Louis Shepherd replaces John Martin, who has acted as interim Managing Director of Gard (Japan) K.K. since Tadashi Sugimoto stepped down mid-October 2022.

Shepherd comes from the position of Senior Claims Adviser and Lawyer in Gard’s Defence team. He has spent about ten years with the company – most of them in Gard’s Tokyo office.

Rolf Thore Roppestad, CEO of Gard, said “Japan is one of the world’s biggest shipping markets and continues to be an important growth area for Gard. We have had an office in Tokyo for more than 30 years and a presence in Imabari since 2013. Louis brings with him in-depth expertise and broad experience, having worked with the Japanese shipping community for a decade. Heading our operations in both Tokyo and Imabari, he will be leading a dedicated team with strong local and international competencies.”

Roppestad also took the opportunity to thank Sugimoto-san for his long service and was grateful to Martin for having successfully headed the company’s operations in Japan in the interim period.

Louis Shepherd joined Gard in February 2013 and is an English qualified solicitor. Over the past decade, he has worked extensively with Defence matters, large and complex claims, as well as other important industry issues such as the sulphur cap and decarbonisation issues. Prior to joining Gard, he worked in shipping litigation for law firms both in London and Hong Kong.