China's Jingtian & Gongcheng to Launch Hong Kong Disputes Practice With RPC Duo
Partner Gary Yin and senior consultant Ben Yates will join the Chinese firm as partners. Yin will launch and lead the disputes practice at Jingtian's Hong Kong office, which currently focuses on initial public offerings.
April 10, 2019 at 03:42 PM
3 minute read
Hong Kong harbour with city background
The Chinese firm Jingtian & Gongcheng is launching a disputes practice in Hong Kong with two senior lawyers from U.K. firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain.
Partner Gary Yin and senior consultant Ben Yates will join Jingtian as partners on May 1; additional lawyers, including associate Rico Chan, will also make the move from RPC.* Yin will launch and lead the disputes practice at Jingtian's Hong Kong office, which has been focusing on Hong Kong listings and related compliance and transactions work.
Yin specialises in China-related commercial, international trade and shipping disputes. He joined RPC in 2012 as part of a four-partner disputes team from legacy Barlow Lyde & Gilbert that also included senior partner David Smyth and insurance partners Andrew Horton and Antony Sassi, to launch a Hong Kong office for the London-based firm.
Yates joined RPC in 2015 and was promoted to senior consultant in August 2018. He focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration arising from cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, data protection and cybersecurity matters. He previously practised at Hong Kong firm Howse Williams, and in London at Clyde & Co and legacy Nabarro.
Beijing-based Jingtian specialises in Chinese companies' overseas listings, including those on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The firm said the hires of Yin and Yates will help meet clients' disputes needs in Hong Kong.
Jingtian recently received approval to combine with its Hong Kong associate firm L&C Legal, which was launched last September by a six-lawyer team from its previous Hong Kong partner firm, Mayer Brown. All current six partners at L&C Legal will join Jingtian's partnership on April 30.
With the new additions, Jingtian will have nine partners in Hong Kong. The firm recently hired capital markets partners Qizhen Dong in January from an in-house role at Harvest Global Capital Investments Ltd., and former Shearman & Sterling associates Stella Yeung and Stephen Luo late last year.
Meanwhile, the departures from RPC will mean at least 16 lawyers have left the firm since last June. Besides Yin and Yates, office co-founding partner Andrew Horton led a seven-lawyer insurance team to CMS Law Firm in September. At least seven other associates left RPC and joined such firms as Norton Rose Fulbright, Mayer Brown, Clyde & Co and the Big Four accounting firm PwC's affiliate firm Tiang & Partners.
In addition, David Smyth, who has been office head and senior partner in Hong Kong, will retire from the partnership at the end of April. RPC recently named Hong Kong-based Antony Sassi as Asia managing partner. The firm also has an office in Singapore.
The U.K. firm currently has about 20 lawyers in Hong Kong, including seven partners, focusing on insurance and corporate transactions. RPC recently moved its Hong Kong office from Central – the city's main business district – to an emerging business district further east called Quarry Bay, where rents are less expensive.
*Updated April 11: This story has been updated with the start date of Yin and Yates.
Related Stories:
China's Jingtian & Gongcheng Forms Hong Kong Association With Ex-Mayer Brown Team
China's Jingtian & Gongcheng Adds Another Capital Markets Partner in Hong Kong
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