Norton Rose overseas practice gets boost

Norton Rose aims to increase its overseas practice by more than a third.
The expansionist plan comes as Norton Rose announces it will appoint seven partners on 1 May, three of which will be appointed to its international offices.
Guy Spooner, a specialist in shipping litigation, will be the second partner in the Singapore office, joining well known far east shipping partner Jim James.
Shipping is a key practice area of the firm's Singapore office. But with the Asian economy continuing to produce casualties, international debt and restructuring specialist Arman Galledari has also been made a partner.
Alison Baxter has been made a partner, with a view to move to the Paris office.
Managing partner Roger Birkby points out the new offices in Athens, Bangkok and Prague - which opened two weeks ago - require staffing, possibly with an increase of up to 40 per cent. The latest appointments bring the partner count to 132.
Birkby says the appointments underline the increasingly international nature of the practice, "particularly in our core areas of corporate asset and debt finance".