial services, professional practices, aerospace, shipping, energy, construction, and healthcare. Especially renowned for our commercial litigation and arbitration practice, the firm provides an extensive range of services to clients in many sectors and countries in respect of high-value, multi-jurisdictional disputes. Our non-contentious expertise spans corporate, commercial, employment, pensions, insolvency, aviation, shipping, property, outsourcing and technology.

As our clients have grown, so have we. We opened our first overseas practice in Hong Kong in 1986. Today, we have offices in Oxford, Manchester, Shanghai, Singapore, and São Paulo.