Camerons, Latham and Shearman head up spate of law firm investment in China

Asia push continues as Latham and Shearman boost China teams

China is seeing a fresh influx of law firm investment with CMS Cameron McKenna, Latham & Watkins and Shearman & Sterling all strengthening their presence in the market.

Camerons is set to target Shanghai and Beijing this year, with the firm planning to launch a combined office in China with its French and German CMS alliance firms.

As part of the plans, Camerons has hired Eversheds' former China business group head, Andrew Halper, as a partner in London, while Moscow-based real estate partner Steven Shone has relocated to China to spearhead the initiative.

The initiative will see Camerons form an integrated practice with CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre and CMS Hasche Sigle in Shanghai through seconding increasing numbers of lawyers to its allies rather than applying for its own licence. The firm is also recruiting lawyers for a Beijing launch, where it already has a licence to practise but no lawyers on the ground.

The three CMS firms will not merge financially in China as they did in Moscow last year due to licensing difficulties.

Shone said: "We will keep our existing licences in China for the foreseeable future. Clients don't care how we organise ourselves, as long as we can deliver quality, specialised service in their sectors. We are building up our businesses in China to be part of a key market for the future."

The initiative comes as part of a three-year plan adopted by Camerons in December, which will also see the firm exploring new CMS alliances in other emerging markets such as Brazil and India.

Camerons' news came as US giant Latham & Watkins announced it is in the process of launching in Beijing, although it has yet to name the lawyers to be based in the office.

Meanwhile, US rival Shearman added local law capacity to its Hong Kong office last week, with a two-partner hire from O'Melveny & Myers. O'Melveny's Hong Kong corporate head, Colin Law, and corporate partner Peter Chen will set up a local law firm, to be incorporated into Shearman's Hong Kong office. Law will also co-head the Hong Kong office with Shearman's Asia managing partner, Matthew Bersani.

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