UK top 40 law firm Weightmans is expanding its cyber security and incident response business CyXcel into North America.
Since launching in September last year, CyXcel has seen rapid growth across an international client base. Weightmans says that the business’s new North America operation will be led from the USA, with a specialist on-the-ground team offering clients the same core risk, strategy and technical consultancy offered in the UK. Weightmans has offices in nine cities in the UK but to date its international presence has been through independent law firm networks Legalink and Insurance Law Global.
CyXcel was co-founded by Weightmans insurance partner Edward Lewis, who saw an opportunity to provide all encompassing guidance and help on the legal, regulatory, technical and brand management implications of data breaches.
Speaking to Legal IT Insider earlier this year, CyXcel’s chief revenue officer Hamish Singh, who joined at the end of 2023, said: “Quite often Edward came across clients going through a data breach who were working in silos. There were delays in the decisions being made despite it being a time-critical environment. CyXcel brings it all into one. We can respond to whichever regulator clients need to respond to in a timely fashion and support them against potential breach claims.”
Singh said that while CyXcel sometimes leverages partners in the likes of Germany or Spain if that is a faster solution, on the whole it provides an end-to-end service. CyXcel draws on existing Weightmans’ fee earners and business services experts across a variety of disciplines but Singh joined as a partner in CyXcel alongside full time CyXcel senior management consultant Sasha Henry.
Lewis, who is managing partner of CyXcel, said: “We are now in a very strong position to leverage the success CyXcel has already seen in the UK and Europe since launch, and replicate it in North America, the biggest cybersecurity market in the world. This presents a huge opportunity to realise a market leading position, and I must thank both Weightmans and our fabulous team for laying such solid foundations in making our global ambitions possible.”