Baker & McKenzie has welcomed back John Hancock, a former partner, chairman of the firm’s Bangkok office, and Asia-Pacific chairman, as the managing director of its Yangon office.

Hancock comes on board as Chris Hughes steps down as managing partner for Yangon.

With more than 35 years of legal experience, Hancock focuses on cross-border trade and investment and M&A. He has lived in Southeast Asia for about four decades, and helped set up Baker & McKenzie’s Myanmar Centre in Bangkok in 2012, which evolved into its Yangon office.

Baker & McKenzie, which opened its Yangon office in February 2014, now has ten legal staff there. In May, it hired Ola Nicolai Borge as partner from Grant Thornton Myanmar, where he was the managing partner.