K&L Gates has just launched its office in Singapore with prior DLA Piper partner Kevin Murphy.  This will make the firm’s fifth office.  Soon enough, the office will be filled with 15 lawyers brought in from other K&L Gates offices.

Source:  www.thelawyer.com

White & Case has decided against its merger with Venture Law in Singapore. The two firms were previously in a formal alliance since 2003.  Before December 2008, the only way for a foreign firm to do business in Singapore was through such an alliance with a national firm.  The Singaporean Government announced last December that foreign firms are now allowed to practice on their own as long as they receive the Qualifying Foreign Law Practice license.  For this reason, many firms have ended their formal relationships with other Singaporean firms. The following firms have received their licenses: White & Case, Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith, Latham & Watkins and Norton Rose.

Source:  www.amlawdaily.typepad.com

Attorney Christopher Muessel has taken a position with firm Watson, Farley & Williams. Muessell will join the Singapore office from Duane Morris.  He focuses his practice on project financing. Muessell brings the number of Watson, Farley’s Singapore partners up to seven.

Source: www.asialegalbusinessonline.com

Eversheds has launched a new Singapore office.  The firm has taken on Desmond Ong, former managing partner of DLA Piper’s Singapore office.  Ong, a corporate and litigation lawyer, will head the office.     

Source:  www. legalweek.com

Lovells has expanded its Singapore office with the hire of Brad Roach. Roach, previously at White & Case, is the first partner in Singapore whose primary focus is that of energy. He has much experience in the Southeast Asian petroleum industry. This recent hire is just one of many Lovells has made in Singapore, having already added lawyers to various fields, including:” intellectual property, international arbitration, and corporate. With the addition of Roach, Lovells’ Singapore office has three partners.

Source: www.legalweek.com

Jai Pathak joined Gibson Dunn in February after 24 years at Jones Day. Gibson’s managing partner, Kenneth Doran, explains that although the idea of a Singapore office was being discussed, it was not the reason for Pathak’s lateral move. Though it does make for perfect timing. Pathak just so happens to have launched and led (for two years) Jones’ Singapore branch. More >>

Bryan Cave has hired Ignatius Hwang to join as a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office. Ignatius will head the firm’s projects practice in Asia. He will be aided by various other experienced projects practitioners in the Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore offices.

Source: www.lawfuel.com

Philadelphia’s Duane Morris has recently opened two new offices in Vietnam. The offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will specialize in energy, mergers and acquisitions, and project finance. They are intended to supplement the firm’s office in Singapore, which has become an up-and-coming hub of pharmaceutical development and international finance. The Singapore office opened in January with eight attorneys focusing primarily on finance and energy. Duane Morris has been growing over the past decade, opening offices in nine cities between 1997 and 2005, and more than doubling its size. The firm now has about 650 lawyers.
Source: www.philly.com

Duane Morris has begun merger discussions with several London firms. The Philadelphia firm’s London office currently has eight partners, but the firm wants to expand to 200 lawyers through a merger. Firm chairman, Sheldon Bonovitz, reported that the ideal merger candidate will have corporate strength, international capability, and a compatible culture. Duane Morris has also opened offices in Singapore, Vietnam, and Baltimore in the past six months.
Source: www.thelawyer.com

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has finally closed its Singapore office, after announcing intentions to close back in September of 2006. Wanting to focus on China, last week’s departure of China head Douglas Markel gave the firm the needed push to close in Singapore. In China, the firm also has offices in Beijing and Shanghai. The two remaining partners, Bruce Cooper and Yeelong Tan, will relocate to Hong Kong. Closing in Singapore will end Freshfields’ joint venture with Singapore firm Drew & Napier. Much of the firm’s restructuring efforts over the past year have focused on Asia – Paul Ng was promoted to the partnership in Hong Kong, and James Wood was relocated from London to Tokyo.
Source: www.thelawyer.com