Ince & Co, the international commercial law firm, announced today that, after two terms in office, James Wilson will be stepping down as International Senior Partner in January 2015. Under new arrangements, James will be succeeded as International Senior Partner by Jan Heuvels and Paul Herring will assume the new role of Chairman.
The International Senior Partner is selected through a process of consultation of all partners. That process was recently completed and it was agreed that the firm would benefit from a new role of Chairman. Jan, as International Senior Partner, will be responsible for the overall running of the firm. Paul, as Chairman, will work alongside Jan in representing the firm externally with its clients.
As part of the new leadership arrangements, Jan will relocate to London from Hamburg where he is currently Managing Partner and Head of Insurance Europe. Jan joined Ince & Co in 1993 and is a re/insurance lawyer specialising in international arbitration and commercial dispute resolution. He will be succeeded as Managing Partner of the Hamburg office by Jan Hungar. Paul Herring joined Ince & Co in 1979 and is currently Global Head of the Firm's Shipping Group in London. He specialises in the resolution of disputes, both in court and arbitration, with particular expertise in ship sale and purchase, shipbuilding contracts and charterparties.
James Wilson joined Ince & Co in 1983 and became Head of the Firm's Marine Casualty Team in 1997. He took over the role of International Senior Partner in Spring 2008. Under his leadership the Firm continued to expand internationally with new offices opening in Monaco in 2011 and Beijing in 2012. Further, in March 2011 Ince & Co Singapore entered into a Formal Law Alliance, the Ince Law Alliance, with local law firm Incisive Law LLC.
After a short sabbatical from the end of January, James will return to the Global Shipping Group in a client facing and fee earning capacity. James commented:
"After 7 years as International Senior Partner, I felt the time was right for the firm to refresh the leadership team at the top. I am very much looking forward to working with Jan and Paul over the next couple of months to put them in the best position to take up their roles formally in January. I firmly believe that the firm and its clients will benefit from the creation of this new leadership structure."
Jan Heuvels added:
"Paul and I have both been at Ince & Co since we were trainees so it is a great honour and privilege for us to be given the mandate to lead the firm as it enters the next phase of its development."