19 January, 2016
Offshore law firm Mourant Ozannes has started the year with the announcement of three promotions to its global partnership.
Danielle Roman, from the Hong Kong Finance Practice and Helen Wyatt & John Rochester, from the Guernsey Corporate Practice, will join the partnership with effect from 1 February.
Danielle has long been recognized as one of the rising stars in the Offshore Finance space in Asia and was praised as an associate to watch in the most recent Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific directory. Her appointment to partner will further enhance the firm's capacity to service its rapidly expanding Cayman and BVI practice in the Asia market. Mourant Ozannes has experienced significant growth in Asia with the Hong Kong office headcount tripling in the past three years and the team going from strength to strength. In the past 12 months eight new starters have joined the office and revenue has doubled. The Hong Kong office is consistently recognised by leading legal directories with clients quoting them as having "a very credible platform in the region" and as being "very smart…not only with offshore law but also the substantive parts of transactions."
Paul Christopher, Managing Partner in Hong Kong, said, "Danielle's appointment to partner is the result of tremendous amounts of dedication and hard work and speaks to the weight of enthusiasm and support she has provided to clients and the firm. Furthermore, her promotion is an important development for Mourant Ozannes' Hong Kong office and underlines both the strength of our firm and, more particularly, our growing reputation in relation to the depth of our offering in the region."
Jonathan Rigby, Global Managing Partner, said: "Our all equity partnership model is unique amongst the major offshore law firms and underpins our global, 'one firm' approach. It promotes a highly collaborative culture – across practice groups and locations – where the interests of our clients always come first. With almost 60 equity partners globally, Mourant Ozannes is by far the largest true partnership of lawyers offshore. The latest promotions come at the end of another year of impressive growth for our business, with revenue up 22% year-on-year. Helen, John and Danielle are joining us at a very exciting time."
Robert Shepherd, Senior Partner, commented: "At Mourant Ozannes we believe strongly in the importance of nurturing and rewarding talent from within the business. Helen, John and Danielle are key members of the Mourant Ozannes team and have contributed significantly to the success and growth of their practices and of the firm over recent years. We are delighted to welcome them to the partnership."
Danielle is an experienced banking and finance specialist and advises on a broad spectrum of transactions, including asset finance (in particular aircraft and shipping), acquisition and leveraged finance, debt restructurings, project finance, real estate finance, securitization and general corporate lending. Danielle regularly advises major international banks and financial institutions.
Danielle previously worked at Clifford Chance in Hong Kong and Dentons in London. She is admitted as a solicitor of England and Wales (currently non-practising) and Hong Kong (currently non-practising) and the British Virgin Islands. Danielle is a member of the Steering Committee as well as the Chair of the Philanthropy Committee for ASIFMA's Women in Finance Asia forum.
