Asia-Pacific

The latest legal news and analysis from law firms across the Asia-Pacific region

News

Ho Chi Minh City

Kinstellar breaks into Asia with 21-lawyer tie-up

European giant Kinstellar has gained a foothold in the Southeast Asian legal after securing a joint-venture deal with Vietnamese firm Asia Counsel. Asia Counsel boasts a headcount of just 21 lawyers, including four partners. Its focus has been on assisting foreign multinationals and Vietnamese corporations with expansion, M&A and financial matters. Acting independently for the […]

Sydney Australia

Pogust Goodhead launches Aussie office in mining giant’s “backyard”

Pogust Goodhead has launched an office in Sydney with a warning to Australian corporations that the firm is “ready to hold them to account”. The claimant law firm, which specialises in social and environmental mass claims, has hired Sydney litigation boutique Crichton & Co’s two partners, Amie Crichton and Joshua Carton. It is also looking […]

ASOS GC joins Asia-Pacific travel platform

Online reservation provider Agoda has hired Asos’s former legal chief Anna Suchopar as its general counsel. Suchopar has made the move from ASOS, where she held the role of general counsel and company secretary from 2019. She will take over from Tom Thomas and the new role is based in Bangkok. She will report into […]

Hong Kong

Winston & Strawn to close Hong Kong office

Winston & Strawn is the latest firm preparing to close its office in Hong Kong, though its joint venture in the region will continue. The Lawyer understands the office will close after Chinese New Year. The firm has nine lawyers in Hong Kong, with four of them being partners. The firm will continue to operate […]

Environment, climate change

Linklaters reveals cyclone shutdown in debut climate risk report

Linklaters has opened up about a cyclone that forced its Hong Kong office to shut down for a day, as it becomes the first magic circle firm to publish its climate-related financial disclosure report. As of 6 April 2022, limited liability partnerships must now provide a climate-related financial disclosures report within their annual report on […]

Perth Australia

A&O swipes two more cyber partners from Norton Rose

Expansion of Allen & Overy’s cybersecurity team continues beyond London with the hire of two Norton Rose Fulbright partners in Australia. Anna Gamvros and Ross Phillipson are moving to A&O, which currently has offices in Perth and Sydney. Gamvros leaves Norton Rose having headed the firm’s information governance, privacy and cybersecurity practice for the Asia […]

Linklaters

Linklaters cuts 30 roles due to “prolonged downturn”

Linklaters has kicked off a redundancy round due to the economic slowdown in China, axing 30 roles across its three offices in the region. The Lawyer understands that the affected lawyers sit within the equity and debt capital markets, corporate and banking teams across the firm’s Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong offices. A spokesperson for […]

DACB swoops for Ince’s Singapore alliance firm

DAC Beachcroft has formed an association with an independent Singapore firm that had previously worked in tandem with Ince’s international network. DACB has teamed up with Incisive Law, a local firm that was known up until earlier this year as Ince Singapore. Incisive Law had been allied with Ince since 2011, but it cut ties […]

Dentons

Dentons loses “Holy Grail” with China split-off

Dentons has announced it will be breaking away from China’s Dacheng, eight years after entering a market that made it the world’s largest law firm by headcount. Clients were informed about the decision in an email on Monday (7 August) with the Chinese government’s new regulations around data privacy and cyber security cited as among […]

Singapore

Ropes poised to launch in Singapore

A partner from Ropes & Gray’s Hong Kong office is heading the launch of an outpost in Singapore, The Lawyer has learnt. The Lawyer understands Ropes’ litigation partner Andrew Dale, who is based in Hong Kong, will likely split his time between both jurisdictions once the Singapore office launches. It is believed he is working […]

The final death of SJ Berwin: Eversheds pounces as KWM abandons Europe and Middle East

Eversheds Sutherland has agreed a sprawling cooperation agreement with King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) that sees the firms agree exclusive referral deals, while also giving Eversheds the chance to grow substantially across the UK, Europe and Middle East. The agreement has been struck between Eversheds Sutherland’s international LLP and KWM (China) LLP. The talks will […]

Shenzhen

Morgan Lewis expands in China with Shenzhen launch

Morgan Lewis & Bockius is set to open an office in Shenzhen, making it the first firm in The Lawyer’s APAC 30 to set up in the city. Following approval on 13 June by the China Ministry of Justice, the office will expand the firm’s intellectual property (IP) reach in China and bolster the firm’s […]

Analysis

wuhan

Wuhan: The Chinese city few had heard of has more lawyers than you think

Wuhan was relatively unknown on the global stage until it became the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak this year. However, its legal services market has been growing, with eight of The Lawyer’s China Top 30 based in the city. Dentons is just one of the firms currently on lockdown. Dentons’ Wuhan managing partner Lv Chenkui told […]

Featured Briefings

Registration of medicines in the Eurasian Economic Union

At the Pharmaceutical Forum of the EAEU and CIS countries held in Moscow in late February 2018, the Director of the Department of Technical Regulation and Accreditation of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEС) said that the full-scale work on registration of medicines using the unified information system of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will start […]

Asia Pacific 100 2017

The Asia Pacific 100 2017 report consists of 80 pages of exclusive data and analysis on the region’s 100 largest firms. It is the most comprehensive guide to the top legal advisers in the region’s key markets. It provides useful information for international firms that are looking to expand into the region or seeking to […]

China Elite 2016

Despite China’s economic growth having reached its slowest in 25 years last year, the country’s leading law firms continued their strong pace of revenue growth. The China Elite 2016 report singles out the top 30 firms by annual turnover and provides a year-on-year comparison on their results. This year, it also takes a special look at […]