White & Case elevates Australian lawyer to local partner

The projects expert joined the firm in 2016 as counsel

White & Case elevates Australian lawyer to local partner

White & Case’s 21-strong local partner appointment round includes one Australian lawyer.

Mark Montag has been promoted by the international firm from counsel. He moved to the firm in December 2016 from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), where he was a senior associate.

White & Case said that he is moving from Melbourne to Sydney to continue to advise the firm’s clients on major international and domestic projects in the energy, infrastructure, and transport sectors.

The appointment closely follows White & Case’s lateral recruitment of partner Nirangjan Nagarajah in Melbourne. The firm also added partner Hamish Macpherson in Sydney this year. Across its global network, the firm has attracted 12 counsel and nine local partners this year.

The firm’s new partners and counsel also include five other lawyers in the Asia-Pacific region: Shino Asayama, counsel based in Tokyo, William Moran, local partner based in Tokyo; Takako Onoki, counsel based in Tokyo; Tabitha Saw, local partner based in Singapore; and Jiejin (Victoria) Yu, counsel based in Hong Kong.

The firm’s offices in Asia-Pacific, central and eastern Europe, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey all have local partners. The title is considered by the firm as a career step toward joining the firm partnership.

White & Case has also appointed 21 lawyers to counsel, including Andrew Cohn in Hong Kong and Andrea Reeves in Melbourne. The firm appoints as counsel senior lawyers with significant experience in particular areas. Used across all of the firm’s offices, it is an alternative career path to partnership, which does not preclude future consideration to joining the firm partnership.

“Spanning 21 offices and nine practice groups, these promotions reflect the truly diverse and global nature of our firm while recognizing the exceptional ability and commitment to client service this group has demonstrated,” said Hugh Verrier, White & Case chairman. “I am confident they will make a valuable contribution to White & Case and our clients as we continue to make progress toward achieving the goals of our 2020 strategy.”

Mark Montag