All the latest partner hires and other appointments within firms and offices in the Asia Pacific region.
Australia
Jones Day has hired two restructuring partners in Sydney. Both Roger Dobson and Katie Higgins join from Henry Davis York, where Dobson was head of the firm’s banking, restructuring and insolvency practice. Dobson has worked on many large, complex restructuring and insolvency matters in Australia, while Higgins has extensive experience advising leading Australian and international banks, funds, and financial institutions on their exposure to distressed companies and special situations investing.
Minter Ellison has hired two corporate partners Con Boulougouris and Wissam Abwi from Norton Rose Fulbright in Sydney. Both partners focus on M&A transactions. While Boulougouris has particular industry experience across the Food & Agribusiness, Gaming & Leisure and Engineering & Construction sectors, Abwi is most experienced in the real estate sector.
Norton Rose Fulbright has grown its tax team in Sydney with the addition of Ellen Thomas, who joins from Baker & McKenzie where she was a partner. She provides tax advice in complex M&A transactions, corporate restructures, international tax planning, distressed debt transactions, infrastructure investments and financial arrangements.
Sparke Helmore has appointed Phillip Salem as its new national managing partner, taking over the role from Jesse Webb who has returned to fee-earning as an insurance partner. Salem is based in Sydney and has a focus on advising governments on high profile and complex projects.
Withers has taken on a four-lawyer corporate and commercial team in Sydney from Australian hotel and hospitality boutique firm Ryan Lawyers. The team is led by Robert Williams, who will head Withers’ Asia Pacific hotels practice. Williams previously headed the firm’s Australian business and had practised with Baker & McKenzie and Taylor Wessing. He is joined by partner Justin Gross, who has experience in M&A transactions, funds and structuring. Consultant Chris Greiner and associate Vivian Chen are two other members of the team joining Withers.
China
Haiwen & Partners has strengthened its litigation team in Shanghai with the hire of partner Jin Liyu, who was formerly a long-standing IP litigation partner of King & Wood Mallesons. He has a solid track record in dispute resolution with a particular focus on patent litigation. Its is the latest expansion of Haiwen, which last month hired Latham & Watkin’s Hong Kong of counsel Lu Guiping to head its newly launched Shenzhen office.
Hong Kong
Ogier has promoted litigation managing associate Oliver Payne as a partner as he relocates from the firm’s Cayman Islands to Hong Kong. The move aims to increase the size of Ogier’s dispute resolution team in Hong Kong and its ability to offer on-the-ground Caribbean litigation advice to Hong Kong clients. His promotion means the firm now has 50 partners globally.
Proskauer has added a new partner to its capital markets practice in Hong Kong, Joshua Zimmerman joining from Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy. Zimmerman will lead Proskauer’s capital markets practice in Asia. His practice covers a broad variety of corporate finance transactions, such as high-yield bond, liability management, leveraged finance and equity offerings.
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has strengthened its investigations and regulatory enforcement capability in Asia with the hire of Steve Kwok, former resident legal adviser for the US Department of Justice at the US Embassy in Beijing. Kwok will be a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office. His practice focuses on internal investigations, US regulatory enforcement matters, and trial and appellate litigation in US federal and state courts.
White & Case has appointed Herbert Smith Freehills senior consultant Damien Whitehead as a local partner in Hong Kong. Whitehead was the head of restructuring and insolvency for Greater China at his previous firm. He brings more than 15 years of experience in contentious and non-contentious restructuring and insolvency transactions in Asia.
Zhong Lun has hired Simmons & Simmons corporate partner Alan Xu in Hong Kong. Xu was made partner at Simmons & Simmons in 2013 when he joined the firm from K&L Gates, where he was a consultant. He advises multinationals in their expansion into China and Chinese state-owned and privately owned companies on their overseas acquisitions.
Japan
Mori Hamada & Matsumoto has promoted six lawyers to partners. The newly made up partners are Seiji Akimoto (corporate and M&A), Shigeki Okatani (projects and structured finance), Shinichiro Yokota (dispute resolution), Masakazu Kumagai (capital markets), Shiho Ono (dispute resolution), and Akira Matsushita (corporate and M&A).
Malaysia
ZICO Law’s Malaysian member firm Zaid Ibrahim & Co has appointed a new litigation partner and promoted six lawyers to partner.
Heavyweight litigation partner Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin has joined the firm from Malaysian outlet Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak where he was also a partner. He had also previously practised at Atkin Chambers in Gray’s Inn in London and Holman Fenwick & William in London and Singapore.
The six newly promoted partners are from three offices in Malaysia and focusing on corporate commercial, competition, human capital and employment and litigation practices. Cynthia Junavence, Nadarashnaraj Sargunaraj, Shermaine Ng Kye Shyuen and Saritha Devi Kirupalani are based in In Kuala Lumpur, Evon Goh is in Penang and Maizani bin Abdullah is in Kota Bharu.
Singapore
Clyde & Co has named DLA Piper Bangkok partner Benjamin Hirasawa as its Asia Pacific head of hospitality. He will be responsible for coordinating and expanding the firm’s Asia Pacific hospitality and leisure practice. His core practice focuses on advising real estate, corporate and hospitality clients on various international business transactions. Hirasawa will be joined by senior associate Jonathan Lynch who headed the Myanmar desk at DLA Piper in Bangkok. Both will initially be based in the Singapore office of Clyde & Co starting in mid-March.
Fieldfisher has hired international arbitration partner Simon Sloane from Reed Smith. Sloane has a particular focus on the energy, construction, hotel & leisure and insurance industries. He joined Reed Smith’s Singapore office when it was launched in 2012 from Holman Fenwick Willan.
Mayer Brown JSM has hired Latham & Watkins corporate partner Rod Brown in Singapore. Brown will join the firm in April as a partner. He joined Latham in 2007 from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and was made up in London before relocating with the US firm to Singapore in 2012. He is experienced in public and private M&A, private equity transactions, restructurings, strategic investments, joint ventures and general corporate matters.