Linklaters’ Hong Kong corporate practice has been dealt another blow with China-focused corporate partners Betty Yap and Judie Ng Shortell leaving to join Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison.
The duo are the latest in a string of partners to leave the magic circle firm in Hong Kong.
Yap first joined Linklaters in 1998 in Hong Kong and has been a partner since 2004. She is a key partner advises on cross-border private equity deals, corporate and M&A and foreign investment in China. She was appointed as head of the China practice in 2011, leading it alongside Shanghai-based Fang Jian who is the national managing partner for China.
She is expected to join Paul Weiss with Beijing-based corporate partner Shortell, who was made up in 2012.
In addition to the duo’s departure, it is also understood that long-serving corporate partner Teresa Ma, who is currently on sabbatical, will retire from the partnership this month. Long-serving corporate partner Matthew Middleditch is also said to be relocating back to London, although no date is yet set. Middleditch moved from London to Hong Kong in 2012 in a bid to shore up the firm’s corporate capability in Asia, and was promoted to global corporate head role in 2014.
Following a raft of partner departures and retirements since the beginning of 2015, the firm will only have couple of partners focusing on corporate and M&A practice. Capital markets will be the firm’s largest team in Hong Kong with eight partners, followed by disputes and regulatory that has six partners.
Christopher Kelly is the most recent Linklaters partner to move to a rival firms, as he is joining White & Case to become Asia corporate head. He was among three Asia partners to retire from the firm’s partnership at the beginning of this year, along with Hong Kong capital markets partner Jeremy Webb and Singapore capital markets partner Dean Lockhart.
Other partners to have left during the past year include debt finance partner David Irvine left the firm to join Kirkland & Ellis, corporate partner Samantha Thompson who moved to London to take an in-house role at PricewaterhouseCoopers, capital markets partner Jon Gray who moved to Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Tokyo office and Asia US securities head David Ludwick who jumped ship to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Linklaters also lost two partners from Beijing, with projects partner James Douglass joining King & Wood Mallesons’ London office and banking finance partner Thomas Ng leaving for Freshfields’ Hong Kong office.
In addition, a number of managing associates and counsel in Hong Kong also moved to rival firms. Counsel Kyungseok Kim and managing associate Jini Lee, for example, have been made partner at White & Case and Ashurst respectively.
Linklaters declined to comment on the duo’s move to Paul Weiss but confirmed Ma’s retirement.