Cotty Vivant launches in Singapore after DS Avocats raid

French independent firm Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral has launched an office in Singapore, scooping partner Philippe Taverne from DS Avocats.

Taverne will head up Cotty Vivant’s five-lawyer office in Singapore, becoming the firm’s tenth partner. He was head of the Singapore branch of DS Avocats from 2003, and before that was an associate at Gide Loyrette Nouel’s Paris and Beijing offices.

Cotty Vivant sees Singapore as a major hub for business in Asia, especially in areas such as dispute resolution.

Name partner Fabrice Marchisio said: “Asia constitutes a strategic development axis for our firm, and Singapore, in particular, holds considerable potential on account of its position in the region, its political and legal stability and strong economic growth, which is over eight per cent per annum.”

Cotty Vivant is headquartered in Paris with another office in Tokyo and numbers 45 lawyers in total.