US firm Kirkland & Ellis has hired a new insolvency partner in Hong Kong to add to its nascent restructuring and insolvency practice in Asia.

Kelly Naphtali joins the firm from specialist Australian litigation firm Lipman Karas, where she gained experience handling insolvency-related disputes.

Naphtali acts in matters across Hong Kong, China and South East Asia, representing liquidators and creditors in borrower-default actions, shareholders disputes and other insolvency issues. Previously, she was at Hogan Lovells and White & Case in Hong Kong, and at Clayton Utz in Melbourne, Australia.

Kirkland launched its Asia restructuring and insolvency practice in September last year with the hires of Hogan Lovells Asia restructuring head Neil McDonald and partner Damien Coles. In just little over a year, the firm’s practice group has grown to seven lawyers.