English shipping law specialist Lax & Co has merged with bigger legal group Rosling King (RK).
The deal represents a move into shipping litigation for the City of London-based buyer.
Lax & Co was founded in 2007 by Mike Lax, partly so he could commit to defending private Russian shipowner Yuri Nikitin in a mammoth UK High Court fraud trial involving Russian state shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF Group).
RK said the merger is a major expansion of its dispute resolution and litigation services.
The law firm said six lawyers are joining from Lax & Co to join the 60 already at RK.
The combined company was formed on 1 October and will operate as RK.
The buyer is a specialist in finance, real estate, construction and private equity.
Lax & Co advises on charter and contract of carriage disputes, shipbuilding disputes, sale and purchase, salvage and casualty matters.
"We are delighted to announce this merger, giving the firm more strength and depth," said Georgina Squire, senior partner and head of litigation at RK.
"We were impressed with Lax & Co’s shipping work — a new sector for us — and also with their international trade and arbitration capability, all of which now enhance the scope of services RK offers."
Squire believes the new expanded firm will boast a range of "formidable" legal advisors.
Lax, who was a senior partner at Lax & Co, has become a consultant in RK's dispute resolution group.
Perfect fit
He said: "This is a very exciting announcement for us to make and there are real synergies with RK. The merger is a perfect fit for us and we look forward to building a successful future together."
RK now has nine partners working in dispute resolution.
Lax is the former head of shipping and international trade at Lawrence Graham, where he spent 18 years. He founded Lax & Co with Stuart Dench, also an ex-Lawrence Graham man.
Robert Pollock-Hill is also joining RK as a partner, while Catriona Lewis joins as a senior associate.
Following the Sovcomflot trial verdict in 2010, Lax was considered to have boosted his reputation, TradeWinds reported at the time.
In 2017, Sovcomflot lost its appeal against damages awarded to Nikitin for lost earnings due to a freezing order ahead of the original hearing.
Limited victory
Commercial court judge Stephen Males ruled in 2016 that the Russian state shipowner should pay Nikitin $59.8m in compensation and interest of $11m because the freezing of $377m of his funds prevented him from making a likely profit from selling on tankers he planned to order in South Korea with the money.
In the original trial, Nikitin faced damages claims of $577m for dishonest charter and S&P deals, but was found liable in 2010 "only to a very limited extent" for $16m plus interest, Males said.
Lax continues to act in satellite litigation arising out of the Sovcomflot case.
He qualified as a solicitor in 1977, becoming a partner at Lawrence Graham in 1979.
