2015 16 Bermuda:Re/insurance+ILS


In 2012, I became the managing partner of the Bermuda office of Appleby and the strong relationships I have since developed across the business at every level is something that I will always look back on as both a highlight and a privilege.


What has been the biggest challenge you have encountered?


Working with my partners to address the impact on the firm of the economic downturn was and is the biggest challenge and yet also the most rewarding. The marketplace in Bermuda and the global financial system are undergoing unprecedented changes. Disruptive change to industry because of technology is constant. The new reality is that change is the new normal.


Law firms are bastions of tradition so embracing change is not Kiernan Bell


Job title: Managing partner/group head, Bermuda/dispute resolution Company: Appleby Career path


2012—Bermuda managing partner, Appleby 2009—President, Bermuda Bar Association 2002—Partner, Appleby 1994—Joined Appleby


Kiernan Bell is the Bermuda office managing partner and has overall responsibility for managing the operations of Appleby’s Bermuda office. She is also Bermuda practice group head for the dispute resolution department. She specialises in complex commercial disputes, and has practice experience in shareholder disputes, derivative actions, professional negligence, M&A, contentious insolvency, international arbitration, insurance and reinsurance disputes.


Chambers Global 2015 ranks Bell as a ‘Leader in her Field’,


noting her key role in some of the firm’s most complex commercial disputes, and with clients saying she is ‘a good manager and litigator with a ton of experience’.


Why did you choose to work in this industry initially?


My father was a lawyer. I grew up making a case, and there was no gender bias in my family growing up so I was raised to believe if you worked hard you could achieve anything.


What has been the highlight of your career so far?


Commercial litigation in Bermuda is exciting—you never know what will hit your desk. Cases are often cross-border and you are able to work with some of the leading legal minds in the world. Working on Bermuda’s first hostile takeover was a highlight—but so was working with the liquidator of a quota share reinsurer that went into insolvent liquidation; recent work with the receivers of a collapsed segregated account hedge fund was another highlight.


naturally in our DNA. Working to create a dynamic culture of innovation and change while improving morale and service to our clients—this has been the biggest challenge I have faced so far.


If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been?


I wanted to be the next Kate Adie and be an international news correspondent travelling the globe. ■


“I grew up making a case, and there was no gender bias in my family growing up so I was raised to believe if you worked hard you could achieve anything.”


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