Eversheds' former managing partner for Asia Nick Seddon has joined consultancy Beaton Capital as a partner and legal recruitment company Olivier Cheah as a director.

Seddon, who left the UK firm last February, has moved out of private practice to take a corporate advisory role at Beaton, and to work alongside Hong Kong recruiter Jim Olivier to assist firms with lateral partner hires in the city. 

He joined Eversheds in October 2008 to establish an integrated office for the firm in Hong Kong whilst also overseeing its base in Shanghai and the newly opened office in Singapore.

During his four-year stint the firm also secured a licence for its long-planned launch in Beijing, which it opened in May after Seddon's departure with the hire of Morgan Lewis corporate energy partner Ingrid Zhu-Clark to head up.

Prior to Eversheds, Seddon was Asia head for US firm Heller Ehrman, where he lead its Asian network in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and Shanghai in the place of the firm's former regional chief Jonathan Palmer.

Between 2004 and 2007 he was also Asia managing partner for DLA Piper, spearheading significant growth for that firm and the opening of two new offices.

His departure from Eversheds came amid a management shake-up in February last year which saw UK corporate partner Stephen Kitts appointed as the new head for Asia, and the firm's managing partner Lee Ranson taking executive responsibility for the overall development of the firm's Asia business.

In December, it emerged that the firm had also decided to run its Shanghai office without any partners following the exit of its most senior lawyer in the office, Jean-Marc Deschandol, and its head of employment for the region, Iris Duchetsmann.

Duchetsmann has since joined Clyde & Co as a partner in Beijing, whilst Deschandol is also understood to be mulling opportunities with other firms. He was previously China managing partner at Norton Rose for seven years before joining Eversheds in 2007.

Eversheds said that the Shanghai office would remain open following the departures, but would be run by its existing nine fee earners, with corporate Of counsel Jack Cai appointed to lead.

Related: Eversheds to run Shanghai base with no partners