Legal finance firm appoints Australasia regional MDs

Gadens hires rising star from Addisons for IPT… HFW launches insurance practice in Abu Dhabi…

Legal finance firm appoints Australasia regional MDs

Vannin Capital has appointed two regional managing directors of the Australasia region.

Pip Murphy in Melbourne and Tom McDonald in Sydney will have joint responsibility for leading Vannin’s Australasian business and team. Both joined the legal finance firm in 2016.

Murphy was previously a dispute resolution partner at Baker McKenzie and head of the firm’s Asia Pacific Risk & Crisis Management Group. She is a director of the Association of Litigation Funders of Australia.

McDonald is a former senior associate in the insolvency team at Ashurst and is a current member of the executive of the Federal Litigation Section Member of the Law Council of Australia.

“Both Pip and Tom have been integral to our success in Australia to date, demonstrating truly exceptional contributions to our business, as well as our clients and partners,” said Vannin Capital CEO Richard Hextall. “With the breadth of their combined experience and exceptional reputation in the market, Vannin is in a strong position to capitalise on the opportunities that exist in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.”

Gadens hires rising star from Addisons for IPT
Hazel McDwyer has joined Gadens as a partner in the intellectual property and technology team in Sydney.

The former Addisons special counsel has more than 20 years of experience and was named a Rising Star and a Recommended Lawyer

for Intellectual Property Law in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 directory in 2017.

Her practice includes all aspects of contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law, including trademarks, patents, copyright and designs – from brand protection to enforcement and cross-border issues – along with Australian Consumer Law, privacy and information technology matters.

HFW launches insurance practice in Abu Dhabi
Global firm HFW has expanded its Middle East practice with the launch of a new insurance practice in Abu Dhabi.

The firm has hired former Ince Gordon Dadds partner Justin Whelan and his practice now means that HFW has a specialist insurance team in each of its Middle East offices: Kuwait City, Dubai, Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi.

The expansion in the Abu Dhabi market bucks a trend seen among international firms that have closed their offices in the UAE capital in recent years. They include Norton Rose Fulbright and Simmons & Simmons.

HFW has now added eight new partners in the Middle East since April 2018 and developed its regional network by opening in an office Abu Dhabi in October 2018 and entering into a new association in Saudi Arabia in January 2019.

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