KWM EXPANDS HONG KONG IPO TEAM
King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) Hong Kong office has hired John Baptist Chan as a partner in its corporate and securities practice. Chan specializes in corporate finance, capital markets and mergers and acquisitions law, and his clients include Hong Kong, mainland Chinese and multinational companies, investment banks and financial institutions. Prior to joining KWM, Chan worked for other leading international law firms including Clifford Chance and Linklaters.
ARBITRATION EXPERT JOINS HSF
Arbitration expert Kathryn Sanger has joined Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) international arbitration team as a partner based in Hong Kong. Sanger has nearly 15 years’ experience of arbitration and litigation proceedings in Asia, particular in financial services, energy and China-related matters. Sanger will be HSF’s 13th dedicated arbitration partner in Asia as part of the region’s largest disputes practice, with 20 partners and 80 lawyers.
AUSTRALIA’S FIRST WOMAN CHIEF JUSTICE
Susan Mary Kiefel has been appointed to leadership of the High Court of Australia, taking over from Robert French as Chief Justice when he retires from the bench in January.
Kiefel will be the first woman in the court’s 113-year history to hold the position. Kiefel became the first woman in the state of Queensland to take silk in 1987. She was appointed to the Queensland Supreme Court in 1993 and the Federal Court of Australia in 1994, and has served a tenure as president of the Queensland Bar Association.
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NORTON OPENS PNG OFFICE
Norton Rose Fulbright has opened an office in Papua New Guinea to service a broad range of growing sectors and industries as part of an expanded Asia-Pacific network.
Located in Port Moresby, the new office will advise client on deals and disputes relating to energy, mining, infrastructure and telecommunications. It will also advice local government on the development of legislation, as well as on power, ports, roads, oil and gas and financial services. The firm has hired former Kumul Minerals general counsel Karol Lelai to run the new office as its local principal for Papua New Guinea.
SGP LAW SOCIETY ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT
The Law Society of Singapore has chosen vice president Gregory Vijayendran to take over as president, replacing senior counsel Thio Shen Yi. Vijayendran, 48, is the first non-senior counsel to be elected president in more than a decade. A partner at Rajah & Tann, Vijayendran earned the Law Society’s inaugural Pro Bono Ambassador award in 2009 and was chosen as the recipient of Washington-based Advocates International’s Good Samaritan award in 2008.
A&O HIRES BANK GC IN THAILAND
Standard Chartered Bank Thailand’s former head of legal and compliance Nithi Laophulsuk is joining Allen & Overy as a partner. Laophulsuk was with Standard Chartered Bank Thailand for nearly seven years in-house. At A&O he will focus on transactions, contentious and non-contentious work in regulated markets. Prior to joining StanChart, Nithi was in private practice with Hunton & Williams in Thailand.
ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER JOINS LATHAM & WATKINS
Experienced private practice and studio lawyer Lex Kuo has joined Latham & Watkins’ entertainment, sports and media practice to serve the Greater China region. He advises clients on cross-border financing, development, production, and distribution of media and entertainment projects. Kuo joined the firm in Hong Kong but expects to return to Beijing to join Latham’s office there in 2017.
SAL CONTINUES INSEAD COURSE
The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) and INSEAD business school are organizing a second run of the SAL-INSEAD Law Firm Leadership Programme (SILLP) following the success of last year’s inaugural course. The SILLP is a three-day intensive management programme designed for law firm partners. The programme applies business school methodologies to address business challenges faced by law firm partners including strategic planning, improving organizational alignment, managing growth and change, and motivating people and teams. The course is scheduled for 23-25 March 2017 at INSEAD’s Asia campus in Singapore.
FORMER JUDGE AT DLA IN TOKYO
DLA Piper has hired Takahiro Nonaka to the firm’s Tokyo office as a member of the litigation and regulatory practice group. Nonaka formerly served as a judge in both district and family courts in different cities in Japan for almost 10 years. He also served as a diplomat at the Embassy of Japan in Washington DC, where he advised on issues relating to export controls, FCPA enforcement and competition laws affecting companies in Japan.
SINGAPORE JLV COMES ONLINE
Simmons & Simmons has launched a joint law venture (JLV), Simmons & Simmons JWS, offering clients both foreign and Singapore law advice. JWS Asia Law Corporation is the constituent Singapore law practice of Simmons & Simmons JWS.
The establishment of the JLV responds to the growing financial services industry in Singapore and means the firm can offer an integrated service to clients across key areas, particularly asset management & investment funds, and financial institutions.
ASIA DISPUTES TEAM JOINS SIDLEY IN HK
Sidley Austin has added a team of arbitration, litigation and regulatory lawyers in Hong Kong led by prominent partner Friven Yeoh, with Desmond Ang and Yan Zhang joining the firm as counsel. Thomas Albrecht, managing partner for Sidley, Asia Pacific, said: “The combination of more cross-border disputes and heightened regulatory scrutiny has increased demand among our regionally based and multinational clients for lawyers who are well-versed in international arbitration, cross-border litigation and regulatory and enforcement matters.”
IDR EXPERT AT SQUIRE TOKYO
Squire Patton Boggs has appointed international arbitration counsel Haig Oghigian to lead its international arbitration practice. He will be based in Tokyo.
Oghigian was previously Tokyo head of commercial disputes at K&L Gates, and prior to that was co-chairman of Baker & McKenzie’s litigation and dispute resolution practice.
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