Stephenson Harwood has bulked up its Hong Kong office with the hire of Audrey Shum, who will join from Clifford Chance (CC) as a partner in the firm's intellectual property (IP) department on 24 February.

Shum, who specialises in both contentious and commercial IP work, was with CC for around six years, most recently as a consultant. She previously worked at Bird & Bird. Her hire takes Stephenson Harwood's Hong Kong IP practice to two partners.

In addition to Shum's hire, Stephenson Harwood has further boosted its Hong Kong IP practice with the addition of associate Ka Wai Wong who joined the firm on 22 March from boutique Cheung Tong & Rosa, where he worked with clients including Adidas.

Shum told Legal Week: "I was presented with a rare opportunity and it was the right time for me to move up the ladder. IP is definitely a growing market in Asia and there are an increasing number of UK and US firms breaking in here."

She added: "Given the current economic trends and changes that have been made to China's patent law and implementation rules, the firm will be in the best possible position to provide its technology-based clients with high quality and cost-effective IP services."

The hires come as Stephenson Harwood moves to strengthen its City corporate practice.