Global’s new partner Lin Huawei and David Fu are the latest in a long line of lawyers leaving international firms to join local firms. Both lawyers have left Paul Hastings and Shearman & Sterling respectively to better serve local clients from a domestic platform.
Lin will focus on M&A, PE, real estate and FDI matters, and explained that his choice was also due to a preference for charging more reasonable fees. Fu will focus on M&A, foreign enterprise restructuring, FDI and offshore capital markets.
“I think after all, being a local lawyer I serve local clients best. Global provides me with a much more flexible working environment for what I do best,” said Lin, who left his partnership at Paul Hastings to join Global as a partner in Shanghai. “Clients are more aware of the rate of legal fees these days. Domestic and international firms charge very different rates, and given that, local firms are becoming the ‘go to’ firms, especially when they are becoming increasingly capable of providing international expertise,” he added.
Global has been expanding its partnership structure with new talent since 2008. Over the past two years, the Shanghai office has grown by five new partners – the others were George Wang (Fried, Frank) Alan Zhou and Jane Ying (AllBright), and Gu Weiwei (King & Wood). All came from prominent international firms in China. “To recruit new partners, we do not use headhunters and only target the lawyers we know well, either through working or recommendations by other partners,” said Liu Jinrong, managing partner of Global.
Global is not alone in tempting local lawyers to return to domestic firms. Last year Jincheng, Tongda & Neal recruited Jeff Cai, Salan’s former head of China real estate practice. Shanghai Jade & Fountain also successfully lured Song Liwei (from Gide) and Jeffery Yang, who has worked with Freshfields and Herbert Smith. Han Kun hired former Clifford Chance lawyers Cao Yinshi and Hwang Leikang, along with Wang Jinliang from Baker & McKenzie and Wang Zhe from Gide, last June.
Along with the recent recruitment of Lin and Fu, Xu Minghao has also joined Global’s partnership from Zhong Lun, where he was team leader for real estate and construction.
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