Asia

U.S. Firm Sees China as an Escape from Economic Slowdown

As the effects of the economic downtown ripple throughout the rest of the world, global law firm Nixon Peabody is hopeful that the continued investment of U.S. private equity in China, as well as Chinese companies investing in the U.S., will pay off for the firm and its clients. The…

Jan 20, 2009 9:34 PM CST

New Clifford Chance ‘Best Friend’: AZB, Top Indian Firm

Driving a significant wedge into an Indian legal market that is locked up by local attorneys, one of the world’s biggest law firms has just announced an alliance with a major law firm there. “Under the ‘best friends’ alliance—reminiscent of Slaughter and May’s informal ties with several of Europe’s leading…

Jan 14, 2009 5:25 PM CST

Client Reportedly Scams $1M from Philippine Law Firm

A law firm that bills itself as the biggest in the Philippines reportedly has been scammed by a client. “Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, one of the leading local law firms, was duped by a foreign client into advancing P50 million for a deal that would supposedly bring around P100…

Jan 5, 2009 8:45 PM CST

Singapore Welcomes Foreign Lawyers, Grants 6 Law Firm Licenses

Catching up to other Asian markets that have invited foreign lawyers to practice locally, Singapore is opening its doors to the legal profession by issuing licenses to practice to six Western law firms. In the past, law firms could only advise clients on Singapore law via joint ventures. But the…

Dec 5, 2008 2:50 PM CST

Thai Court Orders Ouster of Prime Minister Due to Vote Fraud

Thailand’s Constitutional Court has ordered the ouster of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat because of electoral fraud in voting last December. The ruling comes amid protests over voting irregularities that had shut down the country’s airports, the Washington Post reports. The court dissolved Thailand’s top three political parties, including Somchai’s party,…

Dec 2, 2008 11:42 AM CST

Outsourcing Firms Hiring as More Complex Legal Work Goes to India

Three years ago when Ankita Mullick joined the legal outsourcer Pangea3 from a Mumbai firm, she mostly spent time doing research on U.S. laws involving drug labeling. But this year, Mullick and her colleagues are working for banks on auction-rate securities. The Wall Street Journal reports in a careers section…

Nov 26, 2008 6:26 PM CST

Middle East Legal Recruiters Inundated with Résumés from U.S. Lawyers

Legal résumés are pouring into recruiters’ offices from lawyers looking for work in the Middle East and Asia as law firms continue their expansion there. One legal recruiter in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, told the New York Times he has gotten so many applications from top-quality New York lawyers that…

Nov 24, 2008 1:05 PM CST

Winston Opens in Asia, Expands in D.C. With Heller Lawyers

Chicago-based Winston & Strawn is planning to expand its practice significantly, with the help of attorneys from the dissolving Heller Ehrman law firm. “Pending local regulatory approval in mainland China and Hong Kong, Winton & Strawn plans to open offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, with several partners, associates…

Nov 7, 2008 4:51 PM CST

2nd Circuit OKs Suit Over Alleged Union Carbide Water Pollution in Bhopal, India

Nearly 25 years after a catastrophic accident in Bhopal, India, killed thousands of people, a federal appeals court in the U.S. has reinstated a 2004 lawsuit concerning those allegedly exposed to toxic drinking water and contaminated soil after the 1984 gas leak at a Union Carbide Corp. pesticide plant there.…

Nov 4, 2008 8:00 PM CST

BigLaw Seeks ‘Globally Minded’ Attorneys

When Natasha Hsieh sought a summer associate position at DLA Piper, she found that her experience growing up in Taiwan, as well as California, was a big advantage for her in applying to the major international law firm. “They specifically were looking for people willing to go abroad, especially Asia,…

Oct 28, 2008 6:55 PM CDT

Courts in China Reluctant to Hear Tainted Baby Formula Cases

Three courts in China have so far refused to hear lawsuits filed against the maker of tainted infant formula. Although some lawyers and judges are working hard to establish the power of courts in China, companies that make shoddy goods rarely are held liable there, the New York Times reports.…

Oct 17, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

Latham Stuns Magic Circle’s A&O With 7-Partner Hong Kong Raid

Latham & Watkins has raided one of London’s biggest and best-known law firms, luring seven partners away from the Hong Kong office of Allen & Overy. Their move to the Los Angeles-based international firm “represents one of the most significant departures ever seen from the foreign network of a magic…

Oct 13, 2008 10:19 PM CDT

More Thelen Lawyers Decamp to Pillsbury

After picking up all of the approximately 20 lawyers in Thelen’s China office late last month, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has signed on a partner and counsel in Washington, D.C. from the San Francisco-based firm’s construction litigation and international dispute practices. Michael Jaffe, formerly chairman of the international arbitration and…

Oct 3, 2008 12:09 PM CDT

Thelen’s Entire 20-Lawyer China Office Defects to Pillsbury Winthrop

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has reportedly raided Thelen’s office in China of all 20 or so of its lawyers. The group, which includes partners Lou Bevilacqua, Tom Shoesmith, Joe Tiano and Meg Utterback, is being split between Pillsbury offices in Shanghai, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., reports a Pillsbury press…

Sep 29, 2008 6:26 PM CDT

Japanese Businessman Faces US Trial in Alleged Conspiracy to Murder Wife

A Japanese businessman who is fighting a court battle on two fronts to avoid being tried on charges related to the 1981 murder of his wife has seemingly lost another round. Although Kazuyoshi Miura “was cleared of his wife’s killing by a court in Japan in 1998 following a marathon…

Sep 29, 2008 4:53 PM CDT