Norton Rose Fulbright announces third Marshall Islands qualified attorney

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has announced that partner and head of shipping for North Asia, Jonathan Silver, has been sworn in as a member of the Marshall Islands Bar.

Mr Silver is Norton Rose Fulbright’s third Marshall Islands qualified attorney, joining New York partner Brian Devine who was admitted to practise Marshall Islands law in 2016 and Singapore of counsel, Sung-Hwan ‘SD’ Choi who was also admitted to practise Marshall Islands law in 2016 and joined the firm in May 2017. Norton Rose Fulbright now has one of the world’s largest Marshall Islands practices, and is able to better serve clients operating across all time zones.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) ship registry is the second largest ship registry in the world, representing a significant number of the world’s commercial shipping fleet. A growing number of business entities formed in the RMI are routinely used as corporate vehicles for shipping and non-shipping activities.

Mr Silver said: “The Asia shipping industry, which is expanding rapidly, favours the RMI as the place of incorporation of special purpose shipowning companies and flag state, together with certain other flag states. Together with my fellow Marshall Islands qualified colleagues Brian Devine and SD Choi we are now able to support them from both Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as in New York in matters of Marshall Islands law, particularly in the shipping sector.”

Brian Devine, Head of Transport – US, said: “Jonathan’s admission to the Marshall Islands Bar adds significant weight to our Marshall Islands practice and gives us increased capability to serve our clients wherever they are in the world, for shipping as well as general corporate matters.”

Harry Theochari, global head of transport, said: “The expansion of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Marshall Island’s capability follows continuous growth of the firm’s shipping practice. Most recently we have promoted Peter Glover to partner in Hong Kong, Peter Lamb to director in Durban, welcomed Sung-Hwan ‘SD’ Choi as of counsel, and combined with Chadbourne & Parke. As a firm we look forward to further deepening our expertise and global reach enabling us to consistently offer a fuller service to our clients.”