US firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius has added nine partners in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai to extend its reach in Greater China.
Led by Edwin Luk and Maurice Hoo, a team of seven more partners—namely Ning Zhang, June Chan, Keith Cheung, Connie Cheung, Louise Liu, Billy Wong, and Mathew Lewis—join the firm from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Speaking with IFLR1000, Orrick’s former M&A and private equity co-head Hoo said: “Morgan Lewis has a client-focused way of looking at matters. To serve clients well it should be where the clients are, and building up in Asia is part of a platform that also exists in Europe and the Middle East. It’s not easy to bring in a cohesive team, but now we’ve hit the ground running with existing clients under one platform.”
All nine partners have worked together for many years, acting for multinational and Chinese clients across a host of industries, especially technology. The new team will be focused on public, private and China outbound M&A, capital markets, private equity, and other financial and corporate matters.
To go alongside its representative office in Beijing and branch office of Morgan Lewis consulting in Shanghai, the firm will file an application to become a registered foreign firm in Hong Kong in association with Luk & Partners.