The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre has appointed Debevoise & Plimpton partner David W. Rivkin and former Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen to be the new co-chairs of the institution.

Rivkin and Yuen will take on the new roles June 15, succeeding Allen & Overy partner Matthew Gearing, who has led the HKIAC for the past three years.

Rivkin, who currently splits his time between New York and London, co-chairs Debevoise's international dispute resolution practice with New York partner Donald Donovan. He has been a lifer with Debevoise, having first joined the firm in 1981. Rivkin specializes in complex high-stakes international disputes, especially big-ticket investor-state arbitrations. He has argued cases involving governments and entities from Hong Kong, Korea, Laos and elsewhere in Asia.