5 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS – MARCH 2024 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM BRI EFS Mayer Brown introduced NextGen Hong Kong in 2021 to provide a platform for our next generation of lawyers to strengthen professional relationships and network with rising leaders across a range of industries. With various events organised throughout the year, covering a wide range of training and workshops, social and speaker events, such a platform not only allows our junior lawyers to network with their peers and clients, but, more importantly, gives them the opportunity to gain a better understanding of their clients, cross-sell their legal capabilities, explore and challenge their way of thinking, and better understand the developments in technology and global shifts that will shape the future of business in a less pressured environment. In addition to our commitment to developing our future leaders through our NextGen platform, our firm’s Learning and Development department regularly organises internal workshops, providing another channel for our junior lawyers to develop their interpersonal and client-facing skills. STEFANIE YUEN THIO, joint managing partner, TSMP Law Corporation TSMP prides itself on personalised services in providing very targeted solutions to complex problems. In addition to top legal brains, our lawyers must be able to engage effectively with clients and other counsel. Training at TSMP covers both domain subjects and softer skills. Trainee solicitors are mentored by senior lawyers and partners who expose them to legal and client-facing work. We have a specially tailored equipping course for junior lawyers. For instance, they are exposed to personal branding training, where they learn about their own communication styles and how to conduct themselves professionally. We try to keep it real, and our partners gamely filmed a cheeky video demonstrating poor table manners as part of our training materials. Even young associates are encouraged to attend clientfacing networking events and are brought along for overseas marketing trips. TSMP also cares deeply about diversity and has strong and active female mentorship circles, where young women lawyers can obtain insights and guidance on their work-life journey. All this is part of the collegiate culture at TSMP, where we aim to develop well-rounded lawyers and equip them with social skills that they can take with them throughout their careers. (Reuters) Partners in the Middle East, Europe and New York were named recently as the first leaders of international law firm A&O Shearman, which is set to debut this spring when legacy firms Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling finalise their planned merger. Allen & Overy partner Khalid Garousha in Abu Dhabi was elected as senior partner of A&O Shearman effective May 1, the firms said. Paris-based Hervé Ekué, also from Allen & Overy, was elected managing partner. The new leaders will step up at a pivotal moment for London-founded Allen & Overy and New York-founded Shearman, which said May is the target for completing the merger. The deal, first announced in May 2023, is poised to create a firm with more than 3,900 lawyers across 48 offices. New York-based Adam Hakki, who is currently Shearman’s senior partner, has been appointed co-chair of the global A&O Shearman board and executive committee, the firms said. Hakki will also be chair of the firm’s U.S. business. Doreen Lilienfeld, Shearman’s global managing partner who practices in New York and Menlo Park, California, will serve as co-managing partner of the combined firm’s U.S. business. Both Hakki and Lilienfeld will continue to represent clients, the firms said. The deal gives Shearman, one of New York oldest and most prominent law firms, broader scale internationally, particularly after the firm saw a wave of departures in 2022 and early 2023. The merger will give Allen & Overy greater scale in the United States, especially in New York, where London-founded firms have long sought growth. Garousha has served as interim global managing partner of Allen & Overy since September. He will take over as senior partner from Wim Dejonghe, who has served in the top spot since 2016. Garousha has also been the firm’s regional managing partner for the Middle East and Turkey, while Ekué is currently managing partner in Paris. Allen & Overy held elections in February for the senior leadership positions. There were three Allen & Overy partners in the running for the senior partner role, and five that were vying to be managing partner, the firm previously said. Shearman lawyers were not in the running for the top roles. A&O, SHEARMAN PARTNERS PICKED TO LEAD MERGED LAW FIRM
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA0NzE4Mw==