Latham & Watkins has expanded its Hong Kong disputes team with the hire of arbitration partner Ing Loong Yang from Sidley Austin.

Yang, previously the co-chair of Sidley's international arbitration practice and an experienced litigator, has joined Latham to work alongside Hong Kong partner Simon Powell and of counsel Eleanor Lam.

Recently awarded Higher Rights of Audience (HRA) in Hong Kong, he is among a small group of qualified local litigators in the region.

The move marks yet another lateral hire of a local disputes expert by a US firm in recent months, following the recruitment of Clifford Chance's top ranked litigator Martin Rogers and partner James Wadham by Davis Polk & Wardwell in December.

Yang, who was previously based in Sidley's Hong Kong office, has a track record of working on complex commercial cases and in international arbitration in Asia, particularly on cross-border disputes involving Chinese companies.

He also worked in Singapore with the firm, where he handled corporate and commercial litigation and shareholder disputes in addition to contentious issues surrounding joint ventures, technology licensing, FCPA investigation and regulatory matters.

Other US firms considering expanding their local litigation practices in the near future include Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and O'Melveny & Myers, while those which may look at hiring in this area but are yet to make firm plans include Kirkland & Ellis and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, both of whom have strong litigation teams globally.

The change in thinking comes in the wake of new legislation giving advocacy rights to Hong Kong solicitors, which came into effect last June and is in the final stages of implementation.

By expanding the scope of work solicitors can handle and creating an additional revenue stream for firms, the new rules have caught the attention of US advisers, which previously focused on more traditional practice areas in Asia such as corporate, capital markets and finance.