UK-headquartered Bird & Bird has announced plans to launch a Tokyo office to be led by newly hired corporate partner Hiro Iwamura. Iwamura joins from Ashurst, where he headed the firm’s UK/European-Japanese practice.

Bird & Bird has recruited capital markets expert David Cheng as a partner in Hong Kong from Winston & Strawn, which recently shuttered its Hong Kong office.

Disputes expert Jonathan Choo, who was most recently a partner at Bird & Bird, has left to launch his own practice in Singapore.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began shuttering offices, more people have been going online in search of legal solutions. This has drastically increased the importance of firms’ digital shopfront – the website – as it is their best shot to make an impactful first impression on potential clients. Leaders and business development specialists talk about how they are pulling out all the stops to outshine their competitors even before any legal work is involved.

Technology lawyer Wilfred Ng has returned to Bird & Bird as a partner in Hong Kong following a three-year stint at Chinese conglomerate Tencent, where he was a senior legal counsel in the international privacy and data protection department. 

Bird & Bird has hired aviation expert Niel Liebenberg as a partner in Singapore. Liebenberg’s most recent role was as general counsel at China Aircraft Leasing Group (CALC) in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Withers has boosted its litigation and international arbitration practice in Hong Kong with the hire of two lawyers from Bird & Bird, including partner Michael Chik.

Bird & Bird has hired Lijun Chui as a partner in its dispute resolution practice in Singapore from Clifford Chance, where she spearheaded that firm’s local technology disputes and regulatory practice.

Hong Kong firm Oldham, Li & Nie Lawyers (OLN) has hired Simon WH Wong as a partner in its corporate and commercial practice from Bird & Bird, where he was a counsel.

RPC Premier Law, RPC’s joint law venture in Singapore, has strengthened hired partners Boey Swee Siang, Navin Joseph Lobo and Lin Yuankai from Bird & Bird ATMD.