Simmons & Simmons has been hit with the loss of its two
Tokyo partners to top 10 City rival Lovells.
Corporate partner and office chief Rika Beppu, who has been with Simmons in Tokyo for 14 years, will become co-managing partner of Lovells in Tokyo alongside current head Lloyd Parker.
Fellow partner Philip Hyde advises investment banks on debt capital markets transactions, structured securities issues, derivatives and securitisation work. Hyde, who has been based in Tokyo since 1997 and joined Simmons in 2003 from Clifford Chance, will head up Lovells’ local finance team.
The duo’s departure date is still being negotiated, with Simmons set to relocate City-based corporate partner Jason Daniel to Tokyo to plug the gap.
Commenting on the hires, Lovells Asia regional managing partner Crispin Rapinet told Legal Week: “We are seeing a lot of investment going into China, southeast Asia and the Middle East at the moment – areas where the Japanese have a lot of involvement. We are seeing more activity from them across the network, which is why shoring up Tokyo and [offering] a full-service practice to our Japanese clients is important.”
The news comes after Lovells earlier this year hired an eight-strong team of bengoshi from local boutique Kubota Law & Patent Office, marking the firm’s debut in Japanese law.
That came after the firm opted to retain its Tokyo branch following a year-long review, with the team picking up a number of high-profile instructions from clients including Mitsubishi and Softbank.
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