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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has hired international arbitration partner June Yeum from Clyde & Co – the latest in a string of partner departures globally from the U.K. firm.

Yeum, who splits her time between New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo, specialises in cross-border dispute resolution and international arbitration related to infrastructure, licensing and sales contracts, energy, construction and joint ventures.

Yeum leaves Clyde & Co after about four and a half years as a partner in Singapore and New York. Previously, she did stints as co-head of international dispute resolution at leading Korean firms Lee & Ko and Yulchon, both in Seoul, South Korea. She also was a partner at Baker McKenzie and Duane Morris, both in New York. Earlier in her career, Yeum was a journalist at the Korean business newspaper Korea Economic Daily.

"Few lawyers have a better reputation in Asia than June, particularly in Korea, where she is widely regarded as one of the country's premier arbitration lawyers," David Dekker, the Washington, D.C.-based chair of Pillsbury, said in a statement.

Pillsbury has been expanding its global disputes practice in recent years. Last year, it hired a six-lawyer China disputes team, led by partner Geoffrey Sant, in New York, with all but one associate joining from Dorsey & Whitney. It also hired international arbitration partner Robert Sills, also in New York, from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. In 2017, Pillsbury launched a disputes practice in London with a three-lawyer team, led by partner Deborah Ruff, from Norton Rose Fulbright; Ruff also leads Pillsbury's global international arbitration practice.

Last year, Pillsbury opened an office in Taipei focusing on intellectual property work, led by partners David Tsai and Christopher Kao, who both joined the firm from Vinson & Elkins. Elsewhere in Asia, Pillsbury also has offices in Beijing and Shanghai.

Meanwhile, Yeum is the latest partner to leave Clyde & Co globally so far this year. In September alone, an eight-partner insurance team and six-partner shipping team left the firm's San Francisco and London offices, respectively; both teams set up their own boutique firms. And a three-lawyer private client team in Edinburgh, Scotland, left to join local outfit Gillespie Macandrew.

Several partners recently departed the firm's Asia offices. In Singapore, office managing partner and Asia-Pacific management board member Michael Parker retired from the partnership of Clyde & Co last month, after 38 years with the firm. Shipping partner Christopher Metcalf left earlier this month to join Holman Fenwick Willan. And a three-lawyer disputes team led by partner Gerald Yee left its joint law venture in the city-state for Reynolds Porter Chamberlain's own Singapore joint law venture in June. In Hong Kong, former China construction head Ian Cocking and former partner Dennis Wong left Clyde & Co to launch their own boutique in April.

Clyde & Co did rebuild its disputes capabilities in Singapore by hiring former Pinsent Masons construction partner Jon Howes and senior associate Sean Hardy as partners in July. Earlier this month, Clyde & Co hired China banking and finance partner Fei Kwok in Hong Kong from Norton Rose Fulbright.

Late last year, Clyde & Co's Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, managing partner Christopher Jobson relocated to Hong Kong to hold an Asia regional management role and sit on the firm's Asia Pacific management board. Jobson told Law.com in December that he plans to increase Clyde & Co's lawyer headcount in the Asia-Pacific region by 30% by 2022.

In addition to Jobson, the other members of the Asia-Pacific management board are Roberts and partners Ik Wei Chong in Shanghai; Simon McConnell and Mun Yeow in Hong Kong; Michael Tooma, Dean Carrigan and David McElveney in Sydney; and Asia-Pacific chief operating officer Dale Gregory.

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