Akin Gump raids DLA Piper for Beijing plan

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has scooped DLA Piper corporate partner Janet Jie Tang and her three-person transactions team in Beijing nine months after the US firm opened the doors of its office in the Chinese capital.

Tang's hire signals a change in strategy for the firm, which launched its Beijing operation with a view to focus on international trade, energy and IP-related work.

The partner in charge of Akin Gump's Beijing office Eliot Cutler said the new hires allow the firm to provide a full range of services to both Chinese clients investing overseas and foreign clients investing in China.

DLA Piper senior attorney Lu Ning, senior IP attorney Wang Yuanming and corporate attorney Zeng Linyan joined Tang, who has 14 years' experience in China's M&A market.