Norwegian law firm Wikborg Rein has appointed two new partners to its growing shipping, energy and offshore team.
The move comes as the firm continues to expand in London in a bid to strengthen its presence in the international marine and energy markets and take on the big guns of the London law scene.
Baptiste Weijburg has been made a partner in the firm’s energy, natural resources, shipping and offshore (ENSO) team just two years after he joined its London office in 2018 from Holman Fenwick Willan.
Baptiste is a specialist in protection and indemnity and defence work.
He has also been advising on emission regulations such as IMO 2020 together with ballast water management and other environmental shipping issues.
Meanwhile, Andreas Fjaervoll-Larsen becomes a partner in the firm’s energy, natural resources, shipping and offshore team in Oslo.
Wikborg Rein has built up a total of more than 90 shipping, offshore and energy lawyers based in Oslo, London, Singapore, Shanghai and Bergen.
Its growth has seen it now rank among the top 10 marine law firms in the world.
Chris Grieveson, manager partner of Wikborg Rein’s London office, said: “Shipping and offshore has been Wikborg Rein’s biggest growth area in recent years, and we are very pleased to appoint Baptiste and Andreas as partners. We continue to expand our international offices, and also believe we are well positioned for the expected recovery in the oil services sector.”
In an earlier interview, Grieveson told TradeWinds that he saw an opportunity for the firm’s London practice to expand by taking on more partners.
He said the Norwegian culture could offer an attractive alternative to the traditional London law firms.
“We are running quite an independent shop here," he said. "Everyone that is a partner has come from another firm, so whenever someone joins us, they bring legacy clients with them.
“But we’ve also been building on relationships with various existing clients in Scandinavia, Shanghai and London, which have now become joint clients of the offices.”
