IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

ASIA-PACIFIC

As domestic firms become more sophisticated to keep up with the rapid pace of development in the Chinese market, and clients eschew the high fees and costs of international firms, the former are looking to improve their offering and capture a greater portion of any middle ground that exists between them and the internationals. A key strategy is to broaden their services by bringing both strong local and international capabilities to the table, an attractive platform for clients.

The recent hiring trend has been ignited by the reality that domestic firms are increasingly taking the leading roles in cross-border transactions, and as such are in need of talent that has significant international deal exposure, experience and dealings with foreign clients.

There is ample room for growth for domestic firms (which are blessed with greater market access than international rivals), and now they have realised the edge they can acquire by improving their management and partner quality.

In the coming months, there will be two interesting developments to watch out for in the China legal space: Which Chinese firm will be the next to poach an international partner, and how the foreign firms will react to this new found hunger by local players for their talent.

The recent lateral hires from international firms by leading domestic outfits Allbright, Jun He, King & Wood, Fangda Partners and Global Law Office (it welcomed two new partners in March from the Beijing offices of Paul Hastings and Shearman & Sterling) have raised eyebrows and triggered talk of the shifting Chinese legal market. 

The trend continued in May, with Lovells’ Beijing ex-managing partner Robert Lewis moving to Allbright Law Offices, while Fred Chang left in April to set up his own shop, FenXun Partners, in Beijing with several other leading partners from domestic firms. Chang’s co-founding partners include Wang Yingzhe from Jingtian & Gongcheng and King & Wood’s Yang Xusheng. 

King & Wood countered this month with the key hire of former Clifford Chance Beijing head Rupert Li as its new international managing partner. Capital markets specialist Li will oversee the Chinese firm’s international business and split his time between its Hong Kong and Beijing offices.

Elsewhere, Hogan & Hartson and Lovells’ merger on May 1 has led to a number of partner moves in Asia this month.

The former managing partners of Hogan & Hartson’s Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai offices have found new homes. TMT and corporate specialist Roger Peng has gone to Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker in Beijing, while corporate partner Gordon Ng has moved to O’Melveny Myers in Hong Kong. Peng and Ng were the former managing partners of Hogan & Hartson Beijing and Hong Kong respectively.

Ex- Hogan Shanghai managing partner Arthur Mok has moved to Ropes & Gray’s Washington, DC office in advance of the firm’s planned opening of a Shanghai office later this year. Another former Hogan & Hartson Beijing colleague, counsel Victor Yu, has moved to the Shenzhen office of Fangda Partners. Yu’s practice focuses on private equity, M&A and venture capital.  

In Shanghai, corporate lawyer Lynn Yang bid farewell to Allen & Overy and moved over to fortify the ranks at Norton Rose, while project finance specialist Kee Ming Chi moved from Dewey & LeBoeuf to O’Melveny & Myers in Hong Kong.

In Singapore, Paul Hastings lost its capital markets counsel Andrew Hutton to O’Melveny & Myers , while Clifford Chance saw the defection of its Singapore capital markets head Munish Nagpal to Citigroup Global Markets India as its new head of legal.  

The recent trend of low-staffed Hong Kong offices of international firms hiring from the more established players continued, with Weil Gotshal & Manges plucking funds specialist John Fadley from Clifford Chance and Troutman Sanders investing in its securities team by hiring Joe Sevack from Paul Hastings.

AMERICAS

Corporate firms across the US and Canada decided to take a wholesale approach to new partner hires during the month of May. Hunton & Williams, Foley & Lardner, and Davis were part of a group of firms who made advantageous gains by bringing in groups of three or more partners this month. These groups ranged in practice areas from project finance to insurance to general corporate expertise.

Most recently, Hunton & Williams was able to lure away a five-partner energy team from Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker that included Raj Pande, Ellis Butler, John Hawkins, Jeff Schroeder, and Larry Skinner. The group will be divided between Hunton’s New York and Washington, DC, office, with John Hawkins and Jeff Schroeder assuming co-leadership over the firm’s Energy Project Finance group.

Foley & Lardner’s flagship Chicago office made similar gains in its insurance practice. Gail Goering, Eric Haab, Neal Moglin, Peter Steffen, and Kay Wilde have made the move across town to Foley from Hogan Lovells . The move comes on the heels of the recently enacted merger between Hogan & Hartson and Lovells on May 1, which led to the subsequent closure of Hogan’s Chicago office.

Also joining the firm’s Chicago office are two regulatory lawyers from Chico & Nunes. Of counsel Theodore Eidukas and partner Edward Hurley transferred to Foley & Lardner early in the month, joining the firm’s 90-lawyer energy group. Both lawyers offer experience in public utility regulation, particularly Hurley, who is a former chairman and administrative law judge for the Illinois Commerce Commission.

Beyond Chicago, Foley also added to its corporate group through the addition of John Klusaritz. Specialising in M&A, Klusaritz joins Foley’s Washington, DC, office from Bingham McCutchen.

As usual, Calgary and Toronto provided the backdrops for the highest profile partner moves within Canadian firms. Davis took a slightly different approach to strengthening its corporate practice from its US counterparts. Instead of focusing on one firm to draw talent from, Davis decided to take from three competitors: Fraser Milner Casgrain, Gowling Lafleur Henderson and Heenan Blaikie.

Laura Safran and Catherine Pawluch offer their new firm specific expertise in transportation and aviation law. Safran is the former vice president of law for Canadian Airlines International while Pawluch is a former president of the American and Canadian Transport Lawyers’ Associations. Safran will join Davis’ Calgary office with another corporate addition, Peter Soby; Pawluch moves to Davis’ Toronto office.

Baker & McKenzie also strengthened its roster of Canadian talent in May, bringing in two new corporate partners into its Toronto office. Denis Chamberland and Frank DeLuca made the move from Aird & Berlis and McCarthy Tétrault respectively. Chamberland’s practice focuses on infrastructure and regulatory compliance matters, with DeLuca specialising in M&A and corporate finance. 

MANAGEMENT MOVES - GLOBAL

On the management side in EMEA Linklaters litigation partner Arnaud de La Cotardiere has taken over as the firm's global Head of Commercial, while in London Emma Slatter has been appointed general counsel for the UK and Western Europe at Deutsche Bank .

In Asia, Guy Locke and Carol Hall now boast new titles since offshore firm Walkers re-tooled its management structure. Locke is its new Head of Asia and Hall replaces Hugh O’Loughlin as the Hong Kong managing partner. O’Loughlin will leave Hong Kong in the summer to head up the firm’s Jersey office.

SEE ALSO:

Partner and management moves archive:

April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009

Partner moves six-month review (October 2009 - March 2010):

United Kingdom
Hong Kong and China
United States