Watson, Farley & Williams has announced plans to open a Hong Kong office with a partner, Loretta Lau, recruited from Goodwin Procter.
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Law.com has the story
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Loretta Lau is a corporate and capital markets lawyer qualified in England and Hong Kong, who joined Goodwin Procter in 2010 from Mayer Brown JSM, where she was also a partner. She also previously worked at Simmons & Simmons and the former Richards Butler in Hong Kong.
Lau will be joined in Watson Farley’s Hong Kong office by Madeline Leong, an asset finance partner relocating from the firm’s Singapore office. Leong, who is qualified in Hong Kong, the U.K. and Australia, focuses on the transportation and natural resources industries.
The Hong Kong office, the opening of which is pending regulatory approvals, will be the third in Asia for 321-lawyer Watson Farley, which also has offices in Singapore and Bangkok. Last October, the London-based firm launched a joint law venture in Singapore with local firm Asia Practice.
Firm managing partner Michael Greville said in a statement that Watson Farley hoped to build on its success in Singapore and Bangkok, where it has a combined 60 lawyers.
“As these offices have grown, and as the economic activity in Asia has increased, the requirement for a complementary presence in Hong Kong, and direct access to mainland China, has emerged,” said Greville. “Establishing a Hong Kong branch is therefore a significant strategic development for not only our Asia footprint but the firm as a whole.”
