U.S. firm Covington & Burling (Covington) has added five new hires to boost its China and Silicon Valley corporate teams, which have a special focus on the technology and life sciences sectors.
Effective from Feb. 13, the new additions include three partners — Michelle Edwards, Eva Wang and Scott Anthony, in addition to senior of counsel Carmen Chang, and senior advisor Wei Zhou.
The five lawyers are joining Covington from Palo Alto-headquartered law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, which specialises in technology, life sciences and global growth enterprises.
The hiring spree coincides with Covington’s planned new opening in Shanghai, an addition to its existing Beijing office in China.
"Covington has applied to open an office in Shanghai and these additions would help provide the core of that office when it is approved, hopefully later this year," said Timothy Hester, chair of Covington’s management committee.
Beijing-based Edwards specialises in corporate and securities law. She represents both public and private companies based in China and the U.S. with their cross border transactions.
Wang, another corporate and securities law expert, plans to split her time between Beijing and Shanghai. A native Mandarin speaker, she was formerly the general counsel and vice president of legal affairs at NASDAQ-listed PRC semiconductor company Spreadtrum Communications, which specialised in wireless communications.
"Our clients engaged in international business ventures will benefit immensely from the firm's expertise (in) dealing with policy, regulatory and intellectual property hurdles," said Anthony, a resident of the firm’s Silicon Valley office, who specialises in mergers and acquisitions (M&As), with a range of clients from the clean technology, TMT and life sciences sectors.
Based in Silicon Valley and China, Chang assists public and private technology enterprises and financial institutions with their listings, M&As, and joint ventures in the U.S. and abroad.
Zhou is tasked with expanding the firm’s life sciences offering in Silicon Valley and China. Prior to joining Covington, he was a vice president of intellectual property and advanced technology, and general manager of Affymetrix Inc’s China operation. He is currently the CEO of California-based Centrillion Biosciences Inc. ALB
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