U.S. law firm King & Spalding has hired international arbitration lawyer Nils Eliasson as a partner in Singapore from the Hong Kong office of Shearman & Sterling, where he led that firm’s Asia international arbitration practice.
Eliasson, who joined Shearman in 2015 from the Swedish law firm Mannheimer Swartling, is the second high-profile disputes partner in Asia to exit the U.S. firm in the past few months. In February, Singapore partner Daryl Chew left Shearman to join UK arbitration firm Three Crowns.
Eliasson acts as counsel and arbitrator in commercial, construction, and investment treaty disputes in Asia, with particular experience in the energy, infrastructure, and telecommunications sectors. Following his departure, Shearman now has seven partners in Hong Kong, but none specialising in disputes.
Meanwhile, King & Spalding now has 13 partners in Singapore, including Anthony Patten, also formerly of Shearman, who joined in 2020, as well as Parveet Singh Gandoak, who joined in 2021 from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.