HFW

HFW is a leading global law firm in the aerospace, commodities, construction, energy, insurance, and shipping sectors. The firm has 700 lawyers, including 180 partners, based in offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. HFW prides itself on its deep industry expertise and its entrepreneurial, creative, and collaborative culture.

Managing Partner: Jeremy Shebson

Global Senior Partner: Giles Kavanagh

Number of partners: 180

Number of other fee-earners: 700 (including partners)

International Offices: 21

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SECTORS

AVIATION 

HFW’s market-leading global aerospace practice has been at the forefront of legal developments in the sector for decades. Its specialist lawyers have unrivalled experience of resolving the most complex claims and advising on aviation safety, economic regulation, finance and leasing, competition and antitrust. The firm helps clients negotiate documents which make sense operationally, maximising the revenue-generating potential of the asset, and also offers a bespoke aviation mediation service.

HFW's clients are drawn from all spheres of the aerospace industry - including more than 100 airlines around the world - and its practice is one of the largest of any international law firm, with leading teams across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Its cooperation arrangement with Brazilian law firm CAR enables it to provide clients with specialist local advice throughout Latin America.

COMMODITIES 

HFW has a market-leading team of more than 110 specialist commodities and dispute resolution lawyers across its global network, including the major hubs of London, Geneva, Singapore, and Perth. The firm acts across the full spectrum of the international sale of goods, including soft commodities, oil and gas, coal and steel, and non-ferrous and precious metals, and also advises and represents clients in their related freight business.

Many of HFW's lawyers have worked in the industry, giving it unrivalled experience and expertise, including secondments to the legal departments of traders and banks who are active in commodities.

CONSTRUCTION 

HFW's construction team advises on procurement, risk management and disputes for a wide range of clients, including contractors, owners, consultants and insurers. The firm has worked on some of the largest and most technically complex projects across a wide range of international markets and industries, including the energy, infrastructure and property sectors.

The firm advises major EPC contractors, owners, global infrastructure consultants, insurers, property developers, financiers and investors (both private and institutional) on every aspect of the construction process, from project establishment and procurement to claim resolution. HFW also offers a project monitoring service to support clients on legal and contractual issues – areas that the firm also helps clients by providing training to their people.

HFW's team spans the globe, with particular hubs in London, Dubai, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The firm has advised on more than half of all offshore UK windfarm projects, including the world’s largest offshore wind project.

ENERGY 

HFW's specialist team of transactional and dispute resolution lawyers advise clients at every stage of the energy chain, including exploration and production; storage and transportation; LNG; refining, trading and sale of oil and gas; electricity generation; and energy management. The firm also has expertise in renewables, carbon trading and mining, and has an emergency response team who are experienced in advising on all aspects of offshore casualties and disasters.

As true sector specialists, many of whom having experience of working in industry, HFW's team are able to provide clients with clear, practical and commercially-focused advice.

INSURANCE AND REINSURANCE 

HFW’s global insurance and reinsurance practice is recognised as an industry leader, offering a comprehensive range of advisory, dispute resolution, transactional and regulatory legal services to clients across the sector. The firm has a specialist team of more than 100 lawyers across its network of international offices, and several of its partners have worked directly in the insurance industry.

HFW's insurance and reinsurance work is generally high value, complex and multi-party, and international in nature. And as a non-aligned practice, the firm acts for both the market and policyholders.

SHIPPING 

HFW is widely recognised as the world’s leading shipping and maritime law firm, and has been serving clients in the industry for almost 140 years. It has more than 200 shipping lawyers and 13 Master Mariners across its global network, specialising in dry shipping, admiralty and crisis management, and transactional work for clients across the industry.

The firm's position as the market leader was reflected by its instruction to advise the owners and P&I insurers on the high-profile grounding of the MV Ever Given in the Suez Canal – one of the most significant marine casualties for decades.

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SERVICES

CORPORATE 

HFW's international corporate team has extensive experience acting on complex and high-value domestic and cross-border transactions. It advises many of the world’s largest companies, private and institutional investors, insurers, governments, private equity funds and investment banks across the full spectrum of corporate transactions, as well as corporate governance and day-to-day issues relating to regulatory, stock market and company law compliance.

The firm has worked on corporate transactions in markets around the world, including the UK, continental Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, India, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and South America.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION 

HFW is a leading global disputes firm - around two-thirds of its total revenue is generated by contentious matters, including litigation, international arbitration, mediation and alternative forms of dispute resolution. The firm has more than 350 disputes lawyers across the Americas, Europe the Middle East and Asia Pacific, specialising in high-value, complex, multi-party and multi-jurisdictional disputes, with a particular focus on commercial litigation, fraud and asset recovery, insolvency, investigations, and enforcement actions.

The firm's expertise spans a wide range of sectors and industries, including aviation, commodities, construction, energy, insurance and shipping. HFW has a specialist funding committee that advises clients and its lawyers on the best approach to financing litigation and arbitration - it was one of the first law firms to secure a portfolio litigation funding deal.

HFW frequently litigates on behalf of clients in major courts around the world, as well as arbitrating in all of the key international arbitration institutions. Independent data shows that it handled more commercial litigation in the English Commercial Court than any other law firm over the past eight years.

The firm's recent launch in the British Virgin Islands with the acquisition of a leading disputes team means that it is now uniquely positioned among global law firms to assist clients with litigation in all of the key international disputes hubs, including London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and the BVI.

HFW is a founding member and signatory of both the Greener Litigation Pledge and Greener Arbitration Campaign – legal industry initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of dispute resolution.

FINANCE 

HFW's specialist finance team advise on transactions across a wide range of sectors, jurisdictions and markets, including trade and asset finance, project and infrastructure finance, Islamic finance, and financial services regulation.

The firm is well known for its work in the shipping, offshore, yacht and corporate jet sectors, and frequently handles assets relating to the transportation industry.

REGULATORY 

HFW's specialist team advise our clients’ key decision-makers on a wide range of regulatory issues including corporate governance, environmental regulation, commodity derivatives and sanctions. The firm also helps clients manage the risk associated with investigations and enforcement actions around the world, advising corporations and individuals on all aspects of business crime and misconduct, including bribery, corruption, fraud, money laundering, market abuse and compliance.

The firm has excellent contacts within the key authorities and regulators, and understands the pressures clients face in dealing with regulatory issues and their need for prompt, decisive and commercially-focused advice.

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OFFICES

UK London

EUROPE Brussels, Geneva, Monaco, Paris, Piraeus

MIDDLE EAST Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait City, Riyadh

ASIA Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore

AUSTRALIA Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

AMERICAS British Virgin Islands, Houston, Rio de Janeiro*, São Paulo*

*cooperation agreement with leading Brazilian aviation and insurance firm Costa, Albino & Rocha Sociedade de Advogados (CAR).