Aparna Sai

Heidi Hui, chief counsel for Asia at Refinitiv, shares how her legal team has adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic, why legal departments must be not only reactive but also proactive when it comes to supporting internal clients, and the critical factor to ensure technology is truly impactful.

In a record-breaking year in which nearly 400 lawyers across Asia submitted their profiles, picking the annual 40 Under 40 list was no easy task. This year’s list, as in other years, features a diverse mix of lawyers, including the first-ever entrant from Bangladesh and the first from a PRC firm, as well as multiple law firm founders. The list is in alphabetical order. Certain lawyers are profiled in the accompanying feature.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has advised China’s Huya on agreement to buy live game streaming peer DouYu International. Latham & Watkins has represented Tencent, which is Huya’s biggest shareholder and also owns more than a third of DouYu.

U.S. law firm Kobre & Kim has hired Timothy Haynes as a partner in Hong Kong from offshore outfit Walkers, where he led the insolvency and dispute resolution group.

Singapore’s largest law firm Allen & Gledhill has opened an office in Vietnam, making it the second Big Four firm to have a physical presence in the latter country.

The 7th annual ALB Indonesia Law Awards, a virtual event held on Oct. 8, celebrated the standout lawyers, firms, in-house teams and legal work in the country.

Davis Polk & Wardwell and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas have advised Reliance Industries on its $2.6 billion sale of stakes in its retail unit to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, global private equity firm TPG Capital, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Mubadala Investment Company.

Indian boutique law firm Algo Legal has hired investment funds specialists Abhinav Bhalaik and Richie Sancheti as partners in Mumbai from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Nishith Desai Associates, respectively.

Construction and engineering expert Yvonne Foo has left Clyde & Co, where she was a legal director, to rejoin Harry Elias Partnership as a partner in Singapore.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has advised Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company JHBP (CY) Holdings, a holding company for Genor Biopharma,  on its HK $2.87 billion ($371 million) IPO in Hong Kong, with Kirkland & Ellis representing the joint sponsors and the underwriters.