Berwin Leighton to Open Beijing Office

By Tom Brennan All Articles 

The Asian Lawyer

February 22, 2013

Beijing
Source: Getty Images

Berwin Leighton Paisner has announced it will open a Beijing office, its first in mainland China.

The British firm has received a license from the Ministry of Justice and plans to begin operations in May. Former Berwin Leighton Chairman Peter Robinson will head the office. He is currently completing a one-year secondment as an in-house lawyer in the Shanghai office of British supermarket chain Tesco Plc., a client of the firm.

The Beijing team will focus on advising clients on inbound infrastructure and real estate deals, as well as outbound transactions by Chinese companies. The firm did not say how many lawyers would work in the new office.

Berwin Leighton, which has 850 lawyers worldwide, also has Asia-based offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Cadwalader Adds Beijing Partner

Photo: David Noton/Getty Images

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has recruited a partner in Beijing.

Rose Zhu was previously a partner in the Beijing office of K&L Gates, where she advised on capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and bank finance transactions.

Zhu joined K&L Gates in 2010 from Allen & Overy, where she was a counsel. At that firm, Zhu led the team that advised the underwriters in the $22 billion IPO of Agricultural Bank of China in 2010.

Earlier in her career, she was an associate with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in Hong Kong and Shearman & Sterling and Cravath, Swain & Moore in New York.

Zhu is now one of two partners in Cadwalader's Beijing office, which has a total of 11 lawyers. The New York-based firm has around 450 lawyers worldwide.

Wilson Sonsini Opens Beijing Outpost

Beijing
Source: Getty Images

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati opened its third China office in Beijing on Thursday.

The new office is led by partner Kefei Li, who came to the firm last year from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. A few IP and licensing attorneys joined Li in Beijing to work with clients in technology and life sciences, said Douglas Clark, co-managing partner of the firm.

Wilson Sonsini opened the Beijing office in part to further Li's capital markets practice, which is key to the firm's strategy in China, Clark said in an interview. Beijing is a hot spot for capital markets as well as private equity, venture capital and international M&A transactions, co-managing partner John "Jack" Sheridan said in a statement.

"Our three offices are very tightly integrated and work almost as one," Clark said. "We are focusing more on capital markets and transactional work than we have in the past."

Partner Weiheng Chen, leader of the firm's China practice, has assembled a team to concentrate on that work along with private equity, Clark said. Chen, who heads up the firm's Shanghai and Hong Kong offices, came to Wilson Sonsini in 2010 from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.

Chen took the reins of the China practice after partner Carmen Chang left Wilson Sonsini in February to split her time between venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates and the Silicon Valley office of Covington & Burling. Partners Eva Wang and Michelle Edwards followed her to Covington. Chang's practice centered on companies founded in China with Chinese-American, Taiwanese and mainland roots.

Wilson Sonsini first staked out its presence in China by opening a Shanghai office in 2007, its first international office, followed by an outpost in Hong Kong in 2010. New York firms have handled the lion's share of U.S. IPOs by Chinese companies so far, but Silicon Valley firms are jostling to land a larger share of the work when the market bounces back, according to The Asian Lawyer, a Recorder affiliate. Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian also plans to open an office in Beijing.

"It's an important time for firms who see China in their future to be building there," said Peter Zeughauser, a legal consultant.

But competition in the market is stiff, with a number of up-and-coming Chinese law firms seizing business once handled by American lawyers, Zeughauser noted. And the downturn in Chinese capital markets has limited the amount of work to be done.

"We have long-term faith in global capital markets and a belief that they will remain robust," Clark said.

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Wilson Sonsini Opens Beijing Outpost

Beijing
Source: Getty Images

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati opened its third China office in Beijing on Thursday.

The new office is led by partner Kefei Li, who came to the firm last year from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. A few IP and licensing attorneys joined Li in Beijing to work with clients in technology and life sciences, said Douglas Clark, co-managing partner of the firm.

Wilson Sonsini opened the Beijing office in part to further Li's capital markets practice, which is key to the firm's strategy in China, Clark said in an interview. Beijing is a hot spot for capital markets as well as private equity, venture capital and international M&A transactions, co-managing partner John "Jack" Sheridan said in a statement.

"Our three offices are very tightly integrated and work almost as one," Clark said. "We are focusing more on capital markets and transactional work than we have in the past."

Partner Weiheng Chen, leader of the firm's China practice, has assembled a team to concentrate on that work along with private equity, Clark said. Chen, who heads up the firm's Shanghai and Hong Kong offices, came to Wilson Sonsini in 2010 from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.

Chen took the reins of the China practice after partner Carmen Chang left Wilson Sonsini in February to split her time between venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates and the Silicon Valley office of Covington & Burling. Partners Eva Wang and Michelle Edwards followed her to Covington. Chang's practice centered on companies founded in China with Chinese-American, Taiwanese and mainland roots.

Wilson Sonsini first staked out its presence in China by opening a Shanghai office in 2007, its first international office, followed by an outpost in Hong Kong in 2010. New York firms have handled the lion's share of U.S. IPOs by Chinese companies so far, but Silicon Valley firms are jostling to land a larger share of the work when the market bounces back, according to The Asian Lawyer, a Recorder affiliate. Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian also plans to open an office in Beijing.

"It's an important time for firms who see China in their future to be building there," said Peter Zeughauser, a legal consultant.

But competition in the market is stiff, with a number of up-and-coming Chinese law firms seizing business once handled by American lawyers, Zeughauser noted. And the downturn in Chinese capital markets has limited the amount of work to be done.

"We have long-term faith in global capital markets and a belief that they will remain robust," Clark said.

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Norton Rose Adds Beijing Partner

By Jessica Seah All Articles 

The Asian Lawyer

December 3, 2012

Beijing
Source: Getty Images

Norton Rose has hired a new partner for its banking practice in Beijing.

Li Jinnan was previously a partner with King & Wood Mallesons. He chiefly advises Chinese banks considering loans in the energy, infrastructure and transport sectors.

In 2009, Li led a King & Wood team in advising the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. on a $2.5 billion loan facility provided to the Republic of Angola for the funding of housing and infrastructure projects. In 2010, Li advised Export-Import Bank of China Ltd. and the Bank of China Ltd. as lenders Brazilian conglomerate Vale SA. for the construction in China of 12 transport ships.

Li, who is qualified in the U.S. and in China, joined King & Wood as an associate in 2001.

Including Li, Norton Rose will have 16 lawyers, including seven partners, in its Beijing office.

Beijing Rainmakers Band Together to Launch Antitrust Boutique

A dozen partners from leading Chinese firms have split off to set up their own firm.

The new firm, AnJie Law Firm, will be led by antitrust specialist Zhan Hao, currently an executive committee member at Beijing's Grandall Law Firm, as managing partner. Two other partners will serve on the AnJie's executive committee: former Zhong Lun Law Firm antitrust partner Michael Gu and former Beijing Mingtai Law Firm managing partner He Yu.

The moves were first reported Wednesday by mergermarket's Policy and Regulatory Report.

Gu says AnJie has hired 50 lawyers so far, including 12 partners, and will start operations in November. According to Gu, the new recruits include partners Chen Bin, Cheng Bing and Li Xiuzhe from Zhong Lun; partners Zheng Xilin and Huang Zaizai from Grandall; and some partners from Beijing firm Zhong Lun W&D as well.

Gu says Zhan is expected to bring a further 40 lawyers with him from Grandall.

Antitrust will be a major focus of the new firm. It is a relatively new practice area in China, with a competition law only coming into effect in the country in 2008. But it has quickly become a lucrative practice area for Chinese firms. Though Chinese authorities have only blocked or blessed a handful of major acquisitions in China itself, they also review global mergers for their impact on the China market; international parties on big deals are keen to hire the right lawyers to avoid delays.

In addition to antitrust, Gu says AnJie will advise on joint ventures, insurance, intellectual property and other foreign investment-related work. According to Gu, the firm expects to have a mainly international client base, including financial institutions, insurance companies and investment funds investing in China.

Gu says the firm has plans to expand into Shanghai and Shenzhen, and will also seek out potential alliances and relationships with law firms in the U.S. and the U.K. But he says the firm has no desire to pursue a King & Wood Mallesons-style merger.

Indeed, Gu suggests AnJie partners were looking for the opposite in terms of size and scope. Grandall has almost 600 lawyers while Zhong Lun has almost 500.

"We want to remain a Chinese firm," he says. "All our partners have come together because we want to work in a streamlined environment. The internal structure of our firm is important to us. Large firms often have too loose a management."

Eversheds Announces Beijing Plans

By Jessica SeahAll Articles

The Asian Lawyer

September 19, 2012

Beijing
Source: Getty Images

Eversheds has announced plans to open a Beijing office in December.

The London-based firm's new office will focus on inbound and outbound foreign investment.

Eversheds says it is currently seeking to recruit "senior members" to lead its Beijing office. In the meantime, the office will be headed by Asia managing partner Nick Seddon, who will divide his time between Beijing and his current base in Hong Kong.

The firm, which has 2,500 lawyers worldwide, opened its first Asia office in Shanghai in 2006. It established presences in both Hong Kong and Singapore three years later.

Eversheds currently has 38 lawyers in Hong Kong, 12 in Shanghai, and 11 in Singapore.

Eversheds Announces Beijing Plans

By Jessica SeahAll Articles

The Asian Lawyer

September 19, 2012

Beijing
Source: Getty Images

Eversheds has announced plans to open a Beijing office in December.

The London-based firm's new office will focus on inbound and outbound foreign investment.

Eversheds says it is currently seeking to recruit "senior members" to lead its Beijing office. In the meantime, the office will be headed by Asia managing partner Nick Seddon, who will divide his time between Beijing and his current base in Hong Kong.

The firm, which has 2,500 lawyers worldwide, opened its first Asia office in Shanghai in 2006. It established presences in both Hong Kong and Singapore three years later.

Eversheds currently has 38 lawyers in Hong Kong, 12 in Shanghai, and 11 in Singapore.

Kirkland & Ellis Eyes Beijing Launch

By Tom BrennanAll Articles

The Asian Lawyer

September 19, 2012

Kirkland & Ellis is planning to open a Beijing office.

The firm, which currently has offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, is in the process of applying for a license to operate in Beijing and expects government approval near the end of this year or the beginning of 2013, says Hong Kong partner David Zhang.

The office will be staffed by internal transfers, he says, most likely from Shanghai and Hong Kong but also potentially from the U.S. The number of partners and other lawyers who would make the move is still under consideration, but Zhang says the office will likely be a small one, at least to start.

"My sense is we'll build that out pretty quickly because the market demand is there," he says, adding that recruitment from other firms would likely happen eventually. "As we grow, we will engage in strategic, opportunistic hiring."

Zhang himself joined Kirkland last year from Latham & Watkins in a major push that saw the Chicago-based firm add eight partners in Hong Kong. He says the new office's practice will build on those in Shanghai and Hong Kong, such as capital markets, private equity and mergers and acquisitions.

"The next logical strategic initiative was to open in Beijing," he says.