International commercial law firm Hill Dickinson is celebrating rapid growth across South East Asia through the addition of 13 new hires into its Hong Kong and Singapore offices. The appointments strengthen the firm’s maritime, commercial disputes and transactional offering.
The Hong Kong office welcomes 10 lateral hires from Ince & Co, including asset finance partners Janice Lee and Gary Wong. Veteran asset finance and corporate lawyer David Beaves joins the office as a consultant. Their collective connections and profile will enable the firm to attract more disputes work, including in the commodities and commercial arbitration space.
Other new members of the team include Lorraine Mok and Tonny Lee as senior associates, and Rachelle Lau and Lillian Lo as associates. Jason Chan joins as paralegal, with Queenie Yuen and Brenda Yuen expanding the secretarial team.
In Singapore, Gerald Yee joins as partner, bringing a broad range of maritime disputes and transactional experience. He also has a successful China practice having previously spent seven years practising in Shanghai.
The Singapore office also welcomes Donal Keaney as senior marine manager. Keaney previously worked in Hill Dickinson’s London office from 2016 to 2019 and rejoins the firm after four years at another international law firm in London. As a master mariner, he will further bolster the office’s marine expertise, also adding to the eight-strong global master mariner team at the firm. Shanen Nanoo joins the new hires as associate.
The appointments see Hill Dickinson expand its suite of services for clients based across APAC and come as part of its wider growth strategy in the region, which includes recent promotions across its Singapore office.
Tony Goldsmith, head of Marine Services Group, said: “The latest hires into our Hong Kong and Singapore teams add considerable bench strength to the marine and shipping expertise we already offer to clients across Asia Pacific as well as broadening our range of legal services. The calibre of talent we’re acquiring through these new appointments is testament to what the business is building across the region, and I look forward to working closely with the team to drive this growth.”
Damien Laracy, head of Hong Kong office, said: “I am thrilled to welcome 10 new colleagues to the Hong Kong office. The enhanced capabilities that they bring will allow us to leverage our existing contentious strengths, including international arbitration and insolvency, to assist our clients, ultimately strengthening our China practice.”
Andrew Lee, head of Singapore office, said: “This marks an exciting moment for our office as we broaden the range of services we bring to our clients across the region. It also gives us capacity to collaborate more closely with our colleagues in Hong Kong on transactional matters, which will undoubtedly benefit our clients.”
