Clyde & Co has launched a new blockchain and smart contract consultancy for its global insurance clients.

The new business, called Clyde Code, sees the firm team up with UK technology consultancy Team Blockchain on a preferred supplier basis.

Team Blockchain consultant, Gary Nuttall, who spoke at the firm's partner conference in 2016, will be the lead technical consultant. He will be supported by Team Blockchain's global network, which includes 50 software developers and IT engineers.

Nuttall will work closely with a Clydes team led by London insurance partners Lee Bacon and Nigel Brook, Dubai partner Sally Sfeir Tait and San Francisco technology partner Christina Terplan.

Clyde's lawyers will advise on the legal aspects of smart contract creation, contract enforcement, dispute resolution and investigations into smart contract failures.

Bacon said: "Effectively what smart contracts allow you to do is replace a traditional written legal contract. Instead, you can automate that transaction. If you have an agreement where, for example, goods are delivered and money is exchanged, automating that process cuts out admin costs and is quicker."

The firm is currently advising Middle East banking group Emirates NBD Bank on the development and enforcement of blockchain and smart contract technology.