Fraser Hern
Partner, Walkers (CI) LP
Jersey
London
Walkers is the highest ranked firm advising on offshore jurisdictions and has 14 partners ranked in Who's Who Legal for Restructuring & Insolvency – the highest among any law firm identified in the GRR list, which was based upon research across 153 firms from 38 jurisdictions.
Matthew Goucke, a Walkers Insolvency & Dispute Resolution partner based in the Cayman Islands, said:
"It is a testament to the hard work and capabilities of my Walkers colleagues that we appear in the Top 10 of the GRR Top 30 for the second year running. This demonstrates the consistent top tier Restructuring & Insolvency advice clients receive from Walkers, whether it is in the Americas, Asia Pacific, the Middle East or Europe."
Walkers advises on the laws of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey and Ireland. As a firm, it is unique in having dedicated Restructuring & Insolvency expertise across its 10 international offices, which also include Dubai, Hong Kong, London and Singapore.
Fraser Hern, a Walkers Insolvency & Dispute Resolution partner based in Jersey, added:
"Being placed in the top 10 of all global law firms for our restructuring and insolvency work is a welcome independent endorsement of the work we do across all of our six laws, and in the international locations from which we operate. The depth of experience and expertise we have in our Restructuring & Insolvency space is designed to complement the experience and expertise that so many of the onshore firms with whom we work on a daily basis also have.
"Almost every matter we work on is multi-jurisdictional, and requires us to work seamlessly with other law firms, and with insolvency practitioners and stakeholders all over the world. Our ability to offer a consistently high level of restructuring and insolvency expertise across our global business will stand us in good stead to help ensure positive outcomes for the clients with whom we work as we enter a period of economic uncertainty."
In its comments on the 2022 results, Global Restructuring Review observes: "As we’ve noted before, offshore firms have been doing well in the GRR 30 for some editions now, in part because their work is automatically cross-border given how international business functions through offshore jurisdictions. Walkers, for example, was instructed as Cayman and Hong Kong counsel to Chinese oil company MIE Holdings, which cancelled almost US$250 million of Singapore-listed, New York-law governed notes via a Cayman scheme and Chapter 15 proceedings in April 2022, after facing a winding-up petition in the research period. Walkers teamed up with Ashurst, WongPartnership and others on the case, but the operative bit was in the Cayman Islands."
The GRR 30 is a distillation of the GRR 100 2022 and is based on research and detailed questionnaires to hundreds of law firms seeking information on their restructuring and insolvency practices and notable cases they have worked on. "The full GRR 30 2022 list and complete report, methodology and commentary can be viewed here."
