Yan Jia, the former co-chair at Paul Hastings’ Beijing and Shanghai offices, has joined Pillsbury as co-leader of the China practice and brings a team of four lawyers.
As a partner based in Pillsbury’s Shanghai office, Yan assumes responsibility for overseeing a wide range of corporate, investigations and dispute matters across Asia, the US, and the UK.
Admitted to practice in New York, Yan specialises in M&A, bond, and note financing for Chinese, US, and European companies and can handle IPOs, fund formations, and private equity investments on Hong Kong and US exchanges. He also has experience in dispute resolution and real estate and provides advice on complex litigation, arbitration, and corporate investigations covering Asia and the US.
Although he passed the PRC bar in 1994, Yan is not currently qualified to practice in the mainland.
Yan has handled many complex commercial transactions throughout his career. He played a pivotal role in representing Fosun Group in its equity investment in the German company BioNTech, a collaboration with BioNTec to develop and commercialise covid-19 vaccine BNT162, and distribution of that in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Yan’s skill has been recognised in Deals of the Year by China Business Law Journal since 2012, including NFC acquiring United Family Healthcare, Fosun Tourism Group’s HK listing, Ping An acquiring a stake in Autohome, and a joint venture between Warner Bros and China Media Capital.
Pillsbury’s firmwide chair, David Dekker, said: “He [Yan] and his team operate an uncommonly diverse and highly resilient practice capable of providing seamless advice across transactions, investigations and disputes.”
His jump-ship team includes now special counsel Tianze Ma, and associates Xunming Cui, Yanqiu Liu and Devin Geng.
Jeffrey Delaney, the leader of Pillsbury’s global corporate practice, added the new team’s diverse skill set and Yan’s reputation in Asia, the US and the UK would contribute to offering a comprehensive “one-stop shop” for clients.
Pillsbury other co-heads of its China practice are Geoffrey Sant in Beijing/Miami and San Francisco-based Jenny Liu, according to the firm’s website. Its Beijing and Shanghai offices also have managing partners Jenny Sheng and Ke Jack Ko, respectively.
Yan’s departure has left David Wang as the remaining chair at Paul Hastings’ Beijing and Shanghai offices. The last exodus of key mainland partners from the firm occurred in 2019 when Tang Haiyan and Nan Li, the chief representatives of the Shanghai and Beijing offices joined private equity firms CBC Group and Tian Yuan Law Firm, respectively.
