Ashurst has boosted its disputes practice in Asia with the hire of two Herbert Smith Freehills lawyers as partners.

Rob Palmer, a counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills, will join the firm in Singapore early next year where he will work with an existing team led by energy disputes specialist Ben Giaretta. Chris Bailey, currently a consultant, will initially join Ashurst in Singapore before relocating to Tokyo, where he will launch the firm's dispute resolution practice in Japan.

Palmer specialises in construction and infrastructure work, while Bailey, who has a broad commercial disputes practice, will focus on assisting Japanese clients on disputes arising outside Japan, as well as supporting international clients on contentious matters in Japan. Both are legacy Herbert Smith partners, with Palmer most recently in Singapore and Bailey most recently in Bangkok.

The two appointments follow the hire of financial litigation partner Angus Ross in Hong Kong in September, who joined from magic circle firm Allen & Overy as part of Ashurst's wider plan to grow the practice across Asia-Pacific.

Ashurst Asia dispute resolution head Gareth Hughes (pictured) said: "If you look at all the leading firms at the moment, disputes is an important part of providing clients with a one-stop-shop, and our disputes practice has historically been two small compared with our competitors. There is a general desire for that to grow. At times of economic difficulty especially, the disputes practice tends to get busier, and now with the current conditions it's as busy as ever.

He added: "With the tie-up in Australia [with Blake Dawson, now Ashurst Australia] and strong teams in Sydney and Europe, the piece that was missing for us was Asia, where we were light in terms of numbers."

Ashurst hired Hughes, who specialises in banking and financial disputes, from Simmons & Simmons last year.

According to Hughes, Bailey will be joined in Tokyo by one Ashurst associate who will relocate from Singapore. The firm is also likely to add another partner in Tokyo further down the line.