IP law firm expands into Asia
The European IP specialists Awapatent has expanded into Asia with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong. AWA Asia will be managed by Ai-Leen Lim, the former international partner and head of trademark portfolio management of Bird & Bird in Greater China who will be CEO and principal counsel for the region. She is joined by a number of former Bird & Bird colleagues.
International firms announce management changes
Jones Day has announced that its partner-in-charge in Sydney, Chris Ahern, has been promoted to partner-in-charge for Australia and Japan. Tim L'Estrange is the new partner-in-charge in Sydney with John Cooper taking on the same role in the Perth Office. Meanwhile, Holman Fenwick Wilan has announced that its managing partner George Eddings is to return to full-time legal practice from April and will be replaced by Marcus Bowman. Finally, the world’s largest law firm, Dentons has announced that its UK, Middle East and Africa chief executive Matthew Jones will not be seeking re-appointment to the role when his current term ends next month.
Survey predicts expansion of infrastructure investment
Infrastructure investment is set to expand in 2015 according to a survey by law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner and Infra Finance. The results were revealed at an event in Europe and shows that North America (29 per cent) and Europe (26 per cent) were the most likely regions for infrastructure investment. Asia was next on 18 per cent. The sectors most likely to active for infrastructure deals were renewables (31 per cent) and transport (30 per cent) while social infrastructure and telecoms are the least likely according to respondents.
New capital markets partner for DLA Piper in Hong Kong
DLA Piper has strengthened its capital markets practice in Hong Kong with the hire of Melody He-Chen. She joins from Morrison & Foerster and advises investment banks and corporations on capital markets and corporate matters in Asia and the United States, where she has also practiced.
Pinsent Masons recognised for Islamic finance practice
Pinsent Masons is to be presented with the highly coveted Mudarabah Deal of the Year Award at the Islamic Finance Awards. The firm has developed its Islamic finance practice as part of its Middle East offering through its offices in Doha and Dubai. The award recognises the counsel given by Pinsents to Dubai Islamic Bank in a U$127 million energy deal.
