U.S. law firm Squire Patton Boggs has hired shipping specialist Joel Cockerell as a partner in Singapore from HFW.

Cockerell is Squire Patton Boggs’ second partner hire from HFW in Singapore in the past year, after commodities lawyer Ivan Chia came on board last September. The past year has also seen a number of partner departures from the firm’s Singapore office, including Ignatius Hwang and Alfred Chia to McDermott Will & Emery, and Biswajit Chatterjee to Hogan Lovells.   

Cockerell specializes in admiralty work, including vessel casualties, collisions, groundings, salvage, pollution, wreck removal and hull, machinery insurance claims, and charterparty and bill of lading disputes. He was at HFW for nearly three years, prior to which he worked at Reed Smith and Clyde & Co. Cockerell also spent more than 12 years in the Royal Australian Navy.

With Cockerell’s hire, Squire Patton Boggs now has 11 partners in Singapore.