U.S. law firm Greenberg Traurig has set its sights on Singapore after hiring three lawyers from Hogan Lovells’ Tokyo and Hong Kong offices: Partner Joseph Kim, counsel William Wu, and associate Da Woon Jeong. All three join as shareholders.
Also joining the team as a shareholder is former Hogan Lovells lawyer Jared Raleigh; he was most recently senior legal counsel at Australia’s Acciona Infrastructure. The team will initially be located in Tokyo, with the plan of soon moving to Singapore to lead the opening of Greenberg’s office in the city-state.
According to a statement from the firm, the team will focus on energy transition matters and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments in the renewable power and infrastructure sectors.
Kim, who joined Hogan Lovells in 2014 from Paul Hastings, will become head of Greenberg’s Asia energy and infrastructure practice. He has more than 20 years of experience in those sectors.
The Singapore office will be Greenberg’s fourth in the Asian region; the other two are in Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai.
Greenberg’s plans to open in Singapore show how important the city-state is becoming for international law firms keen to build an Asia presence. Earlier this year, arbitration law firm Three Crowns opened an office, while U.S. law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, which opened last year, said it was also planning to focus on energy and infrastructure.
