Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) has promoted nine people to partners in six offices worldwide.

The London offices sees Matthew Gore, Simon Clark and Zohar Zik becoming partners in the corporate, employment and aviation practices respectively.

Gore specialises in transactional corporate and commercial law and has particular experience of international projects in a number of sectors, including ports and terminals, shipping and logistics. He previously worked for a leading container shipping line in a variety of commercial and operational roles.

Clark specialises in complex commercial and employment disputes worldwide, as well as advising on corporate and regulatory investigations and crisis management, including negotiations with regulators, reputation management and press/investor relations in respect of those issues. He also has experience as general counsel (GC) and executive committee member at a leading City financial services company.

Zik has particular expertise in aviation finance and leasing transactions and also handles a range of complex commercial agreements and regulatory matters for the aviation industry. He has advised extensively on fleet management issues. He is the former GC for aviation of a leading global tourism company and operator of one of Europe’s largest fleets of aircraft.

In Geneva, Sarah Hunt has been elected to partnership in the commodities practice. Hunt acts for a range of trading companies, charterers and owners in disputes involving in particular petroleum products, cement, coal, ethanol and soft commodities. She has also advised extensively on the applicability of international sanctions, including US, EU and Swiss sanctions.

Paris-based Pauline Arroyo is promoted to partnership for the insurance practice. Arroyo assists her clients with insurance coverage issues, industrial risks, professional liability and defective product issues. She deals with complex litigation cases, often with an international aspect, as well as transactional and regulatory aspects of insurance.

As for the Asia Pacific offices, Trevor Fox, Angie Lo and Scott Pilkington have become partners in the shipping practice in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. Fox advises on a wide range of maritime disputes, including charter party disputes and cargo claims, foreign arbitrations, and casualty investigations.

Lo has a broad non-contentious practice advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, asset finance, ship sale and purchase and other general commercial matters.

Pilkington has a broad practice in maritime litigation and arbitration, international trade disputes and offshore, including charter party, COA, CVC, slot sharing and sale and purchase contract disputes, and a wide range of cargo disputes, as well as working on a number of high-profile maritime casualties.

Also promoted as a partner in Singapore is Kate Seaton, in the aviation practice. Seaton acts for a wide range of clients, including airlines, airport authorities, ground handlers and insurers, and has extensive experience of handling claims across the Asia Pacific region.

Richard Crump, HFW’s senior partner, comments: “As we continue to invest in our strategy of international growth in our core sectors of focus, we are delighted to welcome to the partnership these high-calibre individuals, with the range of skills they bring. We are particularly pleased to see such a strong pool of talent from across the firm come through the ranks as we extend and strengthen the services we are able to offer to our clients globally.”