Clyde & Co has boosted its energy, marine and natural resources practice in London with the hire of a lawyer from Wikborg Rein, at the same time adding a three-lawyer team to its maritime practice in Hamburg from Watson Farley & Williams (WFW). 

Sebastian Lea has joined Clydes in London as a partner after six years at Wikborg Rein, where he was most recently a senior associate. Before that he practised at Clifford Chance and CMS. Clydes said his hire would boost its offering to clients around marine assets, energy and offshore projects and strengthen its broader transactional capabilities.

Lea specialises in international upstream, midstream and downstream projects in the oil and gas sector, with a focus on LNG assets.

Will Trustram, a partner at the firm, said the move was driven by significant change in the shipping industry, with growing decarbonisation initiatives and investment in alternative fuels.

“Sebastian’s broad knowledge and experience advising on offshore energy and floating LNG projects bring valuable insight to the team. His arrival means we can continue to fully support our clients across the lifecycle of projects as they seek opportunities in this evolving space,” Trustam added.

Meantime shipping finance lawyer Clemens Hillmer has joined the firm’s Hamburg maritime practice as a partner alongside counsel Jan Mommsen and of counsel Tilman Stein.

Hillmer was previously head of the German assets and structured finance group at WFW, where he spent 17 years. He and his team advise on asset and other structured financing, leasing transactions, restructurings, insolvencies and workouts, and credit portfolio transfers. They also support selling and purchasing ships and aircraft, employment and management contracts, and, like Lea, issues related to sustainable shipping.

Hillmer’s clients include domestic and foreign banks and financial institutions, companies in both the shipping and aviation sectors, and private equity and other investors.

The team has advised on several recent high-profile ship financing transactions, including HSH Nordbank in developing a new restructuring structure with various credit tranches and a volume of more than $1bn. It also advised HSH Portfolio Management on the sale of its more than $1bn shipping loan portfolio. 

“Clemens strengthens our position as one of the leading law firms in Hamburg for the maritime industry,” said Volker Lücke and Eckehard Volz, co-heads of the firm’s German energy and shipping practice.

“His transactional practice complements our advisory services in this strategically important area. With Clemens, Jan and Tilman, we can offer our clients in the transport sector comprehensive, integrated and cross-border services.”

The firm’s Hamburg office has doubled in size since opening in February 2019, with the new arrivals bringing the number of partners to six, alongside 27 lawyers and solicitors – one of the largest teams in Hamburg dedicated to maritime law.

Both arrivals follow the recent hires of Marianne Anton in London from WFW and Alex Blomfield from Simmons & Simmons in November. The firm also opened an insurance-focused Dallas office earllier this month, and last year recruited a 20-lawyer team from Dentons to debut in Poland.