News

HFW announces Senior Associate promotions across global network

Global, sector‑focused law firm HFW has announced the promotion of 26 new Senior Associates, effective 1 April 2026.

The promotions continue HFW’s growth across its international network and core sectors, spanning Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, and the firm’s global aerospace, commodities, corporate & commercial, construction, insurance & reinsurance, and shipping groups.

Jeremy Shebson, Managing Partner, and Giles Kavanagh, Global Senior Partner, HFW, said:

“We would like to congratulate our new Senior Associates on their well‑deserved promotions. These individuals demonstrate the technical excellence, sector expertise, and collaborative approach that underpin our culture at HFW. We are proud to support their continued progression as we continue to invest in the next generation of talent across our global network.”

New Senior Associates

Samantha Marigold Cash (London)
Samantha has experience in international commodity trading and shipping. She advises commodity trading companies, energy companies, and international trade associations on dispute resolution and contract drafting. Samantha’s experience covers metals, precious metals and biomass. She has experience acting in international arbitration under LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, ICC and LMAA rules, as well as English High Court litigation. Samantha is qualified in England and Wales and was admitted in 2020.

Chloe Chow (Hong Kong)
Chloe has a broad range of experience advising multinational banks, leasing houses and ship owners on different corporate and commercial matters, including cross border finance transactions, joint ventures, merger and acquisitions, finance or operating leases, restructuring and large-scale asset project finance. Chloe frequently works with international clients and supports businesses with operations mainly in Asia Pac and the Middle East. Chloe is trilingual and was admitted in Hong Kong in 2019.

Frédéric Creuset (Paris)
Frédéric specialises in insurance, liability and litigation with a focus on cross-border and multi-jurisdictional disputes under French and German Law. He represents clients before French and German courts. His experience includes handling complex product-liability litigations, managing product recalls and advising on German Law in various insurance, product liability, logistics, transportation and construction disputes, including in adjudication and arbitration proceedings.
He has spent time in secondment for a major client of the firm and developed an in-depth understanding of the insurance industry, in particular in France and Germany.
Frédéric is dual qualified. He was admitted in France in 2018 and Germany in 2023. He is native in French and German and speaks English fluently as well as Italian.

Taylor Crydon (Sydney)
Taylor is part of the Aerospace team and specialises in handling coverage, fatal accident/injury claims, property damage, helicopter and aircraft claims. He has experience across a broad range of aviation claims, such as acting for aviation insurers, airlines, private and commercial operators, maintenance organisations, hangar keepers and ground handlers. Taylor also practised for a number of years in England & Wales with our London team and continues to contribute to the global offering of the Aerospace team.

Rhys Durbin (London)
Rhys’ practice is focused on insurance and reinsurance coverage and liability disputes. He has represented policyholders, brokers, and insurers, and regularly acts on complex, cross-border matters involving significant claim values. Rhys advises on a broad range of insurance lines, including property/casualty, business interruption, marine, trade credit, and professional indemnity.

Audrey Hsieh (London)
Audrey advises clients on a wide range of corporate and commercial matters and projects. She has a broad range of experience representing private and public companies across the energy, shipping, commodities and financial services sectors on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and infrastructure projects in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the United States. She also regularly advises clients on general corporate and governance matters. Audrey is a qualified lawyer in England & Wales and is trilingual in English, French and Swedish.

Roxanne Johnson (London)
Roxanne acts for international banks and global commodities traders on both litigation and arbitration matters. Roxanne’s international arbitration practice covers many jurisdictions and includes proceedings governed by institutional rules such as LCIA, DIFC-LCIA (now DIAC), HKIAC, SIAC and ICC or trade rules such as GAFTA, FOSFA and the Refined Sugar Association. Roxanne has acted on many complex and high value disputes for indebtedness owed under facility arrangements where fraud is alleged, breaches of different types of payment guarantees and breaches of contract arising in relation to the sale and purchase of both wet and dry commodities. Roxanne’s practice also encompasses providing transactional, regulatory and commercial advice within the context of sale and purchase or facility and leasing arrangements. Roxanne has previously worked in both HFW’s Paris and Shanghai offices and possesses broad experience of the firm’s commodities, finance and shipping practices.

Alexander Jullienne (London)
Alexander advises on both contentious and non contentious matters across major infrastructure and energy projects. He supports contractors, developers and consultants throughout the project lifecycle, with deep experience drafting, negotiating and managing standard form and bespoke contracts, including FIDIC, NEC, ICC and JCT. He is known for steering clients through complex project challenges and acting in mediation, adjudication, arbitration and litigation. Alexander works extensively across the rail, water, highways and renewable energy sectors, with a strong focus on Energy from Waste and offshore construction. He is an Australian qualified legal practitioner.

Matthew Lam (Hong Kong)
Matthew has a broad range of practice with an emphasis on high value, complex and cross-border commercial litigation cases involving shareholder disputes, cryptocurrency, professional negligence, fraud and insolvency as well as (contentious & non-contentious) probate matters. Matthew is dual qualified and was admitted in Hong Kong in 2021 and England and Wales in 2023.

William Lowes (Brisbane)
William advises on complex construction and infrastructure disputes, with experience across adjudication, international arbitration, and court proceedings. He regularly assists clients with variation, delay, and disruption claims, as well as defective work disputes on large scale projects in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.

Shelby McGreachan (London)
Shelby specialises in international dispute resolution with a strong focus on commercial disputes, international trade, commodities and shipping. She also has experience in construction litigation and insurance matters (predominantly professional indemnity lines). She has experience in English High Court proceedings, international arbitration pursuant to various arbitral rules, and mediation. Shelby is qualified in Queensland, Australia and England & Wales

Constance Ollat (Paris)
Constance advises on English law, French law and cross border aspects of financing transactions, with particular focus on export credit, sovereign debt and asset finance. She has also built strong expertise in sustainability linked and green finance. Constance supports banks, financial institutions, ECAs and corporate borrowers on complex domestic and international matters, and has extensive experience in multi jurisdictional financings across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Adela Ottermann (Dubai)
Adela focuses on corporate and finance transactional work within the shipping and infrastructure sectors. She also advises creditors and distressed companies on insolvency and restructuring matters, as well as a range of clients on licensing and regulatory compliance matters within the UAE. Adela is a solicitor and notary public admitted by the Law Society of Scotland. She has been based in the Middle East since 2020.

Dom Pereira (London)
Dom is a member of the London insurance transactional and regulatory team. He advises on a range of corporate, commercial and regulatory matters, focussing on clients in the insurance sector.
His corporate and commercial experience includes domestic and cross-border M&A, disposals of businesses/assets/shares, joint ventures, intra-group reorganisations, commercial contracts (such as distribution, services and capacity agreements), employee incentive/investment schemes and corporate capital at Lloyd’s.
He has also provided regulatory advice to insurance clients, including intra-group arrangements, Solvency II capital treatment of financial instruments, Part 4A authorisation applications to the PRA and the FCA, the use of appointed representatives and corporate governance (in particular, the SM&CR).

Joshua Prest (London)
Joshua advises on international trade disputes involving physical commodities, acting in arbitrations under the major institutional rules, in English court proceedings, and in arbitration appeals. He also represents clients in general commercial disputes, including high value banking, insolvency, civil fraud, and director/shareholder matters, with wide experience before both the English and UAE offshore courts. On the transactional side, Joshua regularly assists commodities traders by drafting and negotiating sale and purchase agreements, master agreements, and trade finance arrangements. He also advises commodities traders on recent EU environmental regulations. Joshua qualified in England and Wales in 2021.

Alice Saunders (London)
Alice specialises in insurance and reinsurance coverage and liability disputes. She has experience of advising reinsurers, insurers, and insured professionals in a wide range of business lines, including property damage, business interruption and professional indemnity. Recently, Alice has advised on a number of high-profile Covid-19 business interruption claims. Alice’s experience also includes complex multi-party subrogated recoveries and coverholder disputes and often has an international focus. Alice has also completed a secondment at a major insurer.

Hermance Schaerlig (Geneva)
Hermance joined HFW Geneva in 2022. She specialises in international dispute resolution, focusing primarily on commodities and dry shipping matters. Hermance has acted on several high value disputes before different arbitral institutions (LMAA. LCIA, ICC, GAFTA, FOSFA) and before the English Commercial Court.
Hermance has experience acting for banks, traders, ship owners, charterers and other stakeholders in relation to various commodities, shipping and regulatory issues. She regularly advises regulated and non-regulated entities with respect to regulatory matters, including sanctions. Hermance speaks French and English.

Tom Serafin (London)
Tom is a litigator specialising in complex, high value cross border commercial disputes, asset tracing and enforcement, with a focus on fraud and insolvency. He regularly acts for clients in claims involving parties from the UK, the EU, Australia, China, the Middle East, and offshore jurisdictions. Tom is dual qualified in England & Wales and Australia, with full rights of audience in the senior civil courts of England.

Andrew Shinnick (Melbourne)
Andrew has a broad maritime practice acting for shipowners, charterers, P&I Clubs and terminal and port operators across both wet and dry shipping, including casualty response, cargo disputes and regulatory matters. He has experience managing complex, multi jurisdictional litigation arising from major collisions, groundings and wreck removals, and regularly advises clients on Australian regulatory compliance issues. Andrew has had carriage of commercial disputes at all levels of State and Federal courts, including on appeal, and his regulatory work extends to advising on biosecurity, maritime safety and the defence of complex criminal prosecutions.

Joey Sze (Hong Kong)
Joey has broad experience across capital markets, corporate and commercial matters, including Hong Kong IPOs, public and private M&As and regulatory compliance advisory. Joey is dual qualified in Hong Kong and England & Wales, which enables her to apply both local and international common law perspectives on cross border and multi jurisdictional transactions.

Junaid Tariq (Dubai)
Junaid is an English qualified lawyer and acts for parties across the Middle East and internationally on construction, engineering, energy and infrastructure matters. He specialises in arbitration, litigation, adjudication and mediation, acting primarily for major contractors, as well as subcontractors, consultants and owners. Junaid’s experience includes claims involving delay and disruption, defects, variations and termination disputes. His recent experience includes disputes relating to a major metro project, petroleum refinery, an immersed tunnel project and defective equipment in an offshore oil and gas well. In addition to dispute resolution, Junaid’s experience extends to drafting and negotiating construction contracts and providing live project support.

Geraldine Valenzuela (London)
Geraldine is a Senior Associate practising in complex commercial disputes, cross-border litigation, and international arbitration, primarily in the financial, commodities, and energy sectors. She specialises in helping clients avoid or navigate major disputes. Geraldine has represented claimants and defendants in large scale litigation in State and Federal Courts in Australia, the offshore Courts of the Middle East and the English High Court. Her experience covers all stages of contentious matters, including early dispute avoidance, strategic case development, trial and appellate proceedings, and enforcement. She has extensive experience in international arbitration and arbitration related litigation and is qualified to practise in both civil and common law jurisdictions, enabling her to guide clients through multi-jurisdictional and procedurally complex matters.

Frazer Watt (London)
Frazer is a London‑based lawyer specialising in commodities and commercial disputes. He advises on disputes, transactions and advisory matters across the trading, transportation, storage and financing of energy, metals, agricultural and other commodities. His disputes practice spans international arbitration and court litigation for clients within and beyond the commodities sector. Frazer has completed six‑month rotations in HFW’s Paris and Monaco offices and spent two years in the firm’s Singapore office.

Tony Wong (Hong Kong)
Tony possesses extensive experience in transactional and commercial matters, primarily focusing on asset finance, general financing, and corporate mergers and acquisitions. His practice encompasses ship financing, general financing (including syndicated and bilateral loan transactions with or without asset security), shipbuilding transactions, ship/yacht sale and purchase transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures.
Tony has been advising borrowers and lenders across diverse industries on syndicated and bilateral loan transactions. Tony frequently works with international clients and supports businesses with operations across the globe. Tony is qualified to practise law in both Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

Chelsea Woodward (Sydney)
Chelsea is a property and real estate lawyer who is building a strong reputation for her work on land acquisitions and disposals, commercial and retail leasing, titling and large scale legal due diligence for developer and property investment clients across Australia. She is regularly involved in significant transactions and advises across the full property lifecycle, including due diligence, acquisition, development, titling and disposal. Chelsea’s prior experience in banking and finance and corporate law strengthens her property practice and enables her to identify funding, structuring and risk issues that commonly arise in property transactions.