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GARY GALLEN

Gary appears in the 
Top 100 
Attorneys Magazine

Gallen, Gary.jpg

Gary Gallen

For more than 25 years, Gary Gallen has stood as one of the U.K.’s foremost corporate defense lawyers, earning accolades and respect in a career that took him to the heights of the legal profession. But rather than rest on his laurels at the world’s largest law firm, Gary saw an opportunity to disrupt an industry he believed was outdated and inaccessible. In 2012, he founded rradar, an innovative enterprise that fuses legal expertise with cutting-edge technology, making the law more approachable and affordable for all businesses—not just the elite few.

Under Gary’s visionary leadership, rradar has achieved meteoric growth, expanding from a single office in 2012 to now seven across the U.K. with a workforce of near-on 300. Plans to double again in 2025 are well underway. The company’s unique blend of legal services and digital tools empowers businesses to prevent legal crises before they arise, fundamentally shifting the traditional reactive model of law.

Never one to stand still, Gary has continued to evolve the rradar ecosystem. In March 2024, he launched rrelentless, a groundbreaking insurance company under the rradar group of companies. With this move, rradar made history as a dual-regulated law and insurance group in the U.K., a bold and ambitious leap that streamlines and significantly strengthens the value chain across  law, insurance, and risk management for thousands of businesses. rrelentless specializes in delivering insurance solutions tailored to businesses' dynamic needs, combining underwriting, sector expertise, and advanced technologies to keep businesses moving forward.

This innovation hasn’t gone unnoticed. Gary was named one of the U.K.’s Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders for 2024 and has earned prestigious honors for himself and his business, including the Criminal Defence Team of the Year from the Scottish Legal Awards and Disruptor of the Year from the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

In an exclusive Q&A, Gary shared the inspiration behind rradar, the company’s rapid growth trajectory, and its groundbreaking ventures. He also discusses the company’s latest product launches and what lies ahead in his mission to redefine how businesses access legal and insurance services.

Gary, what inspired you to start rradar?

Leaving the world’s biggest law firm, where I served elite, wealthy clients, to start my own firm was a decision many of my friends thought was crazy. Lawyers are taught to play it safe—to stick with security and follow the rules. But I wanted to rewrite those rules. I cashed in my pension, mortgaged my house, and took the leap to build something new. Most lawyers would find that idea terrifying, especially operating across law, insurance, and technology under one group of companies. But my purpose was clear: I wanted to help small and medium-sized businesses, not just the massive corporations.

These businesses are the backbone of the economy, yet they’re often shut out from accessing the same level of expertise and high-quality legal services that the elite can afford. That felt wrong to me. I come from humble roots—a small town in Northern Ireland, where mom-and-pop businesses worked tirelessly to pay their mortgages, feed their families, and send their kids to school. My dad, an Irish immigrant, was a boxer and laborer who passed away when I was young. My mom took in laundry to make ends meet. After he died, I worked three jobs while in school to help support our family.

Even though my career took me into the world of the elite, I never forgot where I came from. I wanted to create a firm that would level the playing field—one that would empower small businesses to thrive. That’s what rradar is all about: proving that you can do well by doing good.

rradar has continued to grow at a remarkable pace. To what do you attribute this sustained trajectory?

From the outset, we were committed to innovation. rradar was one of the first law firms in the world to embrace the changes that allowed private equity shareholding and non-lawyer ownership. This brought in diverse expertise—accountants, marketing professionals, sales teams, and technologists—who contributed to building something truly unique. In those early years, we grew by delivering a groundbreaking blend of products and services that supported the insurance industry.

Even before COVID, we were ahead of the curve with our innovative digital tools. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of those tools, as businesses increasingly turned to technology for legal solutions. We had already integrated cutting-edge technologies into our services, including rradargrace, our intelligent legal assistant, who learns from every client interaction and leverages the expertise of our legal practitioners. When businesses realized the efficiency and value of these solutions, demand skyrocketed.

Since then, we’ve doubled in size each year, with plans to do so again this year. This sustained growth has also attracted significant investment, including backing from one of America’s largest venture capital firms and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. What’s more, every one of our employees is a shareholder, which creates a shared commitment to our success. That sense of ownership, combined with our commitment to innovation, has been a key driver of our remarkable trajectory.

You recently launched an insurance company, rrelentless, making you the first and only dual-regulated group of its kind in the UK. Tell us about the company, and what makes it unique.

Insurance plays a crucial role in supporting businesses, particularly in covering legal fees and ensuring access to skilled lawyers when things go wrong. Traditionally, insurers and legal services operate independently, which can create inefficiencies. With rrelentless, we wanted to change that dynamic. Our goal was to build a more agile insurance company that offers businesses a policy that proactively supports them to manage risk, by providing access to legal and risk management expertise. This creates a more valuable outcome for policyholder businesses. because together, we’re educating the insured and delivering legal services proactively to help prevent problems before they arise. Prevention, after all, is better than the cure—that’s the foundation of rrelentless.

What sets us apart is the way we’ve aligned two distinct industries—law and insurance—to create a unified, innovative solution that benefits thousands of insured businesses. Our customers are insurance companies, and we work with them to design next-generation policies and products that they can offer to brokers and businesses. These solutions are more comprehensive, combining the strengths of both industries in a way that hasn’t been done before.

Think of us as the "Intel chip" within the legal and insurance ecosystem. We act as the bridge, enabling brokers to offer smarter, faster, and more effective solutions to policyholders. rrelentless represents a new way of thinking about insurance and legal services—one that is collaborative, forward-thinking, and ultimately better for businesses.

You’ve also previously launched several other companies and new products. Tell us about these and what’s on the horizon.

We previously acquired a cybersecurity business and have since introduced a groundbreaking cyber insurance and legal support program in March 2024, in a unique and regulated partnership between rrelentless (our insurance entity) and rradar (our legal services entity). This initiative brought in expertise that other law firms and insurance providers simply don’t have, and it’s already generating significant attention. The program is delivered and powered seamlessly through rrelentless and rradar, creating a unique and comprehensive solution for businesses facing today’s digital challenges.

 

Looking ahead, we are preparing to launch into the professional indemnity market to address the evolving risk landscape. Since COVID, the way businesses operate and share information has changed dramatically, and Brexit has further reshaped the rules around trade, professional services, and product liability. These shifts have altered professional risk profiles, and our product was specifically created to embrace and mitigate these emerging issues.

We are also involved in management liability product. Recognizing the changes in business models and operational risks, we continuously support the development of products to meet modern needs effectively.

As we move through 2025, we’re focused on continuing to innovate and expand our offerings, ensuring businesses have access to forward-thinking, comprehensive solutions that keep them protected and moving forward.

 

Gary Gallen
Founder and CEO
rradar
Website: www.rradar.com

Facebook: rradar

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rradarofficial/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rradarofficial

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