The Legal 500

Holman Fenwick Willan is a global law firm advising businesses engaged in international commerce.

The firm: The firm has a reputation worldwide for excellence and innovation and has focused the development of its capabilities in the following core sectors: commodities, energy, finance, insurance and reinsurance, shipping and transport. With offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, the firm has one of the largest international arbitration and dispute resolution practices of its kind, and has over 125 years experience of working with other law firms in jurisdictions throughout the world.

Types of work undertaken: Aviation: advises manufacturers, operators, owner managers, support providers, banks and insurers on all legal requirements. Provide emergency and casualty response to airline operators.

Banking: specialist expertise in asset finance for shipping and aviation, and particular capability in advising on finance for commodities trading. Restructuring of debt and workouts for banks and other lenders, corporate rescue and turnaround, and all forms of liquidation, administration, schemes of arrangement, restructuring and insolvency. Corporate advice on own-account work, as well as to banks’ clients. Acts for issuers and underwriters on capital raisings and M&A. Works with financial institutions to trace and recover lost or stolen assets worldwide.

Commodities: focus is on assisting clients to finance, develop and grow their business, guard against risk, access new markets, deal with international regulations and resolve disputes.

Insurance and reinsurance: advises and acts for insurers, reinsurers, retrocessionaires, brokers and other intermediaries, administrators and liquidators, on all key insurance matters, from policy coverage to regulatory issues. Advise all stakeholders in the insurance market on their corporate and regulatory requirements.

Logistics: corporate, regulatory, real estate and employment issues, insurance and risk management, supply-chain issues, customs regulations and transportation matters, as well as the infrastructure that is required to manage the legal demands of a logistics business.

Mining and minerals: advises producers, traders, financiers and insurers on all aspects of selling, trading and financing mining and minerals activity. Specialist expertise in coal, gold, iron ore, nickel, copper and metals (ferrous and non-ferrous) sectors.

Offshore energy: advises oil companies on all types of offshore contracts, as well as logistics and emergency/casualty response. Additionally, advises on insurance, finance and tax elements associated with conducting offshore business.

Oil and gas: expertise at every stage of the energy chain, from exploration and production to LNG, as well as the trading, transportation and insurance of crude, oil products and gas. Provide emergency and casualty response to the oil and gas industry.

Ports and terminals: advises on all aspects of national and international port and terminal ownership, development and redevelopment, expansion, regulation, operation, management and use.

Power and utilities: advises power generators, utilities, suppliers, customers, distribution network operators and their insurers on all aspects of the construction, delivery, management and sale of power. All forms of contracts, waste management and environmental pollution emissions, regulatory matters, financing and insurance.

Shipping: long-standing specialist advisers to the international shipping sector. In-depth understanding of how the market works, both from the perspective of underwriters and clubs, and that of their clients and ship-owning members. Admiralty practice advises on any situations arising from casualty response, collisions and explosions, to total loss and wreck removal. All forms of shipping contracts, ship and transport-related disputes, shipping finance, corporate matters and marine insurance. Specialist expertise in the cruise sector.

Super yachts: in-depth technical and commercial knowledge of this specialist sector. Advise on construction, refit and design contracts, finance and leasing, ownership structures/VAT, sale and purchase, chartering, insurance and management agreements.

Other offices: Paris, Rouen, Brussels, Geneva, Piraeus, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth

Number of UK partners 76
Number of other UK fee-earners 158

The firm

Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) is an international law firm advising businesses engaged in all aspects of international commerce. With offices in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, the firm has built a reputation worldwide for excellence and innovation and focuses on the following core sectors: aviation; construction, engineering and infrastructure; commodities; energy; financial institutions; insurance and reinsurance; logistics; mining; ports and terminals; real estate; shipping; space; travel and superyachts.

The firm aims to deliver a practical and commercial response to the legal requirements of businesses. It has the capability to assist clients with their legal requirements for the following key reasons: international reach; in-depth sector expertise, balance between transactional and dispute resolution capability; integration of our practices.

Areas of practice

Aviation: advises airlines, banks, manufacturers, support providers, owners, operators, freight forwarders and insurers on a range of legal issues. Our experienced casualty investigators also provide emergency response services.

Construction, engineering and infrastructure: the practice covers contentious and non-contentious matters, with clients across the construction industry.

Commodities: acts across the spectrum of the international sale of goods including soft commodities, oil and gas, coal and steel, non-ferrous and precious metals.

Energy: expertise ranges from exploration and production, storage and transportation, LNG, refining, trading and sale of oil and gas, to electricity generation, energy management, renewable and carbon trading.

Financial institutions: experience ranges from infrastructure and project finance, ship and aviation finance, to Islamic finance, trade finance and private equity.

Insurance and reinsurance: dispute resolution, transactional and regulatory services. Clients include insurance companies, captives, insurance intermediaries, managing and members’ agencies at Lloyd’s, and run-off service providers.

Logistics: acts for buyers and providers of logistics services, and for the insurance sector, on a range of disputes arising out of logistics operations, as well as transactional matters.

Mining: advises on M&A, projects, construction, trade and structured finance, insurance, physical trading, derivatives, sale and purchase agreements, regulatory and EU issues, transportation and disputes.

Ports and terminals: advises port and terminal operators, international shipping lines, investment funds, logistics companies, contractors, consultants, banks and financial institutions, and insurance providers. The firm has been involved in projects in more than 45 locations worldwide.

Real estate: advises on investment property, real estate development, owners and occupiers, hotel and leisure, retail and property finance.

Shipping: advises on shipping contracts, ship and transport related disputes, ship finance, corporate matters and marine insurance. The admiralty practice advises on major casualty and piracy cases.

Space: provides advice and legal representation to the space industry and its insurers and reinsurers on all matters. The team has advised on some of the largest insurance matters the industry has seen.

Superyachts: in-depth knowledge of this specialist sector. Clients include builders, designers, owners, banks and financial institutions, charterers, brokers and insurers.

Travel, cruise and leisure: advises cruise companies, ship owning groups, P&I clubs and holiday companies on shipping and travel law, regulatory compliance, commercial matters, dispute resolution, health and safety, crisis management, IT/IP and data protection.

Languages
Afrikaans
Arabic
Bengali
Cantonese
Danish
Dutch
Farsi
Flemish
French
German
Greek
Gujarati
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Maltese
Mandarin
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Urdu
Welsh
Yoruba

Other offices
Brussels
Dubai
Geneva
Hong Kong
Melbourne
Paris
Perth
Piraeus
Rouen
Shanghai
Singapore
Sâo Paulo
Sydney

Founding patron and member European Maritime Law Organisation (EMLO)

Number of lawyers 432

at this office 235