Marshall Islands law firm Reeder Simpson & Magee (RSM) has announced a strategic alliance with international maritime law firm Hill Dickinson.
The partnership enhances Hill Dickinson’s offshore legal services for Marshall Islands and Liberian law through its Piraeus office, furthering its international expansion. The alliance will officially take effect on Monday, 24 February 2025.
Both firms will maintain their independent identities and client bases while benefiting from shared expertise, increased collaboration, and cross-referrals between their respective locations.
As part of the agreement, RSM will relaunch and rebrand in alliance with Hill Dickinson in Piraeus. Previously, Reeder & Simpson P.C. operated in Greece under the leadership of former partner Ray Simpson, a respected figure in Marshall Islands corporate and commercial law, both within the Greek market and globally.
Hill Dickinson has offered a dedicated offshore legal jurisdictions team in Piraeus since 2021 and the alliance with RSM marks a significant development, which will increase and expand that team and offering to the Greek market. The added specialisations of RSM partners Dennis Reeder and Damien Magee will further strengthen the overall offering to the maritime sector internationally.
Reeder is qualified in the Marshall Islands and specialises in corporate and maritime transactions, and in disputes, legal proceedings and litigation. Magee is qualified in the Marshall Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands and specialises in corporate and commercial law, banking, corporate restructuring, fraud recovery and insolvency – in each of those jurisdictions.
Welcoming the expansion, Jasel Chauhan, Head of International Finance at Hill Dickinson, said: “Damien and Dennis are the clear market leaders for both Marshall Islands and Liberian law specialisations. Dennis is the go-to attorney for Marshall Islands corporate and maritime transactions and disputes, and Damien’s specialisation in corporate and commercial law, restructuring, fraud recovery and insolvency means that our support to clients in this specialist area will be unrivalled. With offices in the Marshall Islands and the Cayman Islands, RSM will complement Hill Dickinson’s maritime and yachting network internationally.”
Damien Magee, partner at RSM, said: “Relaunching Reeder Simpson & Magee, together with Hill Dickinson and its dedicated team in Piraeus, gives RSM the opportunity to bring back a much-loved brand presence in Greece which Ray Simpson pioneered, and many will remember fondly. Both Dennis and I look forward to reconnecting with our loyal client base in Greece and throughout shipping and yachting markets internationally.”
Anthony Paizes, Head of Ship Finance at Hill Dickinson’s Piraeus office, added: “With Damien’s specialist expertise, the dedicated offshore jurisdictions team in Piraeus ensures our offering for Marshall Islands and Liberian law remains of the highest quality, efficient and cost effective. In addition to Hill Dickinson’s full-service shipping team, RSM adds further specialisations in corporate governance, shareholder disputes, offshore litigation and legal proceedings as well as in-depth insolvency and restructuring expertise.”
Established in 1994, Hill Dickinson’s Piraeus office provides a full spectrum of English law legal services to marine and energy sectors, advising on all forms of shipping litigation and dispute resolution, ship finance and corporate transactional matters. Clients include shipowners, operators and charterers, maritime insurers, underwriters and P&I clubs, banks, private equity firms and other financial institutions, brokers, commodities traders, port operators and major oil companies.
In January 2024, Hill Dickinson joined forces with shipping partners George Zambartas and Ester Toumpouris to establish a new base in Limassol, Cyprus that operates as Hill Dickinson in association with G Zambartas LLC. In Singapore, it entered into a Formal Law Alliance with local law firm PDLegal which operates as Hill Dickinson PDLegal Alliance. Prior to that, in October 2023, the firm also signed a collaboration agreement with SMB Law Geneva.