Withers has relocated City lawyer Patrick Hamlin to Hong Kong to head up its litigation practice, as the firm gears up to start offering local law in the new year.

Hamlin joined the Hong Kong base last month as the office approaches the completion of its third year since its 2008 launch. Under local guidelines, foreign firms have to be in the region for three years before they can start practising local law.

The firm has also hired three local associates to work with Hamlin in the litigation practice and is looking to expand further over the coming months.

Hamlin joined Withers in 1999 and is a counsel at the firm. His practice focuses on trust and succession litigation including Inheritance Act claims, breach of trust actions and applications for construction of trust documents and wills.

He said: "Now that we are coming up to our three-year anniversary we have decided to expand our offering and start practising local law.

"We think that there is a demand for contentious trust and succession services that other foreign lawyers do not provide and therefore we would like to capitalise on this opportunity."

Hamlin's client portfolio includes some of the UK's largest national charities, including the RSPCA, Cancer Research, the British Heart Foundation, the British Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Withers has earmarked Shanghai as its next target area for growth in Asia, and recently entered into a tie-up with financial services advisory firm BeA-asia in anticipation of a local launch.

For more, see Withers gains Shanghai presence with financial advisory firm tie-up