Mayer Brown beefs up in Asia with hires from Winston and Sidley
Mayer Brown JSM has added two partners to its Asia practice, hiring from Winston & Strawn in Beijing and Sidley Austin in Hong Kong.
Xiang Yang Ge, a partner in Winston & Strawn’s corporate department in Beijing, joins Mayer Brown as head of projects in Beijing.
Jason Elder, currently a partner in Sidley’s Hong Kong office, joins Mayer Brown’s capital markets practice in Hong Kong.
Xiang Yang has 20 years’ experience advising clients investing into China, as well as Chinese corporates on outbound investments. Elder has been in Hong Kong since 2001 and advises issuers and underwriters on capital markets transactions, particularly global debt and equity securities offerings.
Elder’s appointment is the latest move in Mayer Brown’s strategy to expand its capital markets practice across the globe, with the firm’s New York office making three partner hires earlier in the year.
“Jason’s a commercially astute lawyer and has been recognised for his experience and capabilities in capital markets throughout the Asia Pacific region,” said Mayer Brown partner Mark Uhrynuk. “He’s been based in Hong Kong for almost 10 years, advising clients in mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan and India. I look forward greatly to working with Jason to grow our practice in Asia”
Elaine Lo, Mayer Brown’s Asia chair, added: “Strengthening our China capabilities continues to be a high priority for the firm. We’re seeing an increased volume of inbound and outbound M&A transactions in China. The appointment of Xiang Yang underlines the firm’s continued commitment to providing high quality legal services to our clients.”
The hires are Mayer Brown’s first since it called off merger talks with Simmons & Simmons earlier this year (29 June 2010).
