More than half are from the firm's offices in Asia and Australia
Sector-focused law firm HFW has announced the promotion of its senior associates across the globe. Fourteen new senior associates will step into their new roles beginning April 1, 2023.
The new senior associates are:
- Adélaïde Rambaud (insurance and reinsurance, Paris)
- Carlita Bloecker (shipping, Melbourne)
- Florian Schacker (shipping, Dubai/London)
- George Kaye (shipping, Monaco)
- Hugo Monro (shipping, Singapore)
- James Neale (shipping, London)
- Jefferson Tan (commodities, Singapore)
- Lorraine Chiu (aerospace, Hong Kong)
- Natasha Joukhdar (construction, Sydney)
- Rachel Irwin (construction, Sydney)
- Shane Gibbons (insurance and reinsurance, Geneva)
- Whitney Jiang (corporate and commercial, Sydney)
- Winnie Chung (shipping, Hong Kong)
- Zoe Triantafyllou (shipping, London)
The promotions, more than half of which were from HFW’s offices across Asia and Australia, continued the firm’s global expansion and ongoing growth strategy in the Asia Pacific region. They also highlighted HFW’s increasing specialisation in each of the firm's global industry groups: aerospace, commodities, construction, corporate and commercial, insurance, and shipping.
“On behalf of the entire firm, we'd like to extend our warmest congratulations to our newly promoted senior associates on this well-deserved achievement,” said HFW managing partner Jeremy Shebson and global senior partner Giles Kavanagh in a statement. “You have each demonstrated dedication and exceptional legal skills in supporting our clients, and we look forward to you continuing to develop your careers at HFW.”
Adélaïde Rambaud
Rambaud’s practice focuses on insurance law, industrial risks, and dispute resolution. She works from HFW’s office in Paris and has wide experience handling claims involving civil liability, commercial litigation, defective products, and insurance coverage.
Carlita Bloecker
Bloecker, who works from Melbourne, acts on behalf of vessel owners, charterers, freight forwarders, stevedores, P&I clubs, and warehousing operators to support them on vessel arrests, damage to cargo or vessels, shipbuilding, and defence in criminal proceedings for environmental or animal welfare obligations.
Florian Schacker
Schacker is dual-qualified in Germany and England and Wales. His dry-shipping practice focuses on litigation and arbitration disputes under charterparties, bills of lading, and other contracts. He likewise advises on the drafting of charterparties and other commercial agreements.
George Kaye
Kaye’s practice from Monaco covers shipping, yachting, and insurance, with focus on claims under charterparties, bills of lading, and commodity contracts. He has experience acting for clients in English High Court proceedings and international arbitration.
Hugo Monro
Monro likewise specialises in claims under charterparties, bills of lading, and other commercial agreements, and has experience acting for clients in English High Court proceedings and international arbitration from HFW’s Singapore office. Monro has also represented mining companies, traders, and bunker suppliers in shipping matters.
James Neale
Neale from HFW’s London office is a regulatory and compliance lawyer whose practice focuses on sanctions, export controls, anti-bribery and corruption, product regulation, and customs. His clients include shipowners, charterers, insurers, and commodity traders.
Jefferson Tan
Tan, based in Singapore, specialises in climate and sustainable finance. He has advised on structuring and financing voluntary carbon projects, products for voluntary carbon credits, and security and trading documentation for environmental products.
Lorraine Chiu
Chiu has experience in advising financial institutions, aircraft owners, and airlines in cross-border transactions. She specialises in aircraft financing and leasing and acts on business jet financing, leasing, and sale and purchase transactions from the firm’s office in Hong Kong.
Natasha Joukhdar
Joukhdar works from Sydney and has experience supporting clients in construction and engineering and complex commercial disputes, including arbitration, expert determination, litigation, mediation, and adjudication.
Rachel Irwin
Irwin likewise works from Sydney, where she acts for contractors and construction design consultants in large-scale infrastructure, construction, engineering, and commercial matters across Australia.
Shane Gibbons
Gibbons’ practice focuses on claims and coverage issues relating to complex insurance policies, especially trade credit and professional indemnity. Working from HFW’s office in Geneva, Gibbons has also acted on interest rate swaps and oil derivatives and cyrpto disputes.
Whitney Jiang
Working from Sydney, Jiang’s areas of practice include commercial transactions, drafting due diligence reports and finance facility documents, and advising on duties and Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board applications. Jiang speaks and writes fluently in Mandarin.
Winnie Chung
Chung, who works from Hong Kong, specialises in shipping and international trade dispute resolution. She supports shipowners, charterers, traders, and P&I clubs in arbitration and court and has experience in ship arrest, winding up, and enforcement matters.
Zoe Triantafyllou
Triantafyllou works from the firm’s London office, where she advises lessors, banks, and other financial institutions on a wide range of transactional matters including debt finance, export credit finance, and leasing structures, primarily in the commercial shipping and yacht industries.
HFW now boasts more than 600 lawyers – including 180 partners – based in offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.
