Paul Hastings has headhunted the managing director and senior counsel of Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, to be partner in its Hong Kong office.

Steven Winegar’s appointment should help the firm’s growing Asia capital markets, M&A and private equity practices; he has led the legal team for capital markets and principal investment areas for Goldman Sachs in Asia ex-Japan since 2005. Winegar specialises in equity and debt markets, and private equity and M&A transactions across the Asia-pacific region.

“To be effective, lawyers need to fully understand the full range of challenges that their clients face. In addition to legal and regulatory risks, sophisticated clients focus on issues such as corporate governance, the integrity of vendors, customers and counterparties, the environment and social impact of their operations and the potential conflicts of interest that can arise out of running complex businesses,” Winegar said.

Winegar’s appointment follows a series of new hires for Paul Hastings in Asia. The firm recently strengthened its corporate practice with the addition of Roger Peng (former managing partner of Hogan & Hartson’s Beijing office) Chris Betts (previously associate general counsel for Asia at McKinsey) and Catherin Tsang from (Freshfields).ALB