Two Magic Circle firms are among a roster of seven on the new U.K. legal panel for Swiss-based Zurich Insurance, which opened the panel to tender last year.

Zurich has confirmed to Legal Week that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May have won spots alongside  DAC Beachcroft, Pinsent Masons, Norton Rose Fulbright, CMS and RPC.

Zurich is one of the world's largest insurance companies, with more than 55,000 employees and revenues of more than $50 billion.

In the past, Slaughter and May has represented Zurich on the transfer of its U.K. legacy employers' liability portfolio to Catalina; DAC advised it on liability coverage issues surrounding the Emma Maersk container ship; and Pinsent Masons on the sale of its workplace pensions business to Lloyds Banking Group.

The tender process began early last year, following the appointment of Edward Bridge as Zurich's new general counsel. He took over from longstanding GC Neil Hodges, who left to become a trustee at the National Biodiversity Network, an environmental partnership.

In other recent legal panel news, National Grid has begun the tendering process for its 12-strong roster. And at the start of this year, both Heathrow and MS Amlin announced their new legal panel line-ups.