Posted on: 23 April 2020
International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has promoted six lawyers to the firm’s partnership for 2020, bringing the total number of Partners to 173. Three out of six specialise in Maritime, they are:
Michele Autuori Maritime, Assets & Structured Finance, Rome
Michele specialises in loan agreements, security packages, restructuring and insolvency, leasing transactions of yachts and sale and purchase of vessels. His experience also includes handling disputes and claims relating to all types of charterparties and bills of lading as well as insurance policy disputes, arrests of vessels and enforcement of securities.
Kate Silverstein Maritime, Assets & Structured Finance, London
Kate specialises in shipping finance and advises banks, private equity funds and ship owners on ECA-backed products, financings and restructurings involving offshore and FSRU assets as well as container and cruise ships. She also advises on chartering arrangements, sale and leasebacks and has experience in large scale loan portfolio sales and purchases.
Richard Smith Maritime, Assets & Structured Finance, London
Richard’s expertise is in asset finance transactions with a focus on the shipping and offshore sectors. He is especially well versed in advising banks, financial institutions and shipowners in relation to ship finance, restructurings and leasing matters. Richard has recently gained recognition for his work in relation to the purchase of a large portfolio of shipping loans.
Lothar Wegener, Managing Partner, commented: “While these are unusual times, we are pleased to announce some fantastic new additions to our partnership. Their expertise will be invaluable to the firm’s continued success going forward”.
Chris Lowe, Managing Partner, added: “Our new partners are all extremely talented lawyers who enhance the reputation of the firm. We are delighted to welcome them all to the WFW partnership”.
