Posted on: 26 April 2016
International law firm Ince & Co is pleased to announce the partner promotion of Pavlo Samothrakis in its Dubai office with effect from 1 May 2016. Pavlo has been with Ince & Co since 2006 and moved to the Dubai office in 2008. He advises on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters in the shipping & international trade and offshore energy sectors.
Pavlo’s promotion follows those of Mohamed El Hawawy and Khalid Hamed in Dubai in October and May 2015, respectively. Both Mohamed and Khalid specialise in the shipping sector. Ince & Co’s Middle East partner presence was further bolstered by the recent recruitment of corporate finance partner Tom Briggs in March 2016.
On the contentious side, Pavlo deals with charterparty/bill of lading disputes, ship arrests, shipbuilding disputes, ship sale and purchase disputes and casualty work. Pavlo has represented owners of vessels and other parties in the shipping and offshore sectors in relation to several recent maritime casualties within the Middle East region, including acting for shipowners and their insurers in relation to an explosion on board a vessel in Fujairah and a significant collision that occurred in Jebel Ali Port, UAE.
Pavlo also advises clients on commercial and transactional matters including the drafting of charterparties, contracts related to offshore services, contracts of affreightment, sale of goods contracts, vessel sale and purchase transactions and shipbuilding contracts. Pavlo has particular experience of advising on contracts for the shipment, handling and transportation of Liquefied Natural Gas. He recently advised charterers in relation to a long term time charter party and LNG storage and regasification agreement, with a contract value of approximately US$450 million.
Rania Tadros, Managing Partner of Ince & Co’s Dubai office, said: “Pavlo has been integral to the development of our shipping and offshore energy practices in the Middle East since he joined the Dubai office in 2008. His legal expertise, sector knowledge and excellent client skills make him a perfect fit for the partnership and will assist us to continue to grow our Middle East presence.”
Paul Herring, Chairman and Global Head of Shipping, commented: “The Middle East is of significant importance to our clients in the maritime industry and is a region where we see future growth potential. Pavlo’s appointment further enhances our market leading maritime capability around the world and reflects our ongoing commitment to our clients in the sector.”
Since June 2015, Ince & Co has made a total of 12 new partner appointments. In addition to Pavlo, Mohamed and Tom, these include the promotions of Beatrice Russ (Finance, London), Christopher Quandt (Corporate, Hamburg), Devandran Karunakaran (Finance, Singapore) and Laurence Hanley (Aviation Finance, Paris). The firm also recruited Paul-Emmanuel Benachi (Corporate, Shanghai), Balbir Bindra (Finance, Hong Kong), Jennifer Donohue (transactional Insurance & Reinsurance, London), Will Cooper (Aviation Finance, London) and Duncan Bateson (Ship and Superyacht Finance, London). Corporate finance specialist Yeon Jin Seong also joined the firm’s Hong Kong office as Of Counsel in November 2015.
Ince & Co celebrated 10 years of practice in Dubai last week with a celebratory event for clients and staff at the One & Only Royal Mirage on the Palm.
