Leading British Virgin Islands-headquartered offshore law firm Harney Westwood & Riegels has announced its merger with the Cayman Islands firm of C.S. Gill & Co.
Leading British Virgin Islands-headquartered offshore law firm Harney Westwood & Riegels has announced its merger with the Cayman Islands firm of C.S. Gill & Co. The merged firm will open on September 1 in C.S. Gill’s existing premises in the Genesis Building in George Town, Grand Cayman.
‘Harneys has been the British Virgin Islands’ leading law firm for the past 40 years and our brand is synonymous with dedication and quality – we aim to replicate that in the Cayman Islands,’ says the firm’s managing partner Richard Peters. ‘The addition of a Cayman practice is all about providing a more complete service to our clients and enabling them to realise their commercial goals.’
The merged firm’s senior partner in Cayman, Casey Gill, says: ‘Having the commitment and resources of a leading offshore law firm such as Harneys will enhance the services offered from the Cayman Islands to clients throughout the globe and lead to increased economic benefits for the islands.’
Harneys’ global head of investment funds, Kieron O’Rourke, and fellow partner Tim Clipstone will relocate to Cayman from Harneys’ BVI office to spearhead the firm’s practice in cross-border commercial transactions, with particular focus on hedge funds and private equity, structured finance, asset and project finance and insolvency.
‘We are excited by the prospect of our Cayman Islands offering,’ says O’Rourke. ‘This is one important part of a number of strategic initiatives that will enhance what Harneys has to offer its clients around the world. We anticipate growing the practice quickly and will be seeking talented lawyers with Cayman expertise across a number of disciplines.’
Through its network of offices in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia, Harneys provides law firms, financial institutions and corporations with legal services relating to BVI, Anguilla and now Cayman law. The firm also provides a full compliment of company formation and administration services through its affiliated corporate services business.
Last week Harneys announced the addition of Indian lawyer Chetan Nagendra to the firm’s newly-established India desk, following the recent strengthening of the firm’s Russia desk with the hiring of Russian lawyer Marina Kozlova and the expansion of its Latin America practice headed by Brazilian lawyer Marco Martins.
Nagendra has joined the firm from Diageo, where he was regional counsel for the Middle East and India and a member of the drinks company’s India executive team, having spent more than three years handling corporate and finance work at law firms Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff. He will focus on the further development of Harneys’ India client base and advise on corporate and commercial matters including listings, private equity, investment funds, joint ventures and general M&A work.
‘Harneys is seeing a dramatic increase in the levels of work coming in from the BRIC economies, and through our internal structures, network of offices and recruitment strategy we have been able to put resources in the places where they are best able to service that business to the very highest level,’ Peters says.
‘Our Latin America, Russia, India and Asia practices are now fully staffed by lawyers who have not only top level legal expertise, but also native language skills and solid local knowledge of the business environment in which our BRIC-based clients operate.’
