Allen & Overy (A&O) has appointed VILAF managing partner Tran Anh Duc as head of its Hanoi branch and co-head of its banking and corporate practice in Vietnam.
Duc has 18 years of practice experience in both corporate and banking work, with a focus on large scale power projects and debt and equity capital market issuances. He will co-head the banking and corporate practices alongside local managing partner Dao Nguyen and partner Adam Moncrieff, who recently relocated from the firm’s Tokyo office.
Prior to joining A&O’s Hanoi office, Duc was a partner of Vietnamese firm VILAF, which was an affiliate of Clifford Chance in Vietnam from 1994 to 2000. He served as the firm’s country managing partner from 2006 to 2012.
Duc’s addition will take A&O’s Vietnam team to 18 lawyers across both its Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City offices. The magic circle firm launched in Vietnam in May 2012 after hiring Mayer Brown JSM’s managing partner in the country (24 May 2012).
The appointment comes hot on the heel of Vietnam recently proposing a move to restrict foreign law firms from practising local law. It is understood that 18 local firms, including VILAF, YKVN Lawyers and Vision & Associates, have submitted a letter to the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice proposing changes to the country’s Lawyers Law that are reportedly under consideration in the lawmaking National Assembly.
