Horizon(地平) law firm news

Cooper Grace Ward featured in ALB Magazine's 2007 Brisbane Report on the back of its successful rebrand in 2006.

Tilleke & Gibbins, Thailand’s largest independent law firm, has appointed veteran legal academic Dr Jakkrit Kuanpoth as of counsel to the firm’s intellectual property protection group.

Many law firms have launched offices in Fujian in order to take more market share. The recent establishment of Yingke’s Xiamen office is a case in the point.

自EFCA协议正式生效以来，厦门的法务市场随着两岸经贸往来的密切正日渐兴旺。北京盈科近日在厦门成立了其在福建省的第一家分所。

Regional firm DFDL Mekong has told ALB that it is expecting to convert its representative office license in Singapore to a fully-fledge foreign law practice (FLP) license this month, pending approval from the Ministry of Law. It plans to launch its Singapore office by early January 2011.

The US$1.2bn acquisitional financing of five gas power stations as well as a 54 kilometre gas pipeline for a group of associated companies in Mexico – all subsidiaries of Mitsui & Co and Tokyo Gas – is a sign of a resurgence in the Asia-Pacific project finance market and overseas acquisitions by Japanese utilities and trading companies.

Milbank has poached Mallesons Stephen Jacques partner Dieter Yih (who is also the vice-president of the Law Society of Hong Kong) to capitalise on the IPO listings boom in Hong Kong and benefit from strong deal activity in mainland China.

Less than a month after its formation, SNR Denton International law firm has seen its Muscat head of infrastructure and projects, Mary Allan, lured away by US firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle (Curtis).

Sicangco, Herbert Smith, ACCRA Law and Bakers have acted on the sale of BG Group’s indirectly held 40% stake in the Santa Rita and San Lorenzo natural gas-fired power plants in the Philippines to Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) for a net consideration of US$400m.

Nishimura & Asahi, the largest of Japan’s “Big Four” law firms, has launched its first representative office in Southeast Asia. The new office in Ho Chi Minh will be the firm’s second overseas venture, after its first international office was launched in Beijing only three months ago.

Thai firms Chandler Thong Ek and LS Horizon(地平), Vietnamese firm DFDL and international firms Milbank and Latham & Watkins have advised on a US$2.7bn project financing deal for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic that involved a syndicated, multi-tranched, multi-currency facility from nine Thai banks – in Thailand’s largest ever project financing syndication and Lao’s first thermal power project.

PT Indosat Tbk – one of Indonesia’s largest mobile phone companies – has retained Assegaf Hamzah & Partners and Sidley Austin as the issuer’s Indonesian and lead counsels respectively on the US$650m high yield bond offer.

The continuous intra-Asia deal flow in China have tempted Korean firm Shin & Kim to launch a second China office in Shanghai, four years after its debut in Beijing.

韩国世宗律师事务所近日在上海设立了其第二间中国代表处，从而成为在上海设有代表处的第四家韩国律所。

Korean firm Shin & Kim has opened another office in China four years after its debut in Beijing. In addition, the firm has merged with real estate firm Evergreen Law Group.

The Carrefour decision in Indonesia has attracted criticism from investors, the business community, lawyers and almost everyone in between.

As China is pioneering the way to a low carbon economy, environmental lawyers and climate change practices are the latest “must have” for the country's law firms.

绿色能源已成为当前经济发展的热点。诸多律师事务所不仅在日常运营过程中采取各种各样节能环保措施，同时也逐渐成为推动中国绿色经济发展的一支重要力量。

Favourable economic indicators, booming energy and oil & gas industries, and a strong export sector are the leading lights for lawyers in Vietnam as they look for the country to fulfil its potential

Korean law firm Hwang Mok Park has agreed to merge with boutique litigation practice Hanseung Law Firm.