Morgan Lewis & Bockius has taken a team of five partners and 18 lawyers from Dentons’ legacy Shanghai office to launch its second base in China.
The team joining Morgan Lewis is led by five corporate partners, Mitch Dudek, Todd Liao, Alex Wang, Eddie Hsu and Cindy Pan, plus 18 other legal professionals and 12 support staff.
The group exit marks a major setback in the integration of legacy Dentons’ China offices with legacy Dacheng. It is understood that the Dentons Shanghai team was supposed to move into Dacheng’s Shanghai office with the five partners becoming global partners of the Chinese member firm.
Morgan Lewis’s new Shanghai office will focus on a range of services, including corporate and M&A, real estate, private equity, fund formation and investments, as well as compliance and intellectual property.
It is the latest expansion of Morgan Lewis in Asia following its merger with Singaporean firm Stamford Law in March 2015 and taking on a group of 10 lawyers and six support staff from Bingham McCutchen in Tokyo at the end of 2014.
Morgan Lewis Singapore managing partner Suet-Fern Lee is one of the key figures driving the Shanghai launch. She described the new opening as “hugely complimentary to what the firm has in Singapore and Japan”.
“Shanghai enjoys a growing importance as a key financial centre for China, “ said Lee. “The team on the ground is very experienced in a number of key practice areas that has been important for the firm in Asia and Singapore, such as real estate and US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCAP). There is a strong linkage with Morgan Lewis’ existing offices in the region.”
Morgan Lewis chair Jami McKeon added: “Shanghai is not only China’s largest city but it is a global financial centre of critical importance to our clients around the world.”
Lee also said that the new team’s strong Mandarin language skills and experience working with Chinese clients would strengthen the firm’s position in assisting Chinese businesses seeking to go global.
The Shanghai office is Morgan Lewis’ sixth in Asia and its 29th worldwide.
The integration of Dentons’ US LLP with legacy Dacheng’s US team had also faced challenges. In May this year, the Dacheng US team moved to Chinese rival Zhong Lun to launch the Chinese firm’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices.
“Dentons has more than 1,400 lawyers in Shanghai and Beijing, in addition to thousands more in over 40 locations throughout China. The strong team in place across China – in Shanghai under the leadership of managing partner Summit Chen – ensures clients can take full advantage of Dentons’ commanding presence in China and around the world,” said a spokesperson of Dentons.
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