Clyde & Co’s construction practice seems to be growing as fast as some of the new skyscrapers appearing on city skylines around the region and the firm’s latest move – hiring ex-Minter Ellison partner Ian Cocking for its Hong Kong office – is in preparation for the launch of a China construction practice, due Jan 2011.
According to Clyde’s Asia managing director Michael Parker, the success of the firm’s 2009 merger with UK construction boutique Shadbolts has reinforced the firm’s focus in the construction sphere. “From July 2009 to Jan this year, we were going through the merger with Shadbolts in the UK. So when I moved [to Hong Kong], I was very keen to replicate the success of what we’ve achieved in Europe and the Middle East in Asia,” Parker told ALB in an interview. “We certainly see growth in the Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai markets in the very short term.”
Cocking’s appointment follows hot on the heels of construction disputes lateral, Steven Lim, who headed Baker Bott’s Hong Kong arbitration practice prior to joining Clyde’s Singapore practice in October this year.
In addition to Cocking and Lim, arbitration specialist Ganesh Chandru – who also pioneered the SIAC’s initiatives in India and coordinated the set up of the Construction Industry Arbitration Association – left Singapore Big Four firm Rajah & Tann at the end of November to join Clyde & Co in Singapore.
“The firm’s merger with Shadbolt (a boutique construction practice based in the UK) has made building its construction practice a top global priority for Clyde,” Lim told ALB in an interview. “Ian’s hire was a strategic hire to grow that. He is what’s probably called a true-blue in construction law – handling both front-end (construction contracts) and back-end (disputes) work.”
Cocking’s principal area of practice includes project documentation and commercial contracts for major construction projects, and dispute management and resolution. He is a former member of the Construction Industry Council Procurement Committee, a former chairman of the Society of Construction Law Hong Kong, and an accredited mediator with the HKIAC.
“The HK and China market might not be so familiar with Clyde’s name but the firm has done phenomenally well in the Middle East and ranks amongst the top if not as the top practice there. The Shadbolts merger in the UK has given the firm a very strong presence in the construction space, so coming here is the obvious link left to be made in the strategy. It is clearly something that has gone well for Clyde’s and we are hoping that with Steven and I joining, we are going to continue the trend,” Cocking said.
In commenting on the Hong Kong market, Cocking said the construction market in Hong Kong is well established and that will be the challenge going ahead. According to him, the main competition comes from Pinsent Masons and Mallesons. In the mainland, he named firms such as Jones Day and Baker & McKenzie as having strong construction practices.ALB
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