Global law firm HFW launches VI office
According to a press release from HFW today, February 7, 2022, the move gives HFW a leading disputes practice in the VI, led by senior partner Scott Cruickshank and including associates Jonathan Child and Helen Chen, who speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese.
It said Scott was Lennox Paton's BVI Managing Partner and Head of Litigation.
Role of HFW
According to HFW, the team will advise clients on complex, high-value corporate and commercial litigation, including foreign judgment enforcement and interlocutory relief, insolvency and restructuring, fraud and asset tracing, shareholder and JV disputes, and company law disputes and director claims.
It also said HFW has been litigating for clients in offshore jurisdictions for more than 20 years, and its new VI office will work closely with the firm's expert litigators in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and its other offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
"This is a very significant development for our global disputes offering – we are now uniquely positioned among international law firms to assist clients with litigation in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and the BVI,” Head of HFW Litigation, Noel Campbell stated.
VI has a ‘respected body of law & regulatory regime- Campbell
Campbell added that the VI has been looking seriously at the VI for several years.
“It’s a major litigation centre and most of the international cases relate to fraud, insolvency/restructuring and shareholder disputes, which are key areas of strength for our team globally.
“An increasing number of clients – particularly those based in Greater China, Russia/CIS and Brazil – are attracted by the BVI’s respected body of law and regulatory regime, which is rooted in English common law. That links up well with our offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Brazil, and our strong track record of Russia-related disputes, including high-profile matters such as the winding up of the Boris Berezovsky insolvent estate in London.”
Campbell also said HFW's relationship with Lennox Paton in the Bahamas goes back over 20 years and it has worked extensively with Scott and his team for more than a decade.
“They have significant experience litigating in the Eastern Caribbean Commercial Court, Court of Appeal and the Privy Council (the final Court of Appeal for the BVI, which sits in London), and Scott is one of the few litigators on island with such a long and continuous experience of the BVI courts, having first arrived in the BVI in early 2008. We're proud to welcome them to HFW."
According to HFW, the Lennox Patton team is ranked as a “leading BVI dispute resolution practice” in both Chambers and The Legal 500, with Scott described as an "intellectual powerhouse" with "a wealth of invaluable BVI-related knowledge".
Scott also received a Lexology Client Choice Award for asset recovery in the BVI.
Natural progression- Scott Cruickshank
According to Scott Cruickshank, Partner, HFW, most of the complex commercial litigation in the VI has an international element to it, “and we have worked with HFW on many high-value multi-jurisdictional cases.”
He said HFW has one of the most active disputes practices globally and the VI team specialises in complex, high-value fraud, insolvency, and corporate and commercial litigation.
"It was a natural progression for us to join HFW, which provides a strong platform to continue to build our disputes business and provide clients with a seamless, global service. We are now a formidable, global team," Cruickshank said.
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9 Responses to “Global law firm HFW launches VI office ”
Trade need to start putting things in place to make sure these things are covered. Hardly ever hear of lawfirms here helping locals. they happy to pay very large fees to gwt their workpermits issued in days.....up to 10K !!! so why can they not spend 10k to help a school or student. cumon VIP...bring this home. its nothing to them.