Associate (Shipping - dispute resolution)

The Firm

HFW is a sector focused global law firm.  We have over 500 lawyers working across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.  We take a progressive approach to our roles in commercial business – thinking creatively and pragmatically to support our clients.

Whether we are solving complex issues within the construction, aviation or shipping industries, or providing advice across insurance, commodities and energy we are specialist lawyers here to add value to our clients.  We think about the commercial solution first, and then underpin our advice with a solid foundation of legal expertise. 

The Department

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The Department

Our shipping lawyers provide a comprehensive service to the global maritime business community. We have over 200 lawyers and 13 Master Mariners worldwide, specialising in maritime law, reflecting our long involvement in this field.  Our maritime lawyers have a sound understanding of how the market works across dry shipping, admiralty and crisis management, and transactional work.  We represent the full spectrum of those involved in the industry, including shipowners and charterers, P&I Clubs, banks, international agencies, shipyards, marine insurance underwriters, governments and brokers.

What we do in Shipping

We represent the full spectrum of those involved in the industry, including shipowners and charterers, P&I Clubs, banks, international agencies, shipyards, marine insurance underwriters, governments and brokers.

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Dry shipping

The firm has one of the largest practices in this area and is considered a global leader in dry shipping and transport work. The matters we handle include charterparties, bills of lading, other carriage contracts, shipbuilding and construction contracts, employment and personal injury, insurance and risk management, trading (physical and financial freight). Our marine insurance lawyers are recognised as industry leaders in this field.

Admiralty and Crisis Management

Extensive global crisis management experience and have been retained to act on many of the highest profile shipping casualties in recent years. This includes work on collisions, salvage, wreck removal, total loss, piracy and terrorism, oil pollution and other environmental damage.

We have been instructed on behalf of shipowners and/or their insurers in over 100 piracy hijackings since July 2008, advising on the full range of legal issues that arise from these incidents. Our Partners Andrew Chamberlain and Richard Neylon are recognised as industry leaders in dealing with piracy matters.

Ship and Offshore Finance

We have a leading ship finance practice, acting for ship finance banks, a wide range of owners, operators and other investors across all areas of the shipping and offshore sectors. Our work includes advising on all forms of finance including syndicated, club and bilateral debt financings as well as leasing, export credit financings, seller's credits, derivatives and other credit enhancement products, bond issues and other forms of capital raising.

With the continued pressure brought to bear by the global financial crisis, we have recently been working with a number of the world's leading ship finance banks and owners on matters in relation to, in particular, loan agreements, loan restructuring and work-outs, loan (including ship mortgage) enforcement and insolvency issues.

Transactions and Regulation

We provide the full range of transactional services required by clients in the shipping and offshore sectors such as:

Capital raising (debt and equity)

Sales, mergers and acquisitions of shipping companies

Shipping funds (both offshore and onshore)

Private equity transactions in the shipping sector

Reorganisations and restructurings

Advising on corporate governance issues

Advising on second-hand sale and purchase of vessels

Shipbuilding contracts

Ship recycling

Ship registration

Charterparties

Pooling and management agreements

All forms of joint venture agreements and strategic partnerships, including between shipping companies.

In addition, we provide extensive advice on the regulations governing the maritime sector, including (but not limited to) MARPOL, SOLAS, MLC, and Hague-Visby Rules. Recently, we have been very active in advising on international trade regulations and sanctions, particularly those adopted at UN, EU, UK, UAE, French and Australian levels, and we regularly co-ordinate advice from other jurisdictions, such as the United States, South Korea, Bermuda, Singapore and Switzerland.

We also provide specialty transactional and regulatory advice, including:

The requirements and applications for authorisation by local companies and branches of overseas companies, and passporting in the EEA, both on an establishment and services basis.

Whether derivatives transactions, guarantee and indemnification arrangements constitute insurance contracts and their regulatory treatment.

Establishing parallel and subsidiary mutuals, where required by local licensing rules or for operational reasons and forming fixed premium subsidiaries and Lloyd's syndicates managed under turnkey arrangements.

Restructuring, including insolvency, solvent schemes of arrangement and insurance business (portfolio or Part VII) transfers.

Competition law, including the review of the EU exemption for the International Group Agreement and the EU Commission's sector enquiry into business insurance.

Appointed representative, multiple principal and terms of business agreements (TOBAs), underwriting agency, third party administration and outsourcing arrangements.

Letters of credit, trusts and other forms of security.

Personal Injury

We have a strong Personal Injury practice that has expanded significantly over the past five years. The practice developed as a result of our renowned expertise in shipping and the injuries suffered by crew, passengers and stevedores. Whilst this still remains at the core of our practice, we have also built up a strong reputation in dealing with accidents across many of our other core sectors.

The team has handled an unparalleled variety of instructions from high-profile clients across the marine sector, including underwriters and their insureds, ship owners and their agents, cruise and ferry operators, shore-based logistics providers, and oil and gas companies.

Our team's in-depth knowledge in their field ensures they are able to deal with all aspects of an accident. Our particular expertise includes:

Accidents at sea

The impact of piracy/hijackings on crews

Injuries sustained in the energy industry

Injuries sustained when transporting or travelling

Claims arising out of port work

Occupational disease

Accident investigation

Assessment of liability

Assessment of quantum

At all times our aim is to protect our clients' interests by reacting quickly to accidents and assembling a team promptly to handle the variety of issues which can arise.

The Role

To support the dry shipping team, advising the main stakeholders in the physical shipping and off-shore chains across the globe in respect of charterparties, bills of lading, sale contracts, shipbuilding, MOA, grounding, unsafe port, off-shore (FSO, FPSO, rig, floating accommodation units), bunker and cargo disputes.

Key Skills & Experience Required

• Qualified lawyer with 4 – 6 years' PQE;
• International commercial dispute resolution experience in the marine and offshore sectors.

Additional Information

On occasion, some international travel may be required.

Kindly note that this job description is not contractual.  It will be reviewed periodically and may be amended or altered to meet the needs of the firm.

HFW aims to ensure equality of opportunity and we are actively working towards improving the diversity of our staff.  All applications will be considered only on merit and the applicant's suitability to meet the requirements of the role.

HFW collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants to manage its recruitment process.  The firm is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.  For information on how the firm will process your data, please see our Privacy Notice on our website (www.hfw.com/Privacy-Notice), in the section "What we collect and how we use it".

Due to the volume of applications, only those candidates shortlisted for interview will be contacted.

HFW operates a Preferred Supplier List (PSL).  Recruitment agencies should not submit CVs unless they are part of the PSL and have been engaged regarding this specific vacancy.