Legal 500 China: Wikborg Rein Shipping Firm of the Year
We are delighted to inform that our office in Shanghai has been honored with the Foreign Shipping Firm of the Year Award at the Legal 500 China Awards! Chelsea Chen and Ronin Zong were shortlisted for the Shipping Lawyer of the Year award alongside three other highly reputable professionals from top English shipping firms in China.
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This recognition marks a significant milestone for Wikborg Rein, as it has been over 10 years since Shanghai's last Firm of the Year award (granted by Lloyd's List) and our first Legal 500 Firm of the Year Award after being ranked Tier 1 Shipping Firm in China by Legal 500 for 9 consecutive years since 2015.
This achievement is a testament to the exceptional teamwork of everyone currently working in Shanghai, those who have contributed in the past, and our colleagues from other offices who have been supporting Shanghai. It also highlights the strength of Wikborg Rein as a highly integrated global firm in SO. We are truly proud and deeply grateful!
In our Legal 500 submissions for 2024, we outlined the following reasons why we believed this award was well-deserved:
- Our level of activity over the past 12 months with some of the largest players in China and high profile cases has been unparalleled among foreign firms.
- We maintain strong working relationships with major oil giants, state-owned shipyards, leading leasing banks, and prominent maritime insurers.
- Our clients value our specialised focus on shipping and our ability to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps – a unique combination of legacy, global expertise, and local delivery that is rare to find in any other firms.
Our submissions also highlighted over 20 high-profile representative cases, including:
- Advising Adora Cruises Limited, a joint venture between China State Shipbuilding Corporation and Carnival Corporation, on the newbuilding contract closing and RMB 4.4 billion financing for "Adora Magic City," China's first domestically built large cruise ship, with Export-Import Bank of China.
- Advising CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping Company Limited on a financial leasing transaction involving two VLCCs with leading international ship operators, with a financing value exceeding USD 121 million.
- Representing Japan P&I and its Korean member in a ship sinking accident in the Taiwan Strait, handling matters including bunker and dangerous goods cargo salvage and disposal, shipwreck removal, oil pollution prevention, accident cause investigation, and the negotiation and settlement of claims.
Finn Bjørnstad, Head of Shipping Offshore in Wikborg Rein is very happy about the news:
"Congratulations to our Shanghai office for being awarded the "Legal 500 Foreign Shipping Firm of the Year Award." This award recognises the strength of our Shanghai team, the seamless cooperation between the shipping teams across offices, and the trust built with the shipping industry over the more than 20 years since we opened our office in Shanghai."
