China’s authorities will be launching increasingly vigorous crackdowns on illegal practices by foreign firms… Morgan Lewis hires former Binghams team in Tokyo… New partner joins the nest at Bird & Bird… New partner for Simmons & Simmons…
China predicted to crackdown more on illegal practices
China’s authorities will be launching increasingly vigorous crackdowns on illegal practices by foreign firms in 2015. That’s one of the predictions from Dan Harris of US-based law firm Harris Moure which also has affiliate practices in Beijing and Qingdao. Writing at forbes.com Harris says that there will be focus on those foreign firms that have operations in Hong Kong but are not registered to trade in RPC; those that are not paying the correct tax; corruption; and visas for foreigners. He warns that litigation in China is increasing and there has been an escalation in employment claims where Chinese workers have been unfairly dismissed.
Morgan Lewis hires former Binghams team in Tokyo
The Tokyo office of Morgan Lewis has been boosted by the addition of a 16-strong team from Bingham McCutcheon. Among the hires are five partners; international investment management and financial regulatory lawyers Christopher P. Wells and Tomoko Fuminaga; corporate transactional lawyers Lisa Valentovish and Tsugumichi Watanabe; and intellectual property lawyer Chris Mizumoto. There are five additional lawyers and six support staff also joining. Globally the firm has taken on more than 800 former Bingham’s staff and partners in the last few months.
New partner joins the nest at Bird & Bird
Seow Hui Goh has joined the employment practice at Bird & Bird in Singapore. She has more than eight years experience and was previously at local firm Braddell Brothers. Bird & Bird has recently experienced significant growth to its employment practice in the Asia Pacific region. Seow Hui Goh's appointment follows closely after the firm's appointment of new partner Ying Wang to head its employment practice in China and the addition of an Australian employment practice, headed by partner Lesley Maclou, following the November 2014 merger with Truman Hoyle in Sydney.
New partner for Simmons & Simmons
Simmons & Simmons has promoted Matthew Pitman to its partnership effective from the start of this month. Based in the London office Pitman is an investment funds specialist focusing on all classes of private funds.
