International law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has appointed two new leaders to its dispute resolution practice – Hong Kong-based Simon Chapman KC as joint managing partner and Perth partner Ante Golem as the head of disputes for Australia – both effective as of October 1.
In their new roles, Chapman and Golem will work with joint managing partner Paul Lewis in London and Paulino Fajardo, the head of disputes for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, in Madrid to develop the practice.
Chapman, a partner since 2013, advises on international arbitration and arbitration-related litigation. He has been a member of the ICC Court of Arbitration since 2021 and is one of a very small number of solicitors to have been appointed King’s Counsel in England and Wales and granted higher rights of audience in Hong Kong. He will retain his current roles as the head of disputes for Asia and the global co-head of international arbitration.
Golem, based in Perth, has been a partner since 2014 on the firm’s dispute resolution team. He has extensive experience in commercial dispute resolution, including class actions and complex construction and infrastructure disputes, involving both litigation and international arbitration. He is currently the firm’s joint global head of construction and infrastructure disputes, a role he will retain alongside this new appointment.
The firm’s global disputes team provides commercial insight and legal advice to clients facing the most complex legal disputes.
“Our clients face complex economic, digital and geopolitical challenges and expect our practice to understand their business as well as providing outstanding legal expertise,” Chapman says. “To meet their needs, we as leaders must develop and attract the very best practitioners across borders and industries and continue our innovation in legal and digital operations.”
