Hogan Lovells has hired the head of Gide Loyrette Nouel's Vietnam office as part of its continued foray into South East Asia to tap energy and infrastructure work.

Samantha Campbell is the second partner to join the UK firm in the country, following the recruitment of US corporate partner Jeff Olson from Allen & Overy's Ho Chi Minh base in October.

Tasked with leading the Vietnam practice, Campbell will oversee both of Hogan Lovells' offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, while continuing with her practice, which focuses on a range of work from projects and finance to real estate and disputes.

Prior to joining the French-headquartered firm in 2009, where she made partner within a year, Campbell was an associate at US outfit Sullivan & Cromwell.

Hogan Lovells is among a small group of international firms to have a presence in Vietnam; legacy firm Lovells being the first foreign outfit to open a branch office in Ho Chi Minh in 1996, followed by a Hanoi base in 2009.

With Campbell on board, the firm will have a total of eight lawyers and two partners on the ground, in addition to Hong Kong partners Tim Fletcher, Henry Wheare and Steven Tran in Hong Kong – who also do Vietnam work.

Tran moved to Hogan Lovells from Kirkland & Ellis in September. He was one of nine lawyers to join the firm's Asia practice as partners during 2014.

Hogan Lovells hires and promotions in Asia in 2014:

Lateral partner hires:

  • Mark Parsons joined the corporate/ commercial team in Hong Kong in January 2014.
  • Maurice Burke joined the Singapore office in May 2014 from Herbert Smith Freehills.
  • Steven Tran joined the Hong Kong corporate practice in September 2014 from Kirkland & Ellis.
  • Joseph Kim joined the Tokyo office from Paul Hastings in the IERP team in September 2014.
  • Jeff Olson joined the Vietnam corporate practice in October 2014 from Allen & Overy.

Associates who joined as partners:

  • Andy Ferris joined the IDCM team in Singapore as a partner in March 2014 from Allen & Overy.
  • Shaun Langhorne joined the Singapore office's dispute resolution team in August 2014 from Herbert Smith Freehills.
  • Bronwen May joined the Hong Kong office as a partner in the IDCM team in September 2014.
  • Alex Cull joined the Singapore office in October 2014 from Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in the IERP team.

Promotions:

  • Liang Xu was promoted to corporate partner in the Beijing office in January 2014.
  • Stuart Tait was promoted to BRI partner in the Hong Kong office in January 2015. 
  • Nelson Tang was promoted to corporate partner in the Hong Kong office in January 2015.