Maritime law specialist Hill Dickinson has boosted its commodities expertise in Asia and the Far East with the hire of a trade finance and further commodities expert to its Singapore office, consolidating its position as the market leader in commodities law.

Devottam Sengupta (Dev) joins the firm as partner, bringing with him significant commodities finance and structured trade finance expertise. Dev’s appointment closely follows the arrival in July of commodities dispute specialist, Iain Sharp. Dev will work closely with the team in Singapore as well as Hill Dickinson’s shipping and trade lawyers in London, Hong Kong and Greece.

Welcoming their arrival Andrew Lee, head of Hill Dickinson’s Singapore office, said: “Dev’s addition to our team represents another significant investment for Hill Dickinson in the growing Singapore commodities market. Both Dev and Iain are genuine industry specialists in their fields with a strong understanding of the commercial realities of their sector. Dev’s arrival further strengthens our in-house expertise for our clients around the globe and in particular in this region.”

Dev Sengupta is a member of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (India) 2006 and joins Hill Dickinson from Greensill Capital in Singapore. He has significant experience in providing structuring and legal support through the entire transaction lifecycle and has led on a range of multimillion dollar banking, trade finance and structured finance transactions. He was previously Co-Head of the Global Markets and Financing Legal Team at Louis Dreyfus Company, and is also an expert in Indian law.

Dev commented: “I’m thrilled to be joining a firm as storied as Hill Dickinson in the commodities and trade space. Having worked with and benefited from Hill Dickinson’s expertise when in-house, I feel honoured to now be joining the team. I look forward to working with my colleagues across the world in delivering best-in-class trade and commodities financing advice to our clients.”