Bucking Trend, K&L Gates Hires Away Chinese Firm's Hong Kong Office Head
Guiping Lu, who specializes in U.S. law capital markets deals, left Chinese firm Haiwen & Partners three years after making the move from Latham & Watkins.
June 03, 2019 at 02:56 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
K&L Gates has recruited a Hong Kong partner from China's Haiwen & Partners, a hire that runs counter to a current trend in which partners and associates have been jumping from international firms to Chinese ones.
Guiping Lu previously led the Chinese firm's Hong Kong office. Dual-qualified in Hong Kong and the U.S., he advises on debt and equity securities offers in Hong Kong and related transactions. Last year, he advised on Chinese ticketing site Maoyan Entertainment's pre-IPO convertible bond offer in Hong Kong.
Lu joined Haiwen in 2016 from Latham & Watkins, where he had been counsel based in Hong Kong. He first helped the Chinese firm launch an office in Shenzhen, at the time only the firm's third office nearly 25 years into its existence. He went on to open a Hong Kong office for the Beijing-based firm the next year. For Haiwen to have access to Hong Kong law practice, Lu set up his own practice, Lu & Partners, and formed an association with Haiwen in 2017.
Haiwen's Hong Kong office now has five partners including disputes specialist Danny Leung, former counsel with Hogan Lovells. Both Leung and Hong Kong partner Max Hua are Hong Kong-qualified.
Haiwen Beijing partner Wang Pei said the firm's Hong Kong association is not affected by Lu's departure and Haiwen remains committed to developing its practice in Hong Kong. “We will continue to improve our Hong Kong offering,” Wang said in an emailed statement, adding that the firm thanks Lu for his contribution in launching and building the office.
Lu's move back to an international firm comes as Chinese law firms are aggressively recruiting from their global counterparts in Hong Kong and the mainland. Haiwen itself lured away former Ropes & Gray Shanghai partner Gu Jieni, last autumn. Tian Yuan Law Firm hired former Paul Hastings partner Nan Li and a team of a dozen members in April; last year, Fangda Partners recruited partner Colin Law from Shearman & Sterling and partner Fang Jian from Linklaters. Other Chinese firms, including Jingtian & Gongcheng, Han Kun Law Offices and King & Wood Mallesons, have also recruited from international firms.
With offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Haiwen has about 200 lawyers. Known as a conservative partnership, Haiwen hasn't joined most of its peer firms in aggressive expansion during the decade. The firm ranked the 23rd highest-grossing law firm in China in 2017, with $51.8 million in revenue.
K&L Gates said it has more than 30 lawyers in Hong Kong, including 13 partners.
Related Stories:
Paul Hastings Beijing Partner Leaves for China's Tian Yuan Law Firm
Will Chinese Firms Succeed in Hong Kong?
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Lawsuit Against Major Food Brands Could Be Sign of Emerging Litigation Over Processed Foods
3 minute read
People in the News—Jan. 23, 2025—Marshall Dennehey, Duane Morris, Hangley Aronchick
3 minute read
Plaintiff Argues Jury's $22M Punitive Damages Finding Undermines J&J's Talc Trial Win
4 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Learning From Experience: The Best and Worst of Years Past
- 2Treasury GC Returns to Davis Polk to Co-Chair White-Collar Defense and Investigations Practice
- 3Decision of the Day: JFK to Paris Stowaway's Bail Revocation Explained
- 4Doug Emhoff, Husband of Former VP Harris, Lands at Willkie
- 5LexisNexis Announces Public Availability of Personalized AI Assistant Protégé
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
