New Year, new jobs

Some of the biggest names in law have begun 2016 with hires and promotions in their Asia-Pacific offices… Slater & Gordon lenders bring in auditors… Dentons takes team of 75 from UK firm…

New Year, new jobs
At Baker & McKenzie’s member firm in Singapore, Martin David joins to lead the finance and projects practice group as principal. He has more than 20 years’ experience across Asia-Pacific markets and joins from the Singapore office of Ince & Co where he was head of the energy practice.
Eversheds has hired Jae Lemin from Herbert Smith Freehills as partner in the banking and finance team in Hong Kong while Paul Moloney joins the team from Akin Gump.
Catherine Tsang joins the Hong Kong office of White & Case as a partner in the corporate/M&A and capital markets practice. She joins from Paul Hastings.
At Hogan Lovells there are new partners in Tokyo and a new counsel in Beijing. The partners are IP, media and technology lawyer Dr. Frederick Ch'en; and corporate lawyer Jacky Scanlan-Dyas. The new counsel is Helen Xia in the IP, media and technology practice.
Finally, Akin Gump has promoted Daniel L. Cohen in Hong Kong to its partnership.
 
Slater & Gordon lenders bring in auditors
Two of the leading financiers of Slater & Gordon have appointed auditors to look at the law firm’s figures. The Australian says that National Australia Bank and Westpac have appointed McGrathNicol to look at the books following Slater’s announcement in December that its profits are expected to be lower than previously thought. A curb on personal injury claims by the British government is a major issue for the Aussie firm’s operation in the UK.
 
Dentons takes team of 75 from UK firm
There’s never much of a break in global expansion of Dentons and 2016 has got off to a strong start for the firm with the hiring of the banking and finance litigation team of UK firm Matthew Arnold & Baldwin. The team includes 11 partners and 65 other lawyers who will join the global firm next month but will remain in their current office in the short term. Merger talks between the two firms last year did not continue and MAB is now believed to be in talks with another suitor.