Our Experience

Sheila Simison formed Simison & Co Ltd, a legal consultancy firm, in November 2007 having spent nearly 30 years in private practice as a partner at Clyde & Co and latterly as a senior insurance and reinsurance partner at Barlow, Lyde & Gilbert.

Sheila is highly respected in the specialty lines insurance markets as well as the property and products liability market and in particular, for her knowledge of contingency, media, jewellers block, specie, livestock and bloodstock insurance.

She is acknowledged in the Chambers Legal Directory 2008 as “The Market Leader in Contingency and Bloodstock work.” “A dynamic and energetic” practitioner, she is viewed by peers as “someone to be reckoned with.”

She has advised the Lloyd’s Contingency Wordings Committee on the drafting of Contingency Non-appearance, Cancellation and Abandonment NMA policy form wordings. She is an acknowledged Market Leader in contingency and non-appearance insurance. She has considerable experience in dealing with film, TV and advertising insurance – including cast, negative, property, completion bond, FPI and AFVPA disputes and advising a number of insurers on GAP insurance projects and products.

She has advised on a wide variety of high profile claims for the contingency market involving non-appearance, postponement, cancellation and abandonment arising from sporting, trade shows and entertainment events, prize indemnity, over redemption, death and disgrace and was particularly involved in WTC and Sars related matters.

Her clients are principally London Market, European and US insurers and reinsurers, brokers and loss adjusters.

In private practice, the cases she handled included:

Acting for Warner Bros and their insurers in relation to the fire at Pinewood Studios (E Stage) in respect of the film “The Avengers”.
Acting in relation to the postponement of the Ryder Cup in September 2001 following 9/11 and, in particular, advising on Contractor contracts, frustration and force majeure.
Subrogation actions for insureds in relation to their self insured retention and insurers following the fire at the Buncefield Fuel Depot in December 2005.
Acting for Disney and their insurers, Fireman’s Fund in relation to a fire at the Rome Studios in July 2004 concerning the film “Empire”.

Since forming Simison & Co Ltd, she has:

Advised a number of Lloyd’s and company market insurers in relation to a major expo event due to take place in Hong Kong culminating in a successful mediation in Hong Kong.
Advised insurers in relation to a major drinks brand promotion in Australia.
Advised insurers on the non-appearance of various artists at concerts and consequential curtailment, cancellation or re-scheduling of their shows.
Drafted a number of bespoke wordings in the contingency and over redemption markets.
Drafted bespoke wordings in relation to bloodstock insurance and reinsurance.
Acted for insurers in relation to production claims relating to a number of TV programmes.
Acted for insurers in relation to product liability claims concerning fish and animal feed.
Acted for off-track motor insurers in relation to claims for damaged vehicles and advised insurers in relation to claims concerning the Cheltenham Festival in 2008.
Advised insurers in relation to relocation of a major sporting event following the earthquake in New Zealand in 2011.

Sheila is an accredited CEDR mediator and has written many articles on contingency, bloodstock and livestock insurance including several published in Insurance Day. While in private practice, she was a contributor towards the BLG publication “Reinsurance Practice and the Law”.