Less than one year after the opening of its Hong Kong office, New York powerhouse Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP has launched its second office in Greater China - and Asia for that matter - in Shanghai.

Heading the new office will be long-term Shanghai resident Michael Hickman, who was a member of the infamous five-strong group of senior partners who left the China practice of UK firm Simmons & Simmons at the end of September last year to launch Fried Frank's Hong Kong office.

Describing his team as "able to build bridges across linguistic, regulatory and cultural divides", Hickman said: "Shanghai has become a major commercial and financial centre [and] many of our local lawyers have participated in the explosive growth of cross-border capital raising activities in China."

Fried Frank chairperson Valerie Ford Jacob added: "With many of our clients pursuing aggressive growth plans in the region, matched by the strong growth prospects of Chinese companies, it was natural for us to open a Shanghai office."

Fried Frank opened its Hong Kong office in December 2006 by hiring a Simmons team led by managing partner Huen Wong and including partners Phil Nunn, Stephen Mok and Raymond Kwok in Hong Kong as well as Hickman in Shanghai.

The firm's Asian deals since then have included advising: Merrill Lynch on the IPO of Vinda International; CapitaLand on its JV with eSun Holdings in connection with the acquisition of a stake in a residential development project in Macau; and the issuer on the IPO of New World Department Store China.

With its head office in New York, Fried Frank also houses offices in Washington DC, London, Paris and Frankfurt.