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Patton Boggs
Dewey & LeBoeuf
Dewey bolsters new Doha office Dewey & LeBoeuf has furthered its Middle Eastern expansion plans by securing two Patton Boggs lawyers for its new Doha office, scheduled to open next year. Partner William Cattan and senior associate Joanna Addison will relocate once the office is operating. Until then, Cattan will be based in Dewey & LeBoeuf’s New York office, while Addison will be at the firm’s London office. Both lawyers were based in Qatar before the move. They have been highly active in the region’s LPG industry, working as legal advisors in Qatar Petroleum’s legal department. They will work with partner Ken Freeling who will be supervising the development of the office from Qatar. “We’re blending top-level hires with strategic relocation of home-grown talent in these key regions,” said firm chairman Steven Davis. “Our clients who operate in the region will benefit greatly from our ‘on-the-ground’ presence in the MENA region’s key commercial locations.”
Freshfields
Freshfields refreshes Middle East presence Freshfields has bolstered its Middle East presence with the relocation of London partner David Higgins to its Dubai office. Strengthening the firm’s 50 lawyer-strong regional group, Higgins will co-head the Middle East and North Africa corporate practice, including the firm’s offices in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai and in Saudi Arabia (through a local firm association). “The Middle East has for some time seen a growing level of business activity and is expected to occupy an even more prominent role on the global stage in the years to come,” said Higgins. The firm’s key clientele are based in the region, said Higgins. “This has triggered huge demand for legal services and, in turn, substantial growth opportunities for those firms that can provide truly international support.”
various
Shearman & Sterling
Shearman’s major Abu Dhabi haul Shearman & Sterling has almost doubled its numbers in its Abu Dhabi office following the announcement of a string of partner and associate additions. The firm is transferring three Europe-based partners to the Abu Dhabi office, including London-based M&A partner James Comyn to arrive this month, Paris-based capital markets partner Manuel Orillac midway next year and London property partner Ian Nisse to relocate in 2010. The firm has also secured new additions for the office, including ICC Dispute Resolution Services marketing director Lara Hammoud, former Linklaters senior associate Kelly Li and 11 other associates. The office, one of the first to open in Abu Dhabi, will see its lawyer numbers significantly boosted from 16 to 30. The firm said in a statement that the additions were a response to major growth prospects in the region.
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Heller Ehrman
Winston Strawn
Winston Strawn takes on Heller Ehrman lawyers The remains of Heller Ehrman continue to be picked up. Recently, Winston & Strawn added Heller’s entire D.C. international trade group to the firm’s Washington office. Winston also says it will be opening up three offices in Asia – in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai – filled mostly with former Heller lawyers, pending the approval of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments. Seven lawyers join Winston’s DC office. William Barringer, Christopher Dunn, James Durling, and Daniel Porter all join as partners. Valerie Ellis is of counsel and Ross Bidlingmaier and Matthew McCullough are both associates. “We are very pleased to have such talented lawyers join the firm, and expect them to be a great fit with our core practices and culture,” said Winston chairman Daniel Webb in a statement. Anand & Anand
Luthra & Luthra
Anand & Anand IP team leaves to join Luthra & Luthra A team of IP & entertainment lawyers from Indian law firm Anand & Anand has left to unite with the competition, joining the Delhi office of Luthra & Luthra. Practice leader and partner Ameet Datta brought associates Mohit Lahoty, Himanshu Bagai and Thomas George with him to his new firm, adding a significant boost to the Luthra IP practice. Datta cited the cross-disciplinary capabilities of Luthra as the reason for the move. “We look forward to taking advantage of the great cross-disciplinary synergies that are present at Luthra & Luthra,” he said. Bingham McCutchen
Greenberg Traurig
Go for Greenberg Greenberg Traurig has boosted its numbers with the hire of corporate specialist Go Hashimoto as a shareholder and registered foreign lawyer. Hashimoto joins the firm’s corporate and securities practice Go Hashimoto from Bingham McCutchen’s Tokyo office, where he spent five years advising clients on corporate restructuring and international commercial litigation transactions. He was previously a loan officer with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Bingham McCutchen
Squire Sanders
Another lawyer leaves Bingham for Tokyo US-based law firm Bingham McCutchen has lost another lawyer. Litigator Matthew E Digby has been scooped up as partner by Squire, Sanders & Dempsey’s Tokyo office. Digby has previously worked with Squire on defence cases in the US, said Steven Doi, the firm’s Tokyo managing partner.
It is expected that Digby will expand his Tokyo practice while continuing to represent USbased clients. The move follows former Bingham McCutchen lawyer Go Hashimoto’s appointment to the Tokyo office of Greenberg Traurig. Conyers Dill & Pearman
Harneys
Harneys adds to Hong Kong office Offshore law firm Harney Westwood & Riegels (Harneys) has continued its expansion – after a tie up with Cypriot firm Aristodemou Loizides Yiolitis & Co, the firm has appointed former Conyers Dill & Pearman lawyer Paul Lau. Lau will the based in the firm’s Hong Kong office as partner in the corporate practice. At Conyers, Lau had spent five years in the Bermuda office before moving to the Hong Kong office to advise clients on finance, M&A and funds transactions. He has also worked with Freshfields and GE. Linklaters
MoFo
MoFo takes Linklaters’ managing partner Morrison & Foerster has scooped Linklaters’ Tokyo office founder Tony Grundy to expand its global capital markets practice. Grundy will be based in the Tokyo office as partner and lead the firm’s capital markets practice to advise Japanese clients on Tony Grundy English law. “Adding leading English, US and local capital markets lawyers in all of the key financial centres is a strategic focus for the firm,” said the firm’s chairman Keith Wetmore, adding that the addition furthers the firm’s ability to capitalise on the increased cross-border work between Europe and Asia, particularly in Japan. Grundy helped found the Tokyo office of Linklaters in 1987, and for a period was its managing partner. He will now work alongside his “mentor, sparring partner and long-time friend”, MoFo Tokyo managing partner, Fuyuo Mitomi.
Mayer Brown JSM
Party of 27 at Mayer Brown Another firm defying the odds is Mayer Brown JSM, with the elevation of 27 of its lawyers to partnership, including five Asia-based appointments – a sure sign that the firm has moved into its consolidation phase following the merger of Johnson Stokes & Masters and US-based behemoth Mayer Brown earlier this year. In Hong Kong, Cindy Au, Nicholas Longley and David Mallinson will be promoted, while the firm’s Vietnam operations will see two new partners – Hanoi-based Mai Phuong Nguyen and Ho Chi Minh City-based David Lim Au. Across the globe, the firm raised five partners in Washington DC, four in Chicago, three in Frankfurt and New York, two in London and Los Angeles, and one each in its Houston, Palo Alto and Paris offices. Asian Legal Business ISSUE 9.1