Seven people are leaving Ince in Monaco to join HFW's new office in the principality.
The shipping law heavyweight's new office will be led by partners Ian Cranston, Andrew Charlier and Marco Crusafio, who headed up Ince's practice in the city-state previously.
Cranston was head of Ince's Monaco office and Andrew was global head of yachts at the firm.
The partners will be joined in early September by legal directors Ian Fisher and Ruth Monahan, associate George Kaye and trainee legal executive Laura Pike, who are also leaving Ince.
HFW's head of shipping, Paul Dean, said the firm was "thrilled" to welcome the three partners and the team to HFW.
"We've been interested in the Monaco market for quite some time, but we were only ever going to make a move if we could bring them onboard – they're the clear market leaders and we wouldn't settle for anything less," Dean said.
The team specialises in shipping; yachts, business aviation, international trade, commodities, energy and insurance.
Ince's international business
The exodus from Ince's Monaco office comes at a time when the firm's international network is changing and has seen high-profile staff jump ship.
Ince was acquired by law firm Gordon Dadds, but the transaction only included Ince's UK and China businesses.
Gordon Dadds was forced to revise its takeover plan after it failed to come to arrangements with Ince's international network of affiliates in Germany, Greece, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.
December saw the head of Ince's Piraeus office and its head of Greek law dispute resolution leave with another Ince lawyer to join Watson Farley & Williams' (WFW) new maritime dispute resolution department in Athens.
Arrangements were finalised in early April to take control of — but not ownership of — Ince's locally owned offices in Germany, Greece, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Expansion
HFW has hinted that more growth by acquisition could be on the way, following 11 international office openings, mergers and associations since 2016.
Richard Crump, HFW's global senior partner, said: "We have ambitious plans to continue that growth and will actively pursue strategic opportunities across our core sectors, services and geographies."
HFW said it has added seven shipping partners and a senior consultant in the past four months, following internal promotions and the recent hire of former shipbroker Chris Jones in Singapore.
