31 January, 2019
Peter Coles has started his new role as a Partner in global law firm Clyde & Co's Hong Kong office. Peter is renowned as a leading lawyer in the aviation sector, and has been supporting multinational clients in the Asia Pacific and beyond for more than 22 years.
The hire is part of the firm's strategic objective to capitalise on the growth in the aviation sector in the Asia Pacific region.
Peter handles a broad range of legal advice to airlines, general aviation and business jet operators, airports, manufacturers, MRO's and ground handlers across the Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. This includes providing legal advice on investments, employment, acquisitions, procurement, marketing and sales in the aviation industry, carrier liability work, general commercial advice and associated aviation and health and safety regulations, competition law and other compliance requirements.
He regularly advises on contingency planning; incident/accident response; government investigations, reports and public enquiries; coroner inquests and prosecutions; plaintiff and defence work in uninsured disputes including asset preservation and injunctions, debt recoveries and bankruptcy proceedings. Clyde & Co sees a significant opportunity to capitalise on the firm's global market-leading aviation practice with the addition of Peter, and will be investing significantly to add further capability to the aviation team in Asia in the near future.
Simon McConnell, Managing Partner of Clyde & Co Hong Kong, says: "Asia is widely recognised as the region where the most significant growth will occur in the next decade, including in aviation. Peter's strong regional experience and expertise will help ensure that we are able to capitalise on those developments and drive our growth across the region."
Peter Coles, says: "I am delighted to be working in the only truly global aviation practice and I look forward to working closely with former and new colleagues to further strengthen our aviation practice in the Asia Pacific. Clyde & Co has an outstanding reputation in the market across a number of sectors, not least in aviation."
Rob Lawson QC, Global Aviation Chair and Partner at Clyde & Co, says: "Peter is one of the star aviation lawyers in the Asia Pacific region. We are delighted at the additional strength that he will bring to our aviation practice both in that region and globally."
Peter is described in Who's Who Legal: Aviation 2018 as "a bright and well-known aviation lawyer", highly sought after by clients for his strong expertise on regulatory and liability matters. Chambers Asia Pacific 2019 says he "attracts praise from clients for the 'excellent advice' he offers in relation to aviation-related insurance claims". His counsel is, according to the same source, sought by major international insurers and companies within the aviation sector to act on high-value cross-border claims across the Asia Pacific region.
