Legal news in brief

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Legal news in brief May 2019
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Top arbitrator joins 39 Essex

39 Essex Chambers’ Singapore office announced it has hired Steven Lim after he stepped down from his role as senior partner of CMS Singapore.

Lim has more than 25 years’ experience in international arbitration and dispute resolution across the Asia-Pacific. He focuses on commercial disputes with experience including private equity investments and M&A, joint ventures, hotel management, trading contracts, oil and gas and energy, offshore services and engineering, ship building and construction.

KWM hires HK Co-CEO

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) announced the appointment of Helena Huang as co-chief executive of its Hong Kong office.

Huang will work alongside Hayden Flinn as co-chief executive to manage the Hong Kong office with a focus on deepening the quality and breadth of its service offering and improving its presence in key growth markets. She also takes on a leadership role and work with the management across the Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen offices in strengthening the growth of the KWM International Centre, a significant deployment that leverages the firm’s presence in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and beyond.

Morgan Lewis hires in SGP

Morgan Lewis has recruited Joel Seow, who advises sponsors and investors throughout Asia on private investment fund formation, as a partner of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and director of Morgan Lewis Stamford. Before joining Morgan Lewis, Seow was a legal consultant for several Singapore private fund managers and served as counsel in the investment funds practice of another firm in Singapore.

Shearman has sandbox map

Shearman & Sterling recently launched an interactive map of the 40 fintech regulatory sandboxes located throughout the world. The interactive map will help fintech firms easily access key information about the sandboxes globally, including covered products or services and key regulators as the space continues to evolve. The interactive map can be visited on the firm’s website.

Goodwin turns 10 in Hong Kong

Goodwin celebrated the 10th anniversary of its operations in Asia with a reception for clients and business partners at the American Club Hong Kong. More than 100 representatives from prominent firms attended the celebration. Goodwin’s Hong Kong office is now home to nearly 30 lawyers and staff working on transactions around the region.

Higuchi rejoins Nishimura

Nishimura & Asahi recently hired Tateshi Higuchi, former ambassador of Japan to Myanmar, as an adviser. After serving as superintendent general of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department from 2011 to 2013, Higuchi previously was an adviser to the firm until his ambassadorial appointment in 2014.

The firm said Higuchi’s many years of experience would enrich and develop Nishimura’s corporate criminal practice as well as the work of its Yangon office and Myanmar practice, while also strengthening capabilities in the fields of cyber security, money laundering, protection of industrial and trade secrets, and export control.

Skadden in education IPO

Skadden advised Koolearn Technology Holding, a leading online education service provider in China and subsidiary of New Oriental Education & Technology Group, on its HK$1.6 billion IPO on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Trading in the shares commenced on 28 March.

The Skadden team was led by Hong Kong partners Julie Gao and Christopher Betts, with of counsel Antony Dapiran and Paloma Wang (Hong Kong), associates Paul Mok and Zhang Shimeng (Hong Kong) and international legal consultant Ma Tianze (Beijing).

Tanner hires dispute lawyer

Tanner De Witt appointed Philip Lee in the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution practice. Prior to joining, Lee worked in the litigation team of an independent Hong Kong law firm. He has experience dealing with civil and criminal litigation cases, and previously worked as a prosecutor on behalf of a government statutory body in Hong Kong.

LC recruits corporate

LC Lawyers has appointed Bonnie Yung as a partner responsible for advising on corporate finance, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions and regulatory compliance. LC Lawyers is an independent law firm that works closely with law firms in the EY global network of law firms. Jason Wang also joined as a partner at LC Lawyers recently, focusing on corporate finance, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions and regulatory compliance.

Regional HR focus adopted

Lewis Silkin announced it will be adding HR services to its offering in the Asia-Pacific region, through the firm’s Hong Kong office.

The complementary services, branded “Worksphere”, are designed to meet the growing needs of employers in an increasingly complex and cost-conscious landscape. Worksphere will sit alongside Lewis Silkin Hong Kong’s local employment and immigration law practice, and will provide a suite of HR services to businesses operating in the region.

Baker lawyer chairs APCAC

Baker McKenzie announced that firm principal Richard Weisman was elected as chairman of the Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce.

Weisman served on the firm’s global executive committee for five years, and was also chairperson of the firm in the Asia-Pacific.

Dentons creates Oz combination

Dentons has combined with 130-year-old associate firm Fisher Jeffries in Adelaide to connect its clients with Dentons lawyers in Australia and further afield.

The combination extends Dentons’ national footprint in Australia and adds 13 new partners with expertise across financial services, corporate, dispute resolution, construction and engineering, employment, manufacturing and real estate.

Yu joins HK KWM

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) announced that Rachel Yu had joined the firm as a partner in the dispute resolution practice of its Hong Kong office.

Yu joins from Herbert Smith Freehills with over 12 years of experience advising clients primarily on complex financial disputes. She regularly advises on regulatory investigations by regulatory and enforcement authorities such as the Securities and Futures Commission, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

First female ACICA president

Herbert Smith Freehills partner Brenda Horrigan has been appointed first female president of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration.

Horrigan, a US-qualified lawyer, has nearly 20 years’ experience in international arbitration and is consistently ranked in Chambers and elsewhere as a leading arbitration practitioner. She practised previously in the US, Paris, Moscow and Shanghai, and is now based
in Sydney.

Wilson takes Woo in HK

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has announced that Wanda Woo joined the firm’s corporate and securities practice as a partner in their Hong Kong office.

Woo advises issuers and underwriters in equity and debt capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings, share placings, rights offerings, bond offerings, and other corporate compliance work.

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