Mayer Brown offices.Locke Lord Loses Another Practice Head as Partner Joins Mayer Brown
Philip Lau, who was co-chair of Locke Lord's construction practice, sees an opportunity to expand his energy practice globally at Mayer Brown.
February 03, 2020 at 03:16 PM
3 minute read
Expanding its global oil and gas group, Mayer Brown has hired Philip Lau, the former co-chair of Locke Lord's construction law practice group.
Lau joined Mayer Brown on Monday as a partner in Houston. Alex Chequer, the global leader of the oil and gas group at Mayer Brown, said adding Lau to the team is part of a "global plan" for growing the oil and gas group. Other recent hires include Bob Palmer, who joined as a partner in May 2019 in London, and Vera de Gyarfas, who moved to the firm's Houston office last December from King & Spalding.
Chequer said the firm is trying to add high-profile lawyers in Houston, where further lateral hires are expected shortly. The firm is also expecting growth in the near term in Singapore, London and Dubai, he said.
He said Lau's expertise in midstream and downstream will be particularly useful to the firm in emerging markets in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America, as well as in Vietnam and China.
"Although Houston is the energy capital of the world, we are looking for much more than Texas," said Chequer, a partner in Rio de Janeiro.
Lau, who practiced at Locke Lord for 18 years, said Mayer Brown provides him with the opportunity to leverage his transactional knowledge and experience into a global practice, working with the firm's national tax, project finance, and global infrastructure groups.
His work involves commercial transactions and construction work on large energy projects including pipelines and export terminals. He declined to identify his clients.
In a sense, Lau said, he is returning to his roots, because earlier in his career he worked in business development for a power company in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Lau, a Singapore native, said he speaks Mandarin and some Cantonese.
Asked about Lau's departure, a spokeswoman for Locke Lord said in a statement: "Phil is a very well-respected partner, and we have appreciated all of his contributions to Locke Lord. We wish him all the best as he pursues a new career opportunity."
Lau is the third practice leader to leave Locke Lord in less than two weeks. In January, the co-chairs of Locke Lord's global capital markets practice, Eric Johnson and Michael Blankenship, joined Winston & Strawn as partners in Houston.
Lau said the departures are not a sign of issues at Locke Lord, a firm where he said he had a "hell of a ride." He said his move was "completely driven by an opportunity."
Elsewhere, Mayer Brown also on Monday added former Paul Hastings white-collar lawyer Michael Levy as a partner in Washington D.C.
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Winston & Strawn Makes Houston Power Grab for Locke Lord Capital Markets Co-Chairs
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