Appointments

Amarchand & Mangaldas has hired Nikhil Narayanan as a corporate partner from White & Case’s London office.

Stephenson Harwood’s Singapore associate firm Virtus Law has kicked off its shipping and offshore finance practice with the hire of partner Colin Jarraw from Duane Morris & Selvam.

Stamford Law has hired two new directors: Corporate funds lawyer Daniel Yong, who was most recently the head of Norton Rose’s investment funds practice in Singapore, and Lim Sin Teck, who joins from White & Case.

Bingham McCutchen has significantly strengthened its investment funds group in Tokyo with the hire of partners Christopher Wells and Tomoko Fuminaga, and five other lawyers from White & Case.

Naresh Mahtani, a founder partner at ATMD Bird & Bird in Singapore and most recently a partner at INCA Law, has moved to Eldan Law.

International law firm Kennedys has promoted insurance specialist Joanie Ko to its partnership in Hong Kong.

Ince & Co has hired Martin David as its Asia energy head from DLA Piper, where David led its Asia projects team.

Hogan Lovells has relocated its new Asia and Middle East regional managing partner, Patrick Sherrington, from London to Hong Kong.

Clyde & Co’s Indian “best friend” Clasis Law has promoted senior associate Mohit Sharma to partnership at its Delhi office.

U.S. law firm Locke Lord has bolstered its fast-growing Asia practice with the hire of corporate expert Michael Fung and dispute resolution specialist Adrian Taylor as partners at the firm’s Hong Kong office.

Sidley Austin has hired M&A partner Gregory Salathé from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Tokyo. After spending a transition period in the Japanese capital, Salathé will move to Singapore, where Sidley recently received a QFLP licence.

Ashurst has promoted corporate lawyer Jonathan Hsui to its partnership in Hong Kong.

Jude P. Benny, managing partner of Singapore law firm Joseph Tan Jude Benny (JTJB), has been appointed by the Myanmar government as a consultant for the drafting and review of the country’s maritime laws and regulations.

Clifford Chance has promoted Matthew Buchanan, Melissa Ng and Jiahua Ni to its partnership in Asia.

French firm Gide Loyrette Nouel (GLN) has appointed Paul-Emmanuel Benachi as a partner at its Shanghai office.

Norton Rose has elected 25 lawyers to its partnership worldwide, including banking and projects specialist Paul Mansouri in Abu Dhabi, dispute resolution specialist Wilson Ang in Singapore, and corporate lawyer Winnie Chan in Hong Kong.

Herbert Smith Freehills has promoted 19 new partners worldwide, of whom three are in Asia, and also relocated a partner from Sydney to Singapore.

Allen & Gledhill has poached five arbitration partners from Big Four rival Rajah & Tann, including the head of the latter firm’s international arbitration group, and also hired the CEO of the SIAC in a move expected to seriously bulk up its disputes ambitions.

King & Spalding has hired international arbitration and construction lawyer Peter Megens as a partner at its Singapore office from King & Wood Mallesons in Melbourne, where Megens was co-head of the firm’s arbitration practice.

Pinsent Masons Mpillay, the Singapore joint law venture of Pinsent Masons, has hired TMT specialist Bryan Tan as partner from boutique law firm Keystone Law Corp.