As part of its plans to strengthen its M&A and PE practices and open a Beijing office, Jade & Fountain has hired two additional partners, Lawrence Guo and William Lu, from Broad & Bright and Allen & Overy respectively.
Guo, who specialises in M&A, FDI, PE/VC, securities and corporate work, will play a key role in the firm’s expansion into Beijing. He practised in O'Melveny & Myers and Freshfields for a decade before joining Broad & Bright as a partner two years ago.
Lu, on the other hand, previously served as a senior lawyer at Allen & Overy. He has more than 10 years of experience representing clients for corporate, commercial and M&A transactions and PE &VC investments, with a focus on TMT work.
Guo said part of his reason for joining Jade & Fountain was the firm’s strategy to serve as an incubator to talented young lawyers for them to grow into independent and successful practitioners. “I am very interested in playing an important role in growing our team and practice areas, especially in the Beijing office that is set to launch in July,” he said.
The firm has already set up a preliminary operation in Beijing and Guo has been appointed as resident partner-in-charge.
Lawyers moving from international to domestic firms has been a striking trend over the past six months. Lu’s move to Jade & Fountain is the latest manifestation. “Aside from traditional FDI and cross-border work, a domestic firm offers the opportunity for developing a potentially fast-growing China client base. Often, a lot of Chinese clients following ‘going abroad’ strategies will now first approach a domestic firm. This will also offer greater opportunities for domestic firms,” said Lu.
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