Harneys is pleased to announce the hire of Litigation Partner Joanne Verbiesen in its Hong Kong office, effective 18 May 2016. Harneys is the only offshore firm to have a female litigation partner in Asia. It is also the largest offshore litigation team in Asia by several multiples, with three litigation partners. It has advocates of the Courts of the Cayman Islands, BVI and Bermuda based in Hong Kong.
Joanne has over 11 years’ post-qualification experience in commercial litigation, contentious trusts and insolvency, gained in the Cayman Islands and New Zealand. She regularly appears before the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands as sole/leading counsel and junior counsel, and has also appeared in arbitration proceedings and litigated numerous disputes before New Zealand’s High Court and Court of Appeal. She has also represented the Governor of the Cayman Islands.
Joanne joins Harneys from Walkers, Cayman Islands. A barrister by training, she practised at the New Zealand Bar before moving to the Cayman Islands.
Jonathan Culshaw, Harneys’ Asia Managing Partner, commented: “Joanne’s hire adds further depth of expertise to our litigation and insolvency practice in Hong Kong, which continues to grow under the leadership of Ian Mann. We are delighted to welcome Joanne to the team.”
Joanne added: “Harneys’ litigation practice in Hong Kong has a leading reputation and I am pleased to join the firm’s growing team.”
Joanne’s hire follows the Hong Kong team’s secondment of a Bermuda Litigation associate to Hong Kong in April and hire of four transactional lawyers in March. Her hire also follows growth in Harneys’ Cayman Islands practice, which expanded with the hire of 7 lawyers last year.
In recent years Harneys has grown to become one of the largest offshore firms in Hong Kong, and, combined with its Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai offices, has a strong presence in Asia.
