Herbert Smith Freehills has appointed Andrew Pike as the firm’s new regional managing partner in Australia.
Pike is currently the head of the corporate group in the firm’s office in Sydney. He will take over from Sue Gilchrist, who occupies the role alongside global head of practice for dispute resolution Justin D’Agostino. His position goes live on 1 October.
Gilchrist will return to practising full time in intellectual property disputes while D’Agostino will continue in both of his roles.
The appointment will mean that joint role for Asia Pacific will now become two separate roles for Australia and Asia respectively.
Chief executive officer Mark Rigotti said the succession decision was made in order to cater the needs of the firm’s “diverse markets and clients”.
Pike said: “I am excited by the challenge and the opportunities that the role will bring. We have a market leading practice and I look forward to working with our talented people to continue delivering exceptional outcomes for our clients.”
In June the firm strengthened its offering in Singapore with the hiring of Eugene Lee from Latham & Watkins through its formal law alliance firm Prolegis.
Lee worked at the US firm for 12 years and was based in the firm’s Hong Kong office. He relocated to Singapore with the move to HSF.
In January, HSF became the second foreign firm to launch in Malaysia with the securing of a qualified foreign law firm (QFLF) license from Malaysia’s Bar Council. The firm opened its office in Kuala Lumpur in May this year, with focusing primarily on transactions, disputes and Islamic finance.
HSF is not the only firm to reconsider joint managing partner roles. In July, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer joint managing partner Chris Pugh stood down from the role he shared with Stephan Eilers as the firm reviewed its management structure.
The shakeup was the second biggest management change for Freshfields in just over a year, since executive partner Michael Lacovara left the firm for Latham & Watkins.
