Squire Patton Boggs has announced the appointment of Ruaridh Guy as a partner in its Hong Kong Litigation Practice. Mr. Guy, who arrives with associates Lauras Rambinas and Tina Wong from the Hong Kong office of Ince & Co, is the latest senior lawyer to join the firm’s Commodities and Shipping Industry Group. He follows the recent addition of Michael Wray in Houston and Joel Cockerell in Singapore.
Qualified in both England and Wales and Hong Kong, Mr. Guy advises shipping and trading clients on a broad range of dispute resolution matters. His experience includes Court proceedings and arbitrations seated in Hong Kong, London, Singapore and Seoul under various rules and institutions, including The London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA), Hong Kong Maritime Arbitration Group (HKMAG), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
The team’s expertise includes dry shipping work, such as bills of lading, charterparties, contracts of affreightment, and ship sale and purchase contracts. They also act in relation to wet shipping matters, including collisions, fires and groundings. On the trade side, the team regularly acts in disputes under contracts for the sale and purchase of commodities, in particular oil and oil products, coal and various metals, and on related issues such as letters of credit and guarantees.
Mr. Guy also has substantial experience of contentious insolvency matters, acting for creditors and liquidators.
“Hong Kong is one of the world’s most important maritime hubs and arbitration jurisdictions and we have been looking to develop our offering in that market as part of the expansion of our global practice,” said Barry Stimpson who co-leads the firm’s Commodities and Shipping Industry Group with Chris Swart. “Ruaridh and his team will give us greater strength in depth, as well as provide support to the litigation and arbitration teams in Hong Kong, our Singapore and Australia offices.”
Hong Kong office managing partner James Tsang added: “Ruaridh brings specialist litigation expertise to the firm and his wide-ranging client base will also create opportunities for our other practices in Hong Kong and across the Asia Pacific region.”
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Guy said: “Squire Patton Boggs’ broad geographic and practice offering provides the ideal platform for me and my team to continue to serve our existing clients, develop our client base, and assist in the further growth of the firm’s Commodities and Shipping Industry Group.”
The Commodities and Shipping Industry Group provides a full range of legal services on all aspects of international trade and shipping and across all commodity sectors, including advice and assistance with transactions, corporate matters, trade and asset finance, litigation and arbitration, regulatory matters, environmental law, conventional and renewable energy, derivatives and projects.
Established over 25 years ago, the firm’s Hong Kong office has an experienced team specialising in merger and acquisition transactions, capital market transactions, joint ventures, international business law matters, outbound investment issues and in dispute resolution. It is one of the few legal practices in Hong Kong to offer comprehensive local, US and international tax advice.