A record eight new partners have been made up at offshore law firm Harney Westwood & Riegels. They are Tanya Cassie, Jacqueline Daley-Aspinall, Rachel Graham, Zac Lucas, Leon Mao, Marco Martins, Andrew Thorp and Russell Willings.

Managing partner Richard Peters said the move comes at a time when Harneys is seeking to transform its practice from one focused solely on the British Virgin Islands to a truly global one.

Ms Daley-Aspinall and Ms Graham are in the corporate and commercial practice. The former has extensive experience in corporate restructurings, mergers and acquisitions and with matters involving partnerships and special purpose vehicles and is located in the British Virgin Islands. Ms Graham, who is at the firm's London office, regularly advises on AIM listings, corporate restructurings and joint ventures.

Tanya Cassie, Leon Mao and Russell Willings are the new banking and finance partners. Ms Cassie specialises in aircraft and ship finance and also advises on general corporate finance and banking matters. Previously located in Hong Kong, Ms Cassie is now at the firm's  BVI office. Mr Mao has practiced offshore law in Hong Kong since 1996 and has an extensive client practice focused on private and public offerings of debt and equity, corporate restructures and takeovers, schemes of arrangement and banking and finance. Mr Willings specialises in issues relating to security, netting and collateral and the enforceability of derivative arrangements, particularly in the context of BVI insolvency proceedings. 

Head of Harneys' trust practice Zac Lucas specialises in advising on trust products. He is located in the BVI office. 

Andrew Thorp is a member of the firm's litigation practice as well as its distressed funds group. He has a wide range of experience in insolvency, contentious trust issues and shareholder disputes, as well as particular expertise in asset tracing and preservation.

Marco Martins is a member of the funds team and also head of Harneys' Latin America practice. Mr Martins' practice encompasses all aspects of corporate, banking and finance related disciplines with a particular focus on the establishment and restructuring of investment funds.

The partner promotions come on the heels of the November appointments of Jonathan Culshaw and Paul Lau as lateral-hire partners in Cayman and Hong Kong respectively. Harneys now has 22 partners worldwide.

The firm provides law firms, financial institutions and corporates with legal services relating to
British Virgin Islands, Cayman, Cyprus and Anguillan law. The firm also provides company, trust and fund formation and administration services through its affiliated corporate and private wealth services business.