U.S. law firm Cooley is set to become a rare new American firm to open in Hong Kong after hiring corporate specialist Will Cai as a partner from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Once its application to set up as a registered foreign law firm is approved, Cooley will enter into an association with Cai, Lee & Partners, a local Hong Kong solicitor’s firm recently formed by Cai and Cooley partner Pang Lee, who is also qualified in Hong Kong.
Cooley’s arrival comes during a period when some U.S. firms have been in retreat from Hong Kong and the broader Greater China region. Early last year, Troutman Sanders which announced it was shutting shop in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. It followed on the heels of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, all of which substantially withdrew from the region in the past few years.
Cai’s practice focuses on capital markets, mergers & acquisitions, private equity, technology transactions and life sciences. He has worked on more than 40 completed IPOs in the U.S. and Hong Kong capital markets since 2008. At Cooley, he will head the Asia capital markets practice.
Cooley, which specialises in technology and life sciences IPOs, also advises on global capital markets transactions for non-U.S. issuers. The firm launched its Shanghai office in 2011 and expanded into Bejing last year.
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