Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has announced the promotion of 14 new Senior Associates, effective 1 April 2025.
The promotions continue HFW’s growth across its international network and core sectors, spanning the UK, Europe, and Asia Pacific, and the firm’s global aerospace, commodities, corporate and commercial, construction, insurance, and shipping groups.
Jeremy Shebson, Managing Partner, and Giles Kavanagh, Senior Partner, HFW: “We’d like to congratulate our newest Senior Associates on their well-deserved promotions. We pride ourselves on being a firm that nurtures talent and celebrates excellence, so it’s always extremely pleasing to see our people progress their careers at HFW.”
New Senior Associates
Aoife Mulford (Aerospace, London)
Aoife has a broad range of experience, including cross-border experience, advising leasing companies, airlines, servicers and financiers, on aviation finance and leasing transactions, novations, sales and acquisitions, repossessions and a variety of financing arrangements. Aoife is a dual qualified lawyer and was admitted in Ireland in 2016 and England and Wales in 2018.
Charlie Gribble (Commodities, Perth)
Charlie has extensive experience dealing with complex commercial litigation, with a focus on disputes relating to corporate governance and competition and economic law. Charlie is admitted to practice in Western Australia and to appear in the Federal and High Court of Australia. Charlie has appeared in, and had carriage of, matters in the Federal Court, the Supreme Court of Western Australia, the District Court and the Magistrates Court.
Edward Smith-Suarez (Aerospace, London)
Edward’s practice area is predominantly focused on aviation and insurance litigation. Edward has worked on a number of major losses with multi-jurisdictional elements and cross border issues as well as fatal accidents around the world, concerning the loss of commercial, military and recreational aircraft. Edward has worked on a number of major airline and ground handler accounts and handles claims made against airlines, operators, manufacturers, ground-handlers and their insurers. Ed qualified as a Solicitor in England & Wales in September 2017 and is also qualified in the Republic of Ireland. He is a fluent Spanish speaker.
Jack Metherell (Shipping, London)
Jack specialises in international commercial dispute resolution, with a focus on shipping, offshore and logistics disputes. His clients include shipowners, charterers, commodities traders and their insurers and P&I clubs, for whom he has acted in High Court litigation and arbitration. During Jack’s training he undertook a six-month secondment to the firm’s Hong Kong office, where he worked on a range of shipping related matters.
Julie Hanoun (Aerospace, Paris)
Julie specialises in dispute resolution, and advises and represents clients in both international and domestic disputes, including major catastrophes, passenger claims, cargo claims, EU 261. She also has experience handling regulatory matters, particularly in relation to travel package regulations, GDPR aspects and consumers law (on both litigation and non-contentious aspects). Prior to joining HFW Paris, Julie worked as an in-house lawyer in a French Airline and a French Airport.
Konstantinos Kofopoulos (Shipping, Piraeus)
Konstantinos acts principally for owners, charterers and P&I Clubs on both contentious and non-contentious dry shipping matters. His work spans a variety of disputes such as charterparty, bill of lading, FD&D and marine insurance coverage disputes in commercial London arbitration and High Court proceedings. Konstantinos holds an LL.B. from the University of Athens, an LL.M. on English maritime law from the University of Southampton, and a Ph.D. on English marine insurance law from the University of Southampton.
Lauren Cogley (Shipping, Piraeus)
Lauren specialises in commercial dispute resolution with a focus on shipping law. She has experience in dealing with the full breadth of shipping issues ranging from charterparty disputes to cargo claims, casualties and marine insurance claims and the disputes with which she assists are usually complex and comprise an international element. Lauren has advised Owners, P&I clubs, insurers and reinsurers and has a wealth of experience in dealing with court hearings.
Max Hui (Corporate & Commercial, Hong Kong)
Max focuses his practice on corporate and commercial matters, including corporate finance, initial public offerings, secondary fund-raising transactions, compliance and regulatory issues, and mergers and acquisitions. Max is qualified in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. He is fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Nadia Sanchez (Aerospace, Brussels)
Nadia specialises in the transport sector, where she advises a variety of clients including major airlines, insurers and other aerospace entities on a wide range of legal matters, including finance and leases, contract drafting and negotiation, litigation and regulatory matters. Nadia is fluent in French and English. She is a member of the Paris bar.
Neil Chauhan (Commodities, London)
Neil specialises in complex cross-border litigation. His focus is on fraud and insolvency cross-over work. Neil acts for insolvency practitioners, creditors, debtors and companies in relation to high-value international insolvencies, civil fraud, breach of contract, asset tracing and breach of directors’ duties. He has worked on a number of offshore trust matters in the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the British Virgin Islands (where he is also called to practice).
Ryan Craft (Construction, Perth)
Ryan regularly advises principals, head contractors, subcontractors and engineering consultants in preparation for new projects and opportunities. He has extensive experience in contract tendering, negotiation, contract drafting and contractual administration necessary to achieve successful construction and infrastructure projects. Ryan also has broad experience acting for both claimants and defendants in all stages of construction and commercial disputes across Australian jurisdictions – including resolving disputes through mediation, arbitration and litigation.
Sheree Luo (Corporate & Commercial, Sydney)
Sheree regularly advises clients on all aspects of employment law and workplace relations matters, across a broad range of industries, and has particular experience in advisory matters such as navigating complex and sensitive workplace investigations, discrimination, performance management, disciplinary matters, and restructuring and redundancies. Sheree also has experience advocating for clients before the Fair Work Commission and other tribunals. Clients value Sheree for her practical, pragmatic and commercial approach.
Stephanie Park (Commodities, Melbourne)
Stephanie has experience working in the Australian legal market on a variety of high value disputes before the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia. Stephanie acts for liquidators, administrators and receivers and managers in insolvency and restructuring matters. Her general commercial dispute experience spans disputes related to financial services, trading issues, insurance products and misleading and deceptive conduct. She has prosecuted class actions involving insurance purchases.
Thomas Lawler (Insurance/Reinsurance, Sydney)
Thomas has a diverse range of practice experience across energy, mining, insurance, infrastructure, residential and commercial engineering and construction. Before the law, he worked in a variety of roles for an engineering and construction contractor for over ten years. In the law, he has also spent a year seconded as in-house counsel to an international contractor on Australia’s first renewable energy zone, whilst acting for a mining contractor in a large complex dispute before the NSW Supreme Court. Thomas currently acts in a team for a large insurance broker in a series of high value and complex trade credit proceedings spanning the Federal Court of Australia and UK High Court.
