HFW Elects Global Practice Heads, Forms New Management Board

Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has elected new global practice heads and formed a new Management Board, effective 1 April 2019.

The elections cover HFW’s six global industry groups – aerospace, commodities, construction, energy and resources, insurance and reinsurance, and shipping. The firm has also appointed heads of its corporate, finance and litigation practices.

They are as follows:

• Aerospace: Giles Kavanagh
• Commodities: Alistair Feeney
• Construction: Carolyn Chudleigh
• Energy and Resources: Alistair Mackie
• Insurance and Reinsurance: Christopher Cardona
• Shipping: Paul Dean
• Corporate: Brian Gordon
• Finance: Elinor Dautlich
• Litigation: Noel Campbell

The nine practice heads will form HFW’s new Management Board, alongside Managing Partner Jeremy Shebson, Global Senior Partner Richard Crump and Chief Financial Officer Hamedeh Ghobadian.

It is the first time that representatives from HFW’s corporate, finance and litigation groups have featured on the firm’s Management Board. HFW has one of the largest and most active disputes practices in the market, with more than 350 disputes lawyers globally, and has significantly expanded its corporate and finance practice. The firm hired seven transactional partners in 2018 and recently launched a transactional practice in Shanghai with the recruitment of a team from US law firm Squire Patton Boggs.

Jeremy Shebson, Managing Partner, HFW:

“The addition of representatives from our corporate, finance and litigation practices to our Management Board reflects the success, growth and importance of these practices to the firm globally. We already have one of the market’s leading disputes practices and expanding our transactional offering is a strategic priority.

“I am also very pleased that we now have three women on our board. We are deeply committed to increasing female representation at the highest levels of the firm, and I look forward to working with Carolyn, Elinor, Hamedeh and the rest of the board to help drive positive change.”

This follows HFW’s election of a new global management team, with Jeremy elected as the firm’s new Managing Partner and Richard re-elected for a fifth term as Global Senior Partner.