Two new partners join HFW's Melbourne office
HFW has snapped up a team from Johnson Winter Slattery (JWS).
Paul Buitendag and team co-lead Rena Solomonidis join HFW’s corporate restructuring, insolvency, and commercial litigation team in Melbourne as partners. Both bring experience from their involvement in major corporate collapses in Australia.
Buitendag and Solomonidis are specialists in large-scale complex multi-jurisdictional insolvencies, corporate restructuring, regulatory investigations and commercial disputes, and the prosecution and defence of class actions. They have collaborated with litigation funders as well.
They have provided guidance on deeds of company arrangement and schemes of arrangement and safe harbour. Both have counted liquidators, administrators, banks, creditors, ASX-listed companies, and senior board executives among their clients.
“Paul and Rena have worked together for over 16 years, advising on complex insolvencies and collaborating with funders from the USA, UK, and Australia. Their experience will strengthen our restructuring, insolvency, and litigation funding teams both in Australia and globally”, HFW Australia managing partner Gavin Vallely said.
Vallely added that Buitendag was “known for pioneering litigation funding in Australia, including the introduction of ATE insurance as an alternative form of security for costs in litigation funding agreements”. Vallely also highlighted Solomonidis as “a leading practitioner in commercial litigation, insolvency, and class actions” who had played roles in “several high-profile cases and disputes”.
Buitendag pointed to HFW’s presence in London, which he described as “an important centre for litigation funders, brokers, and insurers developing innovative litigation funding products”.
