Global law firm HFW has boosted its Middle East practice with the hire of top-ranked shipping and offshore marine partners Robert Lawrence and Ian Chung.

Lawrence and Chung collectively have more than 30 years’ experience in the Middle East, and join HFW’s Dubai office from Clyde & Co, where Lawrence headed the firm’s International Trade and Transport practice in the region. The move sees Chung return to HFW, where he was a partner until 2017. Lawrence joined HFW on August 22; Ian will join on September 5.

Lawrence and Chung are both rated as market leaders by legal directories Chambers and The Legal 500. HFW now has five of the 11 lawyers ranked by The Legal 500 as leading individuals for shipping in the UAE, and two of the three lawyers ranked by Chambers in Band 1 for ship finance in the UAE – both more than any other law firm, HFW said in a statement.

HFW has operated in the Middle East for more than 15 years and now has 20 partners and over 50 lawyers across offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait City and Riyadh, making it one of the largest practices of any international law firm in the region.