INTERNATIONAL law firm HFW has announced the hiring of Christopher Metcalf as a partner for its Singapore office, part of an effort to boost its shipping practice.
Mr Metcalf is described as an expert on dry shipping and is ranked by The Legal 500 and Chambers as one of Singapore’s leading maritime lawyers.
He is set to join HFW in September from Clyde & Co, subject to regulatory approvals.
HFW recently hired former shipbroker Chris Jones and ship finance partner Siri Wennevik, while also relocating admiralty and crisis management partner Toby Stephens and ship finance partner John Forrester from London to Singapore in 2017.
Singapore head of shipping Toby Stephens said Mr Metcalf was “one of the top shipping lawyers in Singapore”.
“He brings considerable dry shipping expertise to complement our existing strength in wet shipping and ship finance, and further enhances our ability to offer specialist advice to clients across the shipping and maritime industry,” Mr Stephens said.
Singapore Office head Mert Hifzi said this hire was part of an ongoing drive to expand and diversify in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We’ve now added six new partners in Singapore over the past 20 months, and will continue to seek opportunities to bolster our offering to clients across our core sectors and services,” Mr Hifzi said.
Mr Metcalf said he was excited to be joining HFW.
“HFW’s expertise, experience, client base and international reach is unrivalled in shipping, and I’m looking forward to working with the team in Singapore and across the firm’s extensive office network,” he said.
HFW global head of shipping Paul Dean said the latest hire reflected continued and longstanding commitment to the global shipping and maritime industry.
“We have ambitious plans to further strengthen and broaden our practice,” Mr Dean said.
