Posted on March 1, 2023
Squire Patton Boggs is pleased to announce that Michael Wray has joined the firm as Of Counsel in the Litigation Practice Group resident in the Houston office and part of the firm’s global Commodities and Shipping Industry Group. Mr. Wray joins from the Houston office of English law firm HFW.
Mr. Wray is an experienced maritime litigator, with extensive experience handling shipping litigation and arbitration cases in multiple jurisdictions, as well as energy disputes, commercial litigation, marine environmental matters and maritime insurance coverage matters. He is also experienced in advising clients on transportation regulatory compliance and in responding to investigations involving various federal and state agencies.
Mr. Wray is one of a number new specialty maritime industry lawyers joining the firm’s expanding Commodities and Shipping Industry Group in the past two years. He follows Joel Cockerell (shipping disputes, Singapore), Marco Crusafio (shipping disputes and energy commodities, Milan), Kate Sherrard (shipping/asset finance, Singapore), Ivan Chia (corporate and projects, Singapore), Hazel Brewer (shipping commercial agreements and disputes, Perth) and Monty Birley (commodities and shipping disputes, London and Milan). The Commodities and Shipping team at the firm has expanded to over 40 lawyers worldwide.
“In the last three years we have created a truly market-leading team with decades of experience in the global commodities and shipping market”, said Barry Stimpson who co-leads the firm’s Commodities and Shipping Industry Group with Chris Swart. “The U.S. market for shipping law is expanding rapidly. Mike Wray has previously worked with a number of our lawyers and we are very pleased to welcome him to Squire Patton Boggs.”
Greg Wehrer, managing partner of the firm’s Houston office, said: “In connection with the spectacular growth of our global Commodities and Shipping team, we have witnessed increasing demand for maritime related legal support in Houston. In addition to our well-established litigation and international dispute resolution practices, the addition of Mike Wray’s shipping disputes, maritime regulatory and energy experience will bring a greater depth of expertise in the shipping sector which is so important to Houston.”
The firm’s Commodities and Shipping Industry Group provides a full range of legal services on all aspects of international trade and shipping and across all commodity sectors, including advice and assistance with transactions, corporate matters, trade and asset finance, litigation and arbitration, regulatory matters, environmental law, conventional and renewable energy, derivatives and projects.
The firm’s Houston office opened in 1997 with an experienced team specializing in litigation, international dispute resolution and cross-border disputes, corporate M&A and finance matters and tax, with a particular focus on the energy, infrastructure, transportation and logistics, pharmaceutical and healthcare, and global commodities and shipping industry sectors.
