Law firm HFW has bolstered its shipping practice with a new round of promotions across the globe.
The UK-headquartered company has appointed three new partners and three legal directors, effective from 1 April.
The promotions in London, Paris, Hong Kong and Dubai continue the growth of its shipping operations, after the recent addition of Ince’s 11-strong ship finance team in Greece.
Paul Dean, global head of shipping, said the promotions reflect HFW’s deep, long-standing commitment to the industry globally, and its plans to continue to strengthen and broaden its offering to meet the changing needs of clients in a fast-evolving and challenging period.
The new partners include Rami Al Tal in Dubai, who specialises in debt recovery and disputes across banking, labour, payment orders, sale-and-purchase contracts, and enforcement of local and international awards and judgments.
Two more partners were created in London.
Tom Morgan has a broad shipping practice, taking in complex, high-value casualties including collisions, groundings, stow collapses, fire/explosions and dangerous cargoes, HFW said.
He also works on disputes under contracts of carriage, vessel-sharing agreements and marine insurance.
His colleague Mark Thompson is also a master mariner in the shipping emergency response team.
He deals with casualties including collisions, groundings, cargo claims and salvage.
Legal directors in Paris and London
Three new legal directors have also been appointed.
Nicola Hui, based in Hong Kong, specialises in wet and dry shipping.
She handles charterparty disputes, casualties, fire and explosion, general average and total loss.
In Paris, Mona Dejean has more than 15 years of experience handling complex shipping and energy law issues.
She advises and represents clients in the shipping and offshore energy sectors, both in litigation and transactional matters.
Finally, Daniel O’Connell has been promoted in London.
He focuses mainly on wet shipping matters, including collisions, groundings, salvage, wreck removal, fires, piracy, limitation of liability and coverage issues.
The promotions are part of a wider round spanning HFW’s international network and core sectors, with 12 new partners and legal directors in total across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Other appointments have been made in global commodities, dispute resolution and insurance.
HFW has now added more than 35 new partners since the beginning of 2023, including multiple team hires in Australia.
