Newswatch · Asia
The week's lateral moves, promotions, offices, mergers and pay across Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, sourced and checked.
Lateral movesKirkland rehires Shanghai PE partner after 10 China exitsNelson Ni returns to Kirkland's Shanghai office from Warburg Pincus as the firm re-staffs its private equity bench after ten China partner exits.
OfficesHughes Hubbard drops Beijing plan; Bae, Kim & Lee moves to BeijingHughes Hubbard is giving up a Beijing licence it never used while Bae, Kim & Lee consolidates its China operations in Beijing.
Lateral movesShardul Amarchand hires four Cyril Amarchand corporate partnersShardul Amarchand adds four General Corporate partners and eight lawyers from Cyril Amarchand, its second move from the rival firm in 2026.This week · 12–18 October 2026
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Law.com reports Kirkland rehired a private equity partner in Shanghai from Warburg Pincus. The hire follows a wave of partner departures from Kirkland's Greater China offices. The U.S. firm maintains its position among Asia's leading M&A advisers.
Withers launched an arbitration and litigation practice in Tokyo, adding partner Hiroko Nihei. Nihei joins from Hillford Law, which she co-founded after O'Melveny & Myers closed its Tokyo practice.
SourcePulse 2.0 — Law
Rachana Rautray, a former Partner at JSA Advocates & Solicitors, has launched Chambers of Rachana Rautray, a specialist practice advising the technology and media sector. It is based in Mumbai, with a team working across Bengaluru and Delhi. She will lead it with a team of associates.
SourcesBar & BenchBar & Bench
Shu Du, described as Skadden's sole Beijing partner, is moving to Hong Kong to join Weil, which is launching a capital markets practice. The move follows Weil's recent hire of Kirkland private equity partner Peng Yu. Weil is rebuilding its Asia offering after closing its mainland China offices and losing senior Asia leadership.
SourcesLaw.com — International EditionBluesky — Big Law search
Samarjit G. Pattnaik, formerly a partner at Karanjawala & Co. and Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, has launched Trinetra Legal LLP with Kashish Seth, a former member of his team. The firm focuses on commercial litigation, arbitration, white-collar crime and criminal litigation.
SourceBar & Bench
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas announced that partners Ravindra Bandhakavi, Amarta Roy, Srabanee Ghosh and Poornima Singh have joined its General Corporate Practice from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, along with a team of eight lawyers. Bandhakavi and Singh will be based in Bengaluru, Roy and Ghosh in Delhi.
SourcesBar & BenchBar & BenchLaw.com — International Edition
Pinsent Masons has lost two more South African partners. Its Johannesburg office has lost more than 25% of its legal team in the past year. International firms are grappling with fee pressures and foreign exchange volatility in South Africa.
Per the title, Dentons has taken an energy and infrastructure partner from DLA Piper. The article text states that energy lawyers are in high demand in Australia. The partner's name, office and move date are not given.
CMS INDUSLAW announced Abhishek Sanyal has joined as Partner in its Transactions practice at the Delhi & NCR offices. He was previously a Partner in Corporate and Commercial at Economic Laws Practice (ELP) and has worked with Khaitan & Co. He has nearly two decades of experience.
SourceBar & Bench
John Shum, a banking partner, is leaving Mallesons for NRF. His exit adds to a string of senior departures from Mallesons' only international office, in Singapore. Mallesons says it has no plans to leave Singapore.
Chapman Tripp announced the promotion of Bridget Cameron (commercial property), Jayne O’Connell (banking and finance, restructuring and insolvency), Nichola Hiatt (Corporate & Commercial) and Sophie Harker (competition) to Special Counsel. Promotions are effective from 19 October 2026.
SourceLawFuel
Hughes Hubbard received Chinese regulatory approval to establish a Beijing office in 2023 but never proceeded with the opening. Bae, Kim & Lee (BKL) is relocating its Shanghai operations to Beijing.
Paul Weiss and Clifford Chance are due to receive a total of up to £57.1m in legal fees for advising on Apollo Management's takeover of easyJet. The deal was announced in the summer. Apollo bid after easyJet had agreed a deal with Castlelake.
SourceLegal Business
Adani Power established a joint venture with Druk Green Power for the 770 MW Chamkharchhu-I Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan on a BOOT model. Adani Power holds 49% and Druk Green 51%. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advised Adani Power, led by partner Surya Sreenivasan.
SourceBar & Bench
Peak XV Partners and Sequoia Capital made a secondary sale of 13,333,333 equity shares, approx. $62.31 million, in Honasa Consumer Limited on the BSE and the NSE. TT&A and Hogan Lovells Cadwalader advised the broker.
SourceBar & Bench
ArMee Infotech Limited raised ₹300 crore through an initial public offering comprising a fresh issue of 8,000,000 equity shares. Luthra and Luthra advised.
SourceBar & Bench
Freshfields leaders are considering opening the firm's AI unit to external investment, discussing carve-out options into a separate legal entity they believe could be worth 'billions', according to a Financial Times report. The discussions were revealed by a leaked internal email exchange involving global managing partner Alan Mason.
SourceLegal Business
Hong Kong's SFC restricted $600M in assets in a probe involving three Chinese companies' IPOs. Davis Polk, Clifford Chance, Hogan Lovells and King & Wood Mallesons were among the law firms that advised on the three IPOs now under regulatory scrutiny.
Inox Clean Energy Limited has filed a draft red herring prospectus for an IPO of up to ₹10,000 crore (₹8,000 crore fresh issue, ₹2,000 crore offer for sale). Khaitan & Co advises the company and promoter selling shareholder Devansh Jain, with partners Madhur Kohli and Vijayaraghavan. Trilegal represents the book running lead managers, led by partner Richa Choudhary.
SourceBar & Bench
Inox Green Energy Services Limited has made a qualified institutions placement of equity shares aggregating to ₹300 crore. The headline names Khaitan & Co, Dentons Link Legal and Hogan Lovells Cadwalader as acting on the transaction.
SourceBar & Bench
Stratage Law Partners is looking to hire an Associate for Investment Funds in Mumbai. Candidates with 3-4 years PQE are encouraged to apply.
SourceBar & Bench
Simmons & Simmons has launched an AI adoption framework called the Legal AI Maturity Mountain. The text invites readers to find their place on it and see where to go next with the firm.
Simmons, Cooley and Slaughter and May lead nominations in the Leadership in Law Awards shortlist. The awards ceremony takes place on December 3 and celebrates the best legal talent shaping the future of law.
Allens, Ashurst Perkins Coie, Baker McKenzie, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Gilbert + Tobin, HWLE Lawyers, Mallesons and Nicholas O'Donohue & Co. announced deal roles in Australia. Deals include Lynas's proposed all-scrip acquisition of Meteoric Resources (about $968m), Heidi's US$340m funding, a US$356m SharonAI debt facility and Sunrise Energy Metals' redomiciliation to the US.
SourceAustralasian Lawyer
Freshfields advised Asieris Pharmaceuticals on its conditional exclusive license agreement with Theramex for CEVIRA® (APL-1702). Theramex gets commercialisation rights in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Aggregate deal value exceeds US$250 million.
SourceFreshfields — news
Macnica, Inc. has acquired Elektronika Sales Private Limited. Trilegal advised Macnica.
SourceBar & Bench
Tata Capital Limited sanctioned a ₹540 crore secured rupee term loan facility to Jayaswal Neco Industries Limited. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advised.
SourceBar & Bench
A column by the Global Lawyer says pressure to make big, often risky hires, alongside pressure to invest, is more intense than ever. It says this leads firms to avoid significant questions over long-term health, and that PE investment is unlikely to resolve this.
JSA advised United Spirits on its investment in Nuvola Spirits. United Spirits subscribed to 17,350 compulsorily convertible preference shares and 10 equity shares of Nuvola for an aggregate consideration of ₹2.69 crore.
SourceBar & Bench
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Managing Partner Cyril Shroff spoke in Mumbai on October 9 at the Legal League Consulting conclave. He outlined six themes reshaping the legal landscape: geolegal risks, regulatory agility, loss of legal privilege, AI, internationalisation and the role of corporate lawyers. He advocated value-based pricing over hourly billing.
SourceBar & Bench
Confirmed items are announced by the firm or reported as fact by the cited outlets. Unconfirmed items are reports the firms have not confirmed. Every item links to its sources; we add nothing the sources do not say.
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