In one of the biggest legal sector moves of its kind for years in Bristol, Morgan Cole is transferring its entire volume claims and catastrophic insurance teams to larger rival DAC Beachcroft’s Bristol office.
DAC Beachcroft said the team would transfer by Tupe, although it did not specify which client the firm had won from Morgan Cole to trigger the deal. 
A consultation period is now underway to relocate 55 people from Morgan Cole’s Bristol office and five people from its Cardiff base to DAC in Bristol and Newport. The transfer is expected to be completed on January 24 next year.
The team includes five partners – Deborah Bradley, Mark Bailey, Richard Ottley, Nick Mahoney and Zoe Morgan – and 54 members of staff.
Morgan Cole managing partner Elizabeth Carr described the move as a "re-alignment" saying: “The insurance claims handling market is a developing and evolving area of the legal sector.
“This re-alignment is the right thing for clients, staff and for the business going forward given the impact of the Jackson legal reforms and changing nature of client requirements.”
A spokeswoman for Morgan Cole, which has offices in Bristol, Cardiff, Oxford, Reading and Swansea, added: “These moves have the support of key clients and will take place early in the New Year.
“Morgan Cole retains a thriving insurance team which will continue to act for general insurers, local authorities, health clients and self-insured businesses and brokers.”
DAC Beachcroft is the latest firm to make a concerted push into the personal injury (PI) and claims markets.
The Morgan Cole team acts for a number of general insurers and will take DAC's total staff number in Bristol to 663 and 152 in Newport.
CEO of DAC Beachcroft Claims Limited Bill Paton said: “The acquisition of this experienced team will bolster our capability in Bristol and Newport and support our existing work for some key clients.”
DAC's national insurance practice includes 55 partners and 769 fee earners.
Last month DAC won a coveted spot on the PI panel for supermarket group Morrisons.
