SJ Berwin set for Asia launch with ex-Dewey pair
Author: Anthony Lin in Hong Kong and Sofia Lind
23 Mar 2009 | 11:49
Daniel Liew has been designated Asia managing partner for SJ Berwin, which is presently awaiting permission to operate as a foreign law firm in Hong Kong, where it intends to practice fund formation, private equity, infrastructure, corporate M&A, litigation and real estate law.
Liew, who previously launched Dewey's Hong Kong office when he joined the firm in 2007, has a general corporate practice covering private equity, M&A, project finance and capital markets. Prior to joining Dewey, Liew was a partner at Simmons & Simmons' Hong Kong branch.
He will be joined by ex-Dewey counsel Peter Tse, who is also joining as a partner, as well SJ Berwin's German head of real estate Hans Thomas Kessler, who joined from German independent Beiten Burkhardt in September. Kessler will remain as head of German real estate, dividing his time between Germany and Hong Kong.
SJ Berwin senior partner Jonathan Blake told Legal Week: "We have felt for some time that it is a market to be in and we waited for the right opportunity. There are a number of business areas that we want to develop in Hong Kong and it was about getting the plan together and having the right people.
"We feel that Hong Kong is an important base for the whole of China and the East Asian region and we see that as a huge growing market where our core areas will be very important."
The Asia opening will be seen as strategically important for SJ Berwin, which until now has focused its international expansion on continental Europe, where the 750-lawyer firm has eight offices.
Blake said SJ Berwin had no hesitations about going ahead with the launch despite the financial downturn.
He added: "We did not consider putting it off due to the financial crisis. It was something we had been thinking about, so when we saw the opportunity we went for it."
Dewey's Hong Kong office is now headed by London partner William Marcoux. Partner Paul Chen, who relocated from New York at the beginning of last year, is now administrative partner.
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COMMENTS (TOTAL 2 COMMENTS)
The SJB funds practice has taken a real hammering in the past two years. The HK strategy is clearly aimed at making up ground overseas since the UK battle has been lost to encroaching US firms and Clifford Chance.
SJBer -23 Mar 2009 | 11:03
Another reason why SJB. Setting up an overseas office and incurring the costs that come with it at a time when virtually all firms irrespective of practice focus are making redundancies? Come on! SJ Berwin?
Investment Banker -24 Mar 2009 | 07:30
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