London-based Howden launched a U.S. retail brokerage operation Monday, headed by former Marsh executive Mike Parrish, and named longtime industry executive Jim Hays vice chairman of its parent company.

The announcement comes amid a legal battle with Marsh over Howden’s alleged scheme to poach 140 Marsh staff. Last Monday, Marsh sued Mr. Parrish and three other former executives, and on Friday, it sued Howden.

Mr. Parrish will be CEO of Howden U.S., the brokerage said in a statement. Most recently, he was Florida zone leader at Marsh. He joined Marsh in 2021 after nearly 20 years at Aon.

Mr. Hays was the founder of Minneapolis-based Hays Group, which was the 22nd-largest broker of U.S. business when it was bought by Brown & Brown in 2018. Mr. Hays, a former regional executive of Rollins Hudig Hall, now part of Aon, founded Hays in 1994.

Howden, founded by CEO David Howden in 1994, is the world’s 10th-largest insurance brokerage. Its managing general agency, Dual, has operated in the U.S. for about a decade and in 2022, it bought U.S. reinsurance brokerage TigerRisk Partners.

About a quarter of its $3.85 billion in revenue is generated from U.S. business, the company said.

Earlier this year, it was rumored to be interested in entering the U.S. retail market through the purchase of Risk Strategies. Brown & Brown ultimately bought Risk Strategies and its affiliates.