May has seen the most anticipated merger in legal history with the newly formed A&O Shearman launching on 1^st May. The run up to the merger has dominated the legal news for months and am sure will continue to do so over the next year (at least) as other firms will be eager to see whether it is a success.  This was closely followed by the news of the Mayer Brown “Divorce” in Greater China. Mayer Brown issued a statement confirming the split, saying there has been “an agreement in principle” for the Hong Kong partnership “to separate from the international practices of Mayer Brown, reverting to its legacy name, Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM). It added that the U.S. firm would “continue to operate in Hong Kong through a new partnership, focusing on areas of practice aligned with the firm’s strategy internationally and in Asia”  and “JSM will focus on its unique position as a home-grown full-service law firm in Hong Kong.” Whilst it is understood that the split will happen by the end of the year, subject to Law Society approval, it appears there is still a lot up in the air and there will be a transitional period into 2025.

May also saw a number of partner moves in Hong Kong across a variety of practice areas including both Loeb & Loeb and Robertsons hiring in the corporate finance/capital markets space indicating growing confidence that the IPO market will turn a corner later this year. Simmons & Simmons has also made its second hire this year from in-house with the hire of Richard Cheng Li from I-Map Biopharma where he was Chief Legal Counsel for 3 years. The trend of senior partners moving in-house also continues with Tim Gardner joining PAG after over 9 years as Partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges.

Singapore was quieter this month in relation to partner hiring however overall there are signs that deal flow in particular is starting to pick up across South East Asia. International law firm, Trowers & Hamlins,  appointed leading projects specialist Ignatius Hwang to its new Singapore office, where he will help spearhead the firm's focus on the Asian energy and infrastructure sector. Ignatius brings with him more than 30 years’ experience advising on energy, infrastructure and resources projects in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Linklaters also announced the hire of Sayak Maity as a partner in the firm’s corporate practice based in Singapore. Sayak joins from White & Case where he was a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity practice group. Prior to that, was a partner with AZB & Partners in Mumbai, India. India is a critical jurisdiction for the firm and they are anticipating further growth as deal making activity in the region shows signs of picking up.