Freehills has appointed Geoffrey Grice as a partner in its Singapore office.
Grice joins the firm from the State Solicitor's office of Western Australia where he was deputy state solicitor. The widely-travelled Grice has more than 20 years experience in the projects and energy sectors. He has also held positions at US firms White & Case and Latham & Watkins and as the director of business development and legal affairs for Cable & Wireless where he worked on Japan's first-ever hostile takeover.
The firm's chief executive and managing partner, Gavin Bell, noted it was rare for his firm to appoint a lateral hire at this level, but suggested that the potential for growth in Grice's areas of expertise were too good to pass up. "We see a lot of opportunities through the Asian market," said Bell. "This includes advising on major cross boarder transactions into and out of Australia, but also major Asian infrastructure and mining projects."
"Geoffrey will be working from our Singapore office which is the hub for our activities in South East Asia, India and the Middle East and his appointment is an important step to developing and servicing these markets further," added Bell.
Grice's appointment brings the number of partners in Freehills' Singapore office to three. John Dick, the firm's South East Asia managing partner and Simon Taskunas are the firm's other partners in the Lion city.
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