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Marine casualty specialist Martin Hall joins Hill Dickinson’s market-leading marine casualty response team

Marine casualty specialist Martin Hall joins Hill Dickinson’s market-leading marine casualty response team

Martin Hall, one of the world’s leading practitioners in marine casualty, has joined Hill Dickinson after a career spanning more than 40 years at Clyde & Co. During that period, Martin opened and ran Clyde & Co’s Piraeus office for 16 years before returning to London to take on the role of global head of marine casualty for Clyde & Co.

As a leading specialist in marine casualty investigation, his experience in the sphere of marine salvage, especially Lloyd’s Open Form salvage, is unrivalled across the global market. Martin’s standing in the Greek and London markets in particular is widely recognised.   

Martin specialises in maritime law and arbitration, relating of all aspects of marine casualties, charterparty and bill of lading disputes, including collision and salvage, pollution liabilities, general average, transhipment and selling of distressed cargoes, wreck removal, P&I and cargo claims as well as insurance issues. He is a CEDR accredited mediator and co-founder of the Eastern Mediterranean Mediation Association (EMMA) and secretary for the Admiralty Solicitors Group. 

Piraeus office head, Jasel Chauhan, said: 

“Martin’s reputation speaks for itself. His arrival at Hill Dickinson, joining forces with Ian Teare and Helene Peter-Davies and the existing team in Piraeus, cements our position as the leading casualty response law firm for the Greek market and further afield. His experience, knowledge and commitment to the Greek market combines perfectly with our own market-leading shipping team. With the breadth and depth of both teams in Greece and the UK, Martin can now provide even more support to his loyal client base.”

Tony Goldsmith, global head of Marine, welcomed Martin to Hill Dickinson, saying: 

“Martin is an extremely experienced casualty and salvage practitioner. Our paths have crossed many times during the course of our work over the years, so I’m delighted that he is now joining us at Hill Dickinson. We have known Martin for a long time and we’re very much looking forward to working together now on the same team.”

Martin Hall added:

“I am very pleased to be joining Hill Dickinson at a time when the firm’s commitment to shipping and the marine casualty market continues to stand out and grow. Development of the teams in London and Piraeus, in particular, have been a head-turner, and the opportunity to work with longstanding colleagues and friends from the marine market, and to spend more time in Greece, was not something I could turn down.”

Martin’s arrival follows a number of recent appointments to Hill Dickinson’s team in Piraeus. Dimitris Anassis and Mara Zermasli joined earlier this year – from Penningtons Manches Cooper (Piraeus) and Reed Smith (Athens) respectively. Partnership appointments for Vanessa Tzoannos, Anthony Paizes and Alexander Freeman have seen the firm’s Piraeus office continue to develop as the market leading, full-service shipping team in Greece.

Our mariners and lawyers are available to help you manage any major incident and can be contacted on our 24/7 emergency hotline.

With a 200-year history, international offices and a team of seven specialist casualty investigators, our emergency response team is ready to attend at a moment’s notice if the unexpected happens.

How we can advise you

When the unexpected happens, our team of specialists is on-hand to manage the on-site situation and mitigate loss, working to protect your commercial interests and reputation.

Our team routinely handles large casualties involving:

  • Collisions
  • Constructive total losses
  • Groundings
  • Unsafe port claims
  • Fire
  • Major cargo losses
  • Salvage and wreck removal
  • General average
  • Pollution
  • Piracy
  • Personal injury/fatalities

How we can help:

  • Attending, managing, investigating and advising in relation to marine casualties in respect of causation, claims, defences, liability, jurisdiction, arrest, limitation of liability, mitigation and quantum
  • Full service case management in the Admiralty and Commercial Court, arbitration tribunals and mediation from the initial casualty to a negotiated settlement or judgment/award
  • Attending and advising on salvage claims and negotiation/drafting of towage and wreck removal contracts
  • Investigation, management and defence of personal injury/fatality claims
  • Cruise and passenger vessel casualty specialists
  • Preparing clients/their employees for investigations from authorities following a casualty
  • Advising on casualty-related STCW and MARPOL issues, piracy, international conventions, dangerous goods and ship management disputes