Bob Charlton, the Asia head and Hong Kong office managing partner of the legacy UK firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), has left the firm ahead of its merger with legacy U.S. firm Bryan Cave.
Charlton confirmed his departure to ALB, adding that he left the firm by mutual and amicable agreement at the end of March. The BLP-Bryan Cave merger, which came into effect April 1, has resulted in the creation of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP), a 1,600-lawyer firm with 32 offices in 11 countries, and more than $900 million in gross revenue.
A BCLP spokesperson added: "Having accomplished much for our Asia business and having successfully implemented our ‘One Asia’ strategy, our head of Asia, Bob Charlton, has decided that now is a good point for him to seek a new challenge elsewhere, and has left the firm."
"We would like to thank Bob for all he has done since he joined us in October 2014, not only in respect of Asia but also in his collaboration with partners right across our firm. Our business in Asia is in a much stronger position and well-placed to push forward."
During his time at BLP, Charlton oversaw the firm’s steady growth in Asia, though the legacy firm recently closed its Myanmar office in February. In the 2014 edition of ALB’s top 50 largest international law firms in Asia ranking, BLP was ranked No. 44 with 40 lawyers, and in 2017 it was ranked No. 38 with 62 lawyers.
Before joining BLP, Charlton was at DLA Piper for about five years, the last two as the Asia-Pacific managing partner based in Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance.
BCLP IN ASIA
Though BLP is the bigger firm in Asia compared to Bryan Cave, which has about 15 lawyers in its two offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the U.S. firm is much larger globally, with about two to three hundred more lawyers.
The merged firm has not yet formally launched as BCLP in Asia as it still needs to go through procedural regulatory approvals, the firm told ALB.
"Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has launched internally across its 32 offices around the world. External launches will be taking place in: U.S., UK, France, Belgium, Israel and Russia. Final confirmation of the launch day roll out programme timing in certain offices (UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Germany) is subject to relevant local regulatory approvals, which are in train," the spokesperson said.
"Our teams are working hard to ensure the remaining offices will formally launch as Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner as soon as possible and we will continue to work collaboratively in the interim."
