Davis Polk hires second magic circle Beijing chief for Hong Kong office
Davis Polk & Wardwell has recruited Linklaters' Beijing head for its burgeoning Hong Kong law practice, marking the US firm's second recent senior magic circle hire, reports The Am Law Daily. The New York-based firm has announced that Paul Chow is set join its Hong Kong office next May, following the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Beijing chief Antony Dapiran. Chow is expected to continue to work on client matters until his departure. Davis Polk has generally been regarded as conservative when it comes to recruiting lateral partners, but the US firm has moved aggressively to assemble a Hong Kong law group in recent months.
November 22, 2010 at 04:37 AM
3 minute read
Davis Polk & Wardwell has recruited Linklaters' Beijing head for its burgeoning Hong Kong law practice, marking the US firm's second recent senior magic circle hire, reports The Am Law Daily.
The New York-based firm has announced that Paul Chow is set join its Hong Kong office next May, following the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Beijing chief Antony Dapiran. Chow is expected to continue to work on client matters until his departure.
Davis Polk has generally been regarded as conservative when it comes to recruiting lateral partners, but the US firm has moved aggressively to assemble a Hong Kong law group in recent months.
The firm, which previously only practised US law in Asia, announced it was launching a Hong Kong practice in August with the hire of Dapiran along with Bonnie Chan, the head of initial public offerings (IPOs) for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
"We've really made up our mind about Asia, Hong Kong, and China in particular, and we want to do it right and compete at the highest level," said William Barron, Davis Polk's Hong Kong-based Asia head.
Chow joined Linklaters' Hong Kong office in 2006 from Slaughter and May, where he also had been a partner. He moved to Beijing in 2007, where he has specialised in capital markets and M&A.
In recent years, Hong Kong has been a top destination for IPOs, especially of large Chinese state-owned enterprises. Davis Polk this year represented Agricultural Bank of China in one of the biggest IPOs ever, raising over $22bn (£14bn).
US firms still play a major role in such listings because global investors typically insist that the biggest deals meet Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure requirements. However, many firms are establishing Hong Kong law practices as a hedge against the future.
In addition to Davis Polk, Shearman & Sterling and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy have also launched Hong Kong practices this year.
Owing to Hong Kong's history as a former British colony, UK firms have long boasted the top Hong Kong capital markets practices. However, that has now made them the favorite recruitment ground for top Wall Street firms eager to expand into Hong Kong law.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are widely expected to follow suit in the coming months.
The Am Law Daily is a US affiliate title of Legal Week.
- For more on the China market, see Legal Week's in depth feature.
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