HFW has hired a team from Ince led by partners Robin Parry and Ronan Le Du to expand its ship finance services in Greece.
Mr. Parry and Mr. Le Doux each have decades of experience in ship finance matters, along with a team of six lawyers and three business services professionals from Ince, where Mr. Parry was head of finance operations in Greece. Joined HFW in Piraeus.
The team's move to HFW comes after the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) closed down Axiom Ince in October last year to protect client funds, with the firm's lawyers joining Mr Birketts and Horwich Farrelly. This follows his departure for rival companies such as Mr. Greenwoods, Mr. Greenwoods, and Mr. RPC. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Hill Dickinson launched a new office in Cyprus in collaboration with former Ince transport partners George Zambartas and Esther Toumpolis.
The team's move also follows HFW's recruitment of legal director and ship finance specialist Antonella Kalaris from Australian bank ANZ in Piraeus last summer, making the company one of the largest ship finance teams in Greece.
“Robin and the team are the go-to advisors for ship finance in Greece and we are very pleased to welcome them to HFW,” said Dimitri Vasos, Head of HFW Piraeus.
“Following Antonella’s arrival earlier this year, this is another important step in the development of our transactional capabilities in Piraeus and complements our strength in maritime litigation. We believe there are strong synergies between our global shipping finance business, and in particular our teams in London, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. We are relocating to Piraeus to further enhance our service to our clients. We look forward to continuing to add partners and teams.”
Mr. Parry, Mr. Le Doux and their team specialize in ship finance and transactional shipping matters, acting for Greek and international lenders, financiers and owners, including banks and investment funds.
They advise on the documentation and negotiation of financing and security documents for syndicated and bilateral, pre- and post-delivery financing and club agreements, as well as restructuring and rescheduling arrangements for existing facilities.
Mr. Parry is ranked in the Legal 500 Greek Shipping Finance Hall of Fame, and Mr. Le Doux is ranked as one of the four leading figures in the market.
Mr Parry commented: “HFW is the clear market leader in the transportation sector around the world. Thanks to our network of specialized transportation teams around the world, no other law firm offers this combination of domain expertise and international reach. .
“There is no better place to work as a shipping lawyer and HFW provides our team with the best platform for growth. I am very excited to continue building the practice as part of a global team.”
HFW's maritime practice has more than 200 maritime lawyers and 13 captains specializing in dry shipping, naval management and crisis management, and transactional work for clients across the industry.
The firm has added about 30 new partners around the world since the start of its 2023 financial year, including a team of 20 lawyers hired from MinterEllison across Australia and China in November last year. It includes five companies that have joined as members, strengthening the company's corporate, project and regulatory services in the region.
HFW reported a 13% rise in revenue to £225.3m in FY23, compared with a 17.5% rise in PEP to £786,000. Bucking the trend of flat PEP despite UK law firm revenue growth, it opened an office in Shenzhen Qianhai last summer to support it. Practice in the Greater Bay Area.
The SRA took control of Axiom Ince, which was formed when local UK company AxiomDWFM took Ince out of administration in April last year, after discovering around £66m of customer funds were missing.
On November 14, the Serious Fraud Office arrested seven people in connection with the company's collapse and searched nine locations in south-east England.
