Law firm HFW has elected Sydney partner Carolyn Chudleigh as the first female global head of its construction practice and a member of the firm’s management board
Carolyn Chudleigh is the first woman to lead HFW’s construction practice, which comprises 20 partners and more than 70 lawyers across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
The team advises contractors, owners, consultants, insurers, property developers, financiers and investors on every aspect of the construction process, from project establishment and procurement to claim resolution, with a particular focus on the energy, infrastructure and property sectors.
Carolyn Chudleigh joins chief financial officer, Hamedeh Ghobadian and global head of finance, Elinor Dautlich as one of three women on HFW’s management board.
HFW has also promoted London-based construction lawyer Richard Booth to partner. Richard specialises in construction and engineering law, helping clients with contract drafting and negotiation, strategic project advice and dispute resolution work. He acts in a wide range of construction sectors in the UK and internationally, and is the current chairman of the Adjudication Society.
HFW promoted nine new partners overall, spanning offices in Europe and Asia-Pacific and all six of the firm’s global industry groups: aerospace, commodities, construction, energy, insurance and shipping.
Carolyn Chudleigh, global head of construction, HFW: “I am very proud to have been elected to head HFW’s global construction practice.
“We have ambitious plans to further strengthen and broaden our construction offering – particularly in relation to international infrastructure projects, complex real estate deals and domestic construction work – and to establish HFW as one of the top legal advisors of choice to the construction industry globally.”
Jeremy Shebson, managing partner at HFW: “I am very pleased that we now have three women on our board. We are deeply committed to increasing female representation at the highest levels of the firm, and I look forward to working with Carolyn, Elinor, Hamedeh and the rest of the board to help drive positive change.”
HFW has also elected new heads of its global commodities, energy and shipping practices, and re-elected the heads of its aerospace and insurance practices.
This follows HFW’s election of a new global management team, with Jeremy Shebson elected as the firm’s new Managing Partner and Richard Crump re-elected for a fifth term as global senior partner.
