Ince & Co shipping partner Nick Shepherd has stepped down as head of the firm’s Piraeus office and is set to join Norwegian firm Wikborg Rein in May.
Shepherd stepped down as head of Ince’s Piraeus office in December and was replaced by shipping litigation and arbitration partner Antonis Lagadianos. Shepherd will join Wikborg Rein as a partner in its London office.
Wikborg Rein shipping partner Chris Grieveson said: “Nick will be joining as a partner in the middle of May. He will be concentrating on his extremely large shipping practice and we will be adding a number of additional associates to the practice to work with Nick.”
Shepherd specialises in charterparty cases, casualty work, marine insurance, sale and purchase shipbuilding and ship arrest and attachment. He also advises clients regarding the transportation of liquefied natural gas.
Lagadianos is qualified as a lawyer in both Greece and the UK. As well as specialising in shipping litigation and arbitration Lagadianos has also developed a non-contentious practice with an emphasis on ship finance, sale and purchase, and shipbuilding.
An Ince spokesperson said that the firm remained committed to its shipping clients in Greece and around the world. Globally Ince has 60 partners and 130 fee-earners specialising in the shipping sector, including five partners and 14 fee-earners in Piraeus.
Last week Ince’s former shipping head Faz Peermohamed returned to the firm after four months as CEO of client the Norwegian Hull Club.
Wikborg Rein will also be gaining an additional partner in May when K&L Gates construction and engineering partner Mike Stewart joins the London office. He will join the Norwegian firm to carry out onshore and offshore construction litigation along with an associate.
Stewart joined K&L Gates in 2013 as a partner within the firm’s energy, infrastructure and resources practice. He joined the firm after being poached from Pinsent Masons, where he had worked since 1998.
Ince has seen turnover fall consistently over the last two years. During the 2014/15 financial year revenue fell by 8 per cent, from £86.7m to £79.4m. The results reflected a similar decrease during the previous year in which revenue fell 7 per cent from £93.2m.