HFW appoints Sydney lawyer as global group head of corporate and commercial
In addition to its plans for exponential growth in Australia, global law firm HFW has tapped a Sydney-based practitioner to lead its worldwide corporate and commercial practice group.
Following the recent appointment of its first new senior partner in 15 years, HFW has elected new global group heads and formed a new management board.
The news follows the recent appearance of HFW Australian managing partner Gavin Vallely on The Lawyers Weekly Show, in which he discussed why Australia is central to the firm’s global growth strategy and how the firm’s Australian presence could grow by more than 50 per cent in the coming two years.
Last month, HFW also took a disputes team from US firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, including the former state solicitor for Western Australia.
Elsewhere, Singapore-based Mert Hifzi was elected as the new head of the firm’s aerospace group, London-based Michael Sergeant will lead the construction group (which Ms Chudleigh used to be the head of), and London-based Christopher Foster will head up the firm’s insurance and reinsurance group.
The group and practice heads will form the firm’s new management board, alongside managing partner Jeremy Shebson, global senior partner Giles Kavanagh, chief operating officer Sid Welham, chief financial officer Hamedeh Ghobadian, global HR director Corrin Kaye, and external board member Harry Nicholson.
Mr Shebson said that he is “very pleased” to welcome the firms’ newest board members and group leads.
“They are joining our senior management team at a very important time for HFW, as we look to really ramp up our growth across our core sectors, services and international network,” he said.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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