International law firm Withers has appointed 16 new partners from within its teams and across its business regions with effect from 1st July 2025.
Margaret Robertson, CEO of Withers, comments: ‘I am delighted that we have been able to welcome so many of our talented lawyers around the world into the partnership. In particular, this year sees us reinforcing our partner group in the US, where there are so many exciting growth opportunities for the business. I offer my congratulations to all 16 of our new partners and look forward to seeing them advance their careers at the firm.’
The new partners are based across Asia, the US and the UK as follows:
Singapore
Chantal Matin-Lewis advises on cross-border tax and estate planning for individuals and families based in Asia and with US connections. Chantal is US-qualified and counsels successful individuals looking to move to or from the US, as well as advising entrepreneurs and asset management professionals on estate planning matters.
Tokyo
Kohei Kobayashi is an international tax adviser and licensed tax attorney with over 20 years of experience of advising on complex international taxation matters for international institutional investors and individuals. As well as assisting with tax investigations, Kohei provides tax advice on cross-border investments, real estate matters, restructurings and M&A transactions.
Hong Kong
Gary Leung advises on complex commercial, probate, financial and insolvency litigation. Gary originally practised as a barrister before entering private practice as a solicitor advocate. His focus includes inheritance and succession disputes, domestic/international arbitration and contentious regulatory matters.
Alex Ye is a litigator and arbitrator advising on cross-border arbitrations and disputes involving China and Hong Kong (he is also qualified in England and Wales). His practice also includes investor-state arbitration matters, restructuring and insolvency, regulatory investigations, and contentious probate disputes.
UK
Joshua Swift is a commercial litigator who advises on complex and high-value international and domestic disputes. Joshua assists clients on banking and financial services litigation, professional negligence matters, insolvency/fraud claims and tax litigation disputes.
Emma Cooper-Hedges is a tax and estate planning lawyer advising clients on tax, trust and succession planning, with particular expertise in US/UK estate planning. Her work includes the creation and administration of trusts and estate plans, wills and incapacity documentation, and advice on residence and domicile. Emma also advises clients on charitable and philanthropic projects.
US
Luca Denora, based in New York, advises on a range of matters involving the sale, purchase, leasing, and financing of private and business jets and commercial aircraft. He represents ultra-high net worth individuals and their businesses, as well as airlines, aircraft operators, and leasing companies and is qualified in the US and Italy.
Leslie Evans, based in San Diego, is a family lawyer advising on divorce, custody, support, paternity, and pre-nup and cohabitation agreements. Her cases regularly involve complex financial issues and benefit from Leslie’s experience of addressing the intersection of corporate, tax, and estate concerns.
Jordan Garman, based in New York, is a litigator and arbitrator, advising on contract and warranty disputes, art law, employment litigation, securities litigation, fraud and negligence matters and constitutional law. Jordan also has an active pro bono practice, representing clients before a range of courts.
Kevin Jackson, based in Los Angeles, represents clients on trust and estate disputes in probate court, including will and trust contests, breach of fiduciary duties, disinheritance proceedings, financial elder abuse claims and contested conservatorships and guardianships. Kevin also assists on the creation and administration of trusts, conservatorships and guardianships.
Wonchi Ju, based in New Haven, advises on US and international income and estate tax planning for high-net-worth individuals and their closely held businesses. Her practice includes representing clients on tax investigations, tax consequences of investments and tax planning for immigration and expatriation.
Jessica Kaplan, based in San Francisco, represents clients on lifetime and post-death gifting, wealth transfer planning and estate, gift and generation-skipping tax planning. She also advises clients on all aspects of trust administration and probate matters.
Susanna Kim, based in Los Angeles, is certified as a legal specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law. Susanna assists clients with trust planning, charitable trusts and probate matters as well as advising on property tax issues relating to transfers of real property.
Erika Scheideman, based in Los Angeles, is a Certified Family Law Specialist advising on the full range of divorce and family matters, including pre-and post-nup agreements for ultra-high net worth clients, custody disputes, negotiation of three-parent custody arrangements and international move-away litigation and highly contested cases involving asset and debt division.
Michael Steffany, based in New Haven, provides domestic and international tax planning advice to individuals and closely held businesses. The other main feature of Michael’s practice sees him representing clients on tax controversy and compliance matters as the IRS expands its scrutiny of assets and transactions.
Craig Weinstein, based in Los Angeles, advises on trust and estate litigation, including will and trust contests, breach of fiduciary duties, conservatorship and guardianship matters and financial elder abuse issues. Craig represents beneficiaries, creditors, trustees, executors and other fiduciaries, as well as working on complex business litigation involving contract and commercial disputes.
