美国McDermott Will & Emery律师事务所近日迎来吕晓飞律师加盟其伦敦办公室，并任命吕律师为其全球中国业务负责人，以进一步扩大中国与欧洲市场业务往来的法律服务。加入McDermott前，吕律师曾以合伙人身份，在贝克·麦坚时律师事务所伦敦办公室工作。
吕律师拥有14年的执业经验，他的专业领域为公司事务，包括并购、合资企业、董事职责、重组以及战略诉讼等。
据悉，McDermott在2019年宣布关闭韩国办公室；2020年结束了与中国元达律师事务所长达13年的合作关系；2021年，McDermott则在新加坡设立了办公室，成为该所目前在亚洲地区的唯一一家办事处。
值此机会，ALB与吕晓飞律师展开了独家对话。
ALB：McDermott的中国业务团队有多少名合伙人/律师？
吕晓飞律师：对McDermott来说，中国业务是一项新业务，我团队将构成该业务的核心。目前，我们团队共包括1名合伙人（我本人）、顾问Tina Hartwright、王室法律顾问Philip Hackett KC、律师Ennio Keyte、公司业务专家Alonso de Reyes Lanfranco，以及与我一起加入McDermott的律师助理Ziye Ke。然而，我认为McDermott的每一位成员与我都是一个团队，我期待着与他们合作，建立一个顶级的中国业务团队。
作为McDermott中国业务的全球负责人，我的角色将是巩固和拓展我们为亚洲投资者提供的服务，并将McDermott的专业能力整合起来，为我们的亚洲客户以及在亚洲做生意的其他客户提供全面的法律服务。
ALB：您重点关注哪些业务领域及客户？
吕晓飞律师：我专注于为中国客户提供跨境并购、合资企业、董事职责、治理事务、复杂重组、纠纷、危机管理等方面的咨询。我的客户包含私营企业、国有企业等，其中也包括很多财富500强企业，例如诺华、中国银行、中国航空工业集团、中国电信和中国工商银行等。就行业领域来说，我服务的客户横跨了医疗保健、金融、媒体、基础设施、消费、能源、运输等多个行业。
ALB：您加入后，McDermott将如何加强在中欧交易市场的法律业务？
吕晓飞律师：中国目前是欧盟最大的贸易伙伴，中国投资者针对欧盟的投资依旧强劲。有了中国业务团队后，McDermott将能够更好地为中国客户在欧洲的投资提供服优质法律服务。 客户将能够利用McDermott广泛的国际网络推进他们的业务，同时在国际交易和大型国际诉讼方面，也能够更好地利用McDermott的跨境服务能力。
McDermott appoints China head, eyeing to expand Sino-European practice
Chicago-headquartered law firm McDermott Will & Emery has recently hired and appointed Peter Lu as its new global head of China practice. Lu will be practicing from the firm’s London office. Prior to joining McDermott, Lu worked as a partner at Baker McKenzie.
Lu has more than 14 years of legal experiences, specializing in corporate matters including M&A, joint ventures and directors’ duties, complex restructurings and strategic litigation.
McDermott closed its Seoul office in 2019; In the next year, the firm ended its 13-year partnership with Yuanda China Law Firm; After that, McDermott opened a new office in Singapore in 2021, which currently is the firm’s sole office in Asia.
ALB speaks to Peter Lu in terms of this new appointment.
ALB: How many partners/associates do you have for the China practice?
Peter Lu: As this is a new practice, my team will form the core and this currently consists of one partner (myself), Counsel Tina Hartwright, King’s Counsel Philip Hackett KC, associate Ennio Keyte, corporate transactions specialist Alonso de Reyes Lanfranco and paralegal Ziye Ke who joined McDermott with me. However, I consider every member of the McDermott family is in my team, and I look forward to working them to build a top-tier China Practice.
My role as Global Head of McDermott’s China Practice will be to be consolidate and build out our offering for Asian investors and pull together our capabilities from across the firm to form a comprehensive offering for our Asian clients and clients doing business in Asia.
ALB: What practice areas/type of clients will your team focus on?
Peter Lu: I focus on advising Chinese clients on cross-border M&A, joint ventures, directors’ duties, governance matters, complex restructurings, disputes, crisis management and more. My clients are private, public and state-owned enterprises, and they span a number of industries, including healthcare, financial services, media, infrastructure, consumer, energy, transportation and professional services. They include Fortune 500 companies such as Novartis, Bank of China, Aviation Industry Corporation of China, China Telecom and ICBC.
ALB: with you and your team on board, how will McDermott strengthen its advantages in the Sino-European deal market?
Peter Lu: China is currently the EU’s largest trading partner, and outbound investment from Chinese investors into the EU remains robust. With a dedicated China Practice, McDermott will be better-positioned to service China-based clients in their European investments. They’ll be able to tap into the Firm’s wide international network and advance their business while drawing on McDermott’s extensive cross-border capabilities, particularly in transactions and large scale international litigation matters.
