HFW‘s regulatory and commercial practice ensures that clients ’always feel one step ahead’. William MacLachlan has extensive expertise handling non-contentious mandates, as well as matters relating to transactional aspects of shipping, namely passenger vessels; further, he is experienced in handling an array of ship management and operation work. Claire Womersley harnesses a notable specialism in work pertaining to the cruise ship and ferry sector, handling litigation and crisis management matters therein. Womersley and MacLachlan co-head the team alongside Zohar Zik. Caroline Murphy is well-equipped to handle shipping-related disputes, including those regarding charterparties, bills of lading and shipbuilding, while Kirsten Wright specialises in advising yacht and cruise ship owners on collisions, injuries, and fatalities that have occurred at sea. Alex Sayegh is also noteworthy for his transactional shipping work, as is Gudmund Bernitz, who has a shipping finance specialism. Zik's former co-head Elinor Dautlich departed to Hannaford Turner LLP in January 2024.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘HFW has experience and capabilities in all fields of transport.’
‘An excellent team of partners and associates.’
‘HFW has a broad regulatory and commercial travel practice which provides an excellent service to its clients. Its clients range from cruise lines, tour boats and tour operators to foreign liability insurers who have been sued in England. Paul Dean and the team adopt a very commercial approach to achieving the best result for clients. ’
‘Paul Dean and Claire Womersley have extensive experience in dealing with travel-related personal injury and other claims commercially but with compassion. I would strongly recommend both of them.’
‘They provide a phenomenal, fundamental, practical overview of complex legal issues.’
‘They think broadly and can foresee steps to be taken by opponents so clients always feel one step ahead.'
Key clients
- Isles of Scilly Steamship Company Limited
- Middle Eastern airline
- Viking River Cruises AG
Work highlights
- Advising the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group and their subsidiaries on their complex and strategically essential fleet renewal programme.
- Advised a Middle Eastern airline on its proposed extended cooperation with a successful domestic Indian low-cost airline.
- Advised Viking River Cruises AG on the collision of a vessel owned by the company, the Viking Sigyn, with a Hungarian tourist vessel, the Hableány, on 29th May 2019 on the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary.
Lawyers
Next generation partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
William MacLachlan; Claire Womersley; Zohar Zik
Other key lawyers
Paul Dean, Alistair Mackie; Gudmund Bernitz; Zain Kazmi; Caroline Murphy; Alex Sayegh, Kirsten Wright