Davis Polk & Wardwell has made a major double partner hire from Clifford Chance (CC) to launch a litigation practice in Hong Kong.

CC's top-ranked Asia-Pacific litigation and dispute resolution head Martin Rogers and partner James Wadham are set to join Davis Polk's eight partner Hong Kong office, currently focused on capital markets and corporate matters.

Rogers – who like Wadham is English and Hong Kong law qualified – has spent more than 22 years in Asia advising working on complex regulatory enforcement and white collar crime cases. At CC, he also served as the firm's Asia-Pacific co-head of financial services regulation. He became a partner at the firm in 2002.

Wadham, who has practised at CC for over 10 years, becoming a partner in 2007, advises on complex regulatory matters and litigation, including cross-border disputes involving shareholders and investors, as well as negligence defence work.

Rogers worked alongside Davis Polk earlier this year, when he and Davis Polk partner Bonnie Chan acted as co-counsel to 23 leading investment banks in their response to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission's consultation paper on sponsor regulation.

"The benefits to our clients who are looking for world-class advice in Asia to meet their increasingly complex and global needs are tremendously exciting," said Thomas Reid, Davis Polk's managing partner. "We are now uniquely positioned to provide counsel across an even broader platform."

In a statement, CC said: "We'd like to thank Martin and James for their contribution to the firm and we wish them the best for their future careers."

CC said it intended to continue to grow its regional litigation and disputes practice, backed by its announcement earlier this week that Singapore regulators had approved CC's application to form a Formal Law Alliance (FLA) with Cavenagh Law, allowing it to provide local litigation advice.

In 1993, Davis Polk became one of the first Wall Street firms to open an office in Hong Kong – currently its biggest non-US base.