Press Releases
HFW Continues International Investment With Record Promotions Round
Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has announced a record promotions round, making up nine new partners and three new legal directors, effective 1 April 2019.
The promotions reflect the firm's continued growth across its international network and its core sectors, spanning offices in Europe and Asia-Pacific and all six of the firm's global industry groups: aerospace, commodities, construction, energy, insurance and shipping.
Six of the new partners are based in London – the largest UK intake in HFW's 136-year history – with two in Paris and one in Singapore. The three legal directors are based in London, Piraeus and Hong Kong.
There are two new partners in the firm's shipping and ship finance practices, with one each in aerospace, commodities, construction, energy and insurance. Two of the legal directors are in shipping, with the other in ship finance.
Richard Crump, Global Senior Partner, HFW: "This record promotion round reflects our significant growth across our international network and our global industry groups, and is a sign of our continued commitment to investing in our people. It is not only our largest ever promotions round globally, but also our largest in London and in our market-leading shipping group. I would like to congratulate each of the lawyers and wish them every success in the next stage of their careers."
Jeremy Shebson, Incoming Managing Partner, HFW: "We are proud to welcome such talented and hard-working lawyers to our partnership and to our Legal Director role, which we introduced in 2017 as many of our best lawyers now want alternatives to the traditional partnership career. They have each consistently demonstrated outstanding levels of technical expertise and client service, and are excellent ambassadors for the HFW culture of creativity, entrepreneurialism and collaboration. I look forward to working with them to help us continue to meet the changing demands of a competitive and evolving legal market."
The promotions continue a period of sustained expansion for HFW.
The firm has added 25 new partners in the current fiscal year, which ends 31 March 2019, including nine internal promotions and 16 lateral hires across Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Dubai, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Sydney and Riyadh.
HFW has also carried out seven international mergers and alliances since 2016, most recently entering into a new association in Saudi Arabia, and opened a new office in Abu Dhabi in October.
New Partners
Terence Liew: Aerospace, Singapore
Terence handles liability claims and insurance matters across the aviation industry, including air carrier's and airport's liability. He acts for major insurance companies, airlines, helicopter operators, airports and airport service providers, and also advises on contractual wording and regulatory issues. Terence is qualified as a solicitor in both England & Wales and Ireland, and as an advocate and solicitor to both the High Court of Malaya and the Supreme Court of Singapore. He was recently named by Singapore Business Review as one of the country's 20 most influential lawyers under the age of 40, and speaks Malay, Mandarin, Bahasa and Cantonese.
Vincent Bénézech: Commodities, Paris
Vincent is a commercial litigator, with a particular focus on commodities, shipping and more general international litigation and arbitration. He regularly acts before French courts and various arbitral institutions, and advises on international enforcement proceedings and interim and conservatory measures. He also advises on regulatory aspects of international trade, particularly in relation to international economic sanctions. Vincent is dual qualified as French Avocat and Solicitor of England and Wales.
Richard Booth: Construction, London
Richard specialises in construction and engineering law, helping clients with contract drafting and negotiation, strategic project advice and dispute resolution work. He acts in a wide range of construction sectors in the UK and internationally. Richard is Chairman of the Adjudication Society.
Vanessa Tattersall: Energy and Resources, London
Vanessa's practice focuses on contracts and disputes relating to oil and gas and offshore, shipbuilding and ship design, and superyachts, as well as shipping disputes. She acts in complex commercial court disputes and international arbitrations and advises on contract wordings, including drafting and renegotiating shipbuilding contracts, charterparties and refund guarantees. Her clients include oil companies, drilling contractors, offshore service providers, shipyards, ship owners, charterers and cargo interests.
Iris Vögeding: Insurance and Reinsurance, Paris
Iris is dual qualified in French and German law. She specialises in civil liability, commercial litigation and insurance notably in the energy (including renewable energies), pharmaceutical and food sectors. Iris has extensive expertise in complex multi-jurisdictional contentious and pre-contentious matters. She also advises clients in insurance regulation and data protection matters.
Christopher Garley: Shipping, London
Chris advises clients on "wet" and "dry" shipping disputes, focusing on issues arising from marine casualties including collisions, fires and groundings. He has particular expertise in containership casualties and incidents relating to the carriage of dangerous goods, acting for owners and charters on all aspects of the casualty response and related litigation, often requiring a multi-jurisdictional approach. Chris also advises on issues arising out of casualties including charterparty / VSA / slot charter and bill of lading disputes.
Alessio Sbraga: Shipping, London
Alessio specialises in international commercial dispute resolution in the marine and offshore sectors, covering issues relating to charterparties, bills of lading, sale contracts, shipbuilding, MOA, grounding, unsafe port, offshore (FSO, FPSO, FAU, rigs), bunker and cargo disputes. He also advises shipowners, charterers, ship managers, P&I clubs and hull underwriters on international maritime regulatory issues, and was recently a member of the BIMCO sub-committee responsible for drafting the organisation's standard time charterparty clauses in response to the 2020 sulphur cap.
Gudmund Bernitz: Ship Finance, London
Gudmund specialises in international finance and commercial transactions, particularly involving the shipping and offshore sectors. Gudmund acts for a broad range of financial institutions, export credit agencies, owners and operators. He is dual qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales, and an Advokat in Sweden.
William MacLachlan: Ship Finance, London
William specialises in transactional shipping matters covering the full life cycle of a broad range of marine assets. He has particular expertise in ship sale and purchase, shipbuilding, ship repair and ship recycling, and also advises clients operating in complex security environments on contractual and regulatory matters. William is particularly focused on the cruise, ferry and yachting industries and acts for a range of stakeholders across these and the wider maritime industry. He was previously seconded to a leading European shipbuilder.
New Legal Directors
Philip Carney: Shipping, Piraeus
Philip advises clients on dry shipping issues. He is dual-qualified solicitor in England and Wales and as an abogado of the Barcelona Bar. He speaks Spanish, French and Greek..
Erica Chan: Shipping, Hong Kong
Erica's practice focuses on transactional and regulatory advice, including M&A, joint ventures, shareholder agreements, ship finance, asset finance and general commercial matters. She also advises clients on international commercial litigation, focusing on banking disputes.
Alex Sayegh: Ship Finance, London
Alex specialises in the transactional aspects of the commercial shipping and yachting industries. He advises owners, shipyards and financiers on the construction, refit, repair, sale and purchase of various types of vessels, with a particular focus on contracts for the construction of new builds.
About HFW
HFW is a leading global law firm in the aerospace, commodities, construction, energy, insurance and shipping sectors. The firm has more than 600 lawyers, including 170 partners, based in offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. HFW prides itself on its deep industry expertise and its entrepreneurial, creative and collaborative culture.
For further information, please contact:
Chris Johnson
Head of Communications, HFW
D +44 (0)20 7264 8159 | M +44 (0)7976 939864
E chris.johnson@hfw.com
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