Property and Casualty Senior Associate

Formed in January 2013, Auston Legal is a boutique legal recruitment consultancy specialising solely in the Insurance sector.  We are experienced in all areas of insurance with a focus on premium lines of commercial insurance and are well connected with all firms active in the sector.  As insurance market specialists, we understand what you do, the various nuances of the insurance sector and we consistently remain up to date on current market trends.
We are best known for our work in London and the regions but are also experienced in advising on relocations to/from Australia, New Zeald and South Africa. 

In addition to managing recruitment processes across the insurance sector we are:
Retained by a leading UK insurance law firm to assist with all London insurance recruitment needs. We are in our 10th year of being annually retained by this client. 
Retained by a global law firm to focus on partner level recruitment across the firm’s network of UK offices. 
Working as Recruitment Partner with a boutique policyholder firm which launched in 2020.  Now with 2 offices in the UK, we have played an integral role in the growth of the firm. 
Helping a transatlantic law firm grow its London Insurance Practice with the hire of 3 market leading partners and a number of associates. 
Secured an insurance team for the City office of a recognised National firm. 
Completed detailed search reports into specific target firms as part of our clients’ feasibility study into targeting prospective key insurer clients. 
Working closely with a leading Underwriter on a number of key UK appointments 

Our Team

Adam Houghton
Adam founded Auston Legal in January 2013 after building and managing dedicated legal teams in the City. Before forming the company he spent several years at an award-winning Search Consultancy where he led key accounts for annually retained clients focusing on partner level and team search assignments. 
Adam has a thorough knowledge of all types of recruitment, he works at all levels of experience with a focus on senior level appointments with the majority at partner level. 
Adam has been retained on both an individual assignment and annual basis by several leading firms, is regularly called upon to complete detailed research into specialist sectors and regularly advises firms in the formulation of their insurance sector strategy. 

Laila Caruso
Laila has almost 20 years’ experience in the legal recruitment sector, working across different areas of legal practice.  She began her career with an award-winning City boutique legal search firm, working with Adam on partner level searches for individual and annually retained clients.  
Laila has focused on litigation recruitment since 2017, she joined Auston Legal in March 2020 to focus solely on the insurance sector.
Laila read Law and History at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and completed her LLM with SOAS and King’s College London in 2004. 

George Molyneux Buckley 
After graduating with a 1st Class Law degree, qualifying as a Chartered Legal Executive and spending almost 10 years as an insurance lawyer, George moved into legal recruitment. He has since established himself as the only specialist recruiter of commercial insurance lawyers across the North and the Midlands.  
In line with his growing reputation, George was shortlisted for Recruitment/Talent Professional of the Year at the 2022 ‘Made in Manchester’ Awards. 
George has assisted in moves at all levels of seniority, at both Solicitor and Partner level.  Whilst he is known for his work in professional indemnity and property damage, he is experienced in all areas of non-injury insurance recruitment. 
Joining Auston Legal in February 2022 in line with the launch of our Manchester office, George leads our practice in the North and the Midlands on recruitment assignments across various specialist insurance lines.