Norton Rose Fulbright has picked up a team of five disputes lawyers from Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson as it gets set to close its offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Partner Alfred Wu joined Norton Rose's disputes group this month alongside consultant Philip Nunn and associates Muriel Cheng, Anita Fong and Kevin Hong. Nunn joins the firm as a senior consultant.

Norton Rose's Hong Kong disputes team is led by Camille Jojo, and the hires takes the total number of partners to six.

The appointments come after the firm hired David Johnson from K&L Gates in March as a US capital markets and corporate partner in its Hong Kong office.

Deirdre Walker, Norton Rose's head of dispute resolution and litigation for Europe, the Middle East and Asia, said there had been an "increase in demand" for the firm's dispute resolution services globally.

She added: "Hong Kong is a key hub for China, and Asia as a whole, and Alfred's team will bring valuable additional resources to our offering."

The firm's head of North Asia, Phillip John, said: "Chinese companies have been using Hong Kong extensively as a platform and springboard for investments in overseas markets. With recent market volatility, we expect to see more dispute work from these corporations in Hong Kong."

In January Fried Frank announced that it would shut its Hong Kong and Shanghai offices by 30 June, leaving the firm without an outpost in Asia.

The 33 employees affected, who are all based in Hong Kong bar one, have been in talks with regards to relocating to other offices.