Lewis McDonald

Lewis has almost 20 years' experience, advising companies on their energy projects around the world and has experience across the energy value chain (particularly upstream oil & gas, LNG, power and renewables) in developed markets and emerging markets.   

Lewis has been based in Perth (2001-2004), London (2005-2008), Hong Kong (2008), Singapore (2008-2013), Korea (2013 – 2017), Tokyo (2017-2019) and London (2019-).  He has a strong track record of building long-lasting relationships with clients around the world, working on market leading deals and building teams of lawyers.  

Lewis has worked on secondments to BP's gas & power team in London and Epic Energy in Perth (then Australia's largest gas transmission company).  He has spent over 10 years in our Asian offices, helping to build our business across the region. 

He was part of the team that started our market-leading Southeast Asian energy practice when he was based in Singapore between 2008 and 2013, he built our Seoul office (and our market-leading Korean energy practice) between 2013 and 2017 and he was the Regional Head of our Asia Corporate Practice between 2016 and 2019.  Lewis is consistently ranked as a top tier energy & projects lawyer by key independent legal directories such as Chambers and Legal 500.  Lewis is qualified to practice English and Australian law.

Lewis' experience includes advising:

• Korea Gas Corporation (Korea’s largest gas company) on all aspects of its interest in Area 4, Mozambique, including the unitisation with Area 1, the $11bn Coral Floating LNG Project, the entry of Exxon into the project and the current development of the onshore Ruvuma LNG project   
• Mitsubishi Corporation in relation to its 15% interest in the multi-billion dollar LNG Canada project 
• JERA (Japan’s largest power and LNG company) in relation to the acquisition of a 25% interest in the Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind project in the UK
• MM Capital Partners (a Marubeni-backed fund) on its agreement to buy Marguerite's 29.06% interest in JSC Conexus Baltic Grid, the operator of the monopoly regulated gas transmission and storage system in Latvia 
• Acciona Energia on the divestment of the Yeong Yang wind farm in South Korea to Macquarie Korea Opportunity Fund for KRW160 billion (approximately US$150 million)

Background

Lewis has honours degrees in Environmental Science and Law and has a strong interest in projects that supply energy to the world and which advance the energy transition.  The energy team he leads at HSF is one of the largest of any international law firm and HSF has the vision of being the leading energy transition law firm in the world.