Senior regulation specialist hired as partner from Freshfields

Stephenson Harwood has promoted two to the firm's partnership in its 2010 annual promotions round.

The news comes as the City firm has also added a partner to its London office through the hire of a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer lawyer. All the appointments are effective as of 1 May.

Both of the newly-promoted partners are based in Asia, with finance lawyer Gregg Johnston joining the partnership in Singapore. The other new partner, finance lawyer Stephanie Wong, is in finance and based in Hong Kong, where her promotion is currently pending local regulatory approval.

Firm chief executive Sharon White (pictured) commented: "Both Gregg and Stephanie are highly talented individuals who have contributed significantly to the international development of the firm. These promotions, together with the appointment of 10 lateral hires over the past financial year, reflect our focus on building scale across key practice areas."

The total number of promotions is the same as last year, when the firm increased its City partner count by two. This year London received no new partners, but 1 May saw the addition of a new partner from Freshfields.

Contentious regulatory specialist Sean Jeffrey, who has been counsel at the magic circle firm since 2007, joined Freshfields as an associate in 1997 from Beachcroft Stanley.

He said: "I have spent a lot of time working alongside lawyers from Stephenson Harwood and when the opportunity came up to become partner with the firm I did not hesitate. The contentious regulatory practice is a growth area at the moment and this will be a very exciting place to be."

The commercial litigation practice has 41 partners across London, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Piraeus, around half of which are City-based.

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