K&L Gates expands Asia practices

• K&L Gates added Henry Wang and Jay Chiu as partners in the firm’s China offices. Wang joins the firm’s corporate and transactional practice in its Beijing office from Mayer Brown where he was partner and head of investments for four years. He specializes in China trade and investment, M&A and dispute resolution. Chiu joins the firm’s Hong Kong office from Goodwin Procter, where he served as head of the Asian intellectual property and litigation practice four years. Their additions bring K&L Gates’ headcount in Asia to more than 110 lawyers, including six partners in Beijing and 12 partners in Hong Kong.

• Arnold & Porter appointed Hilton Mervis as partner and head of the firm’s commercial dispute resolution group for Europe. Mervis joins the firm from King & Wood Mallesons where he served as head of corporate disputes, cross-border disputes and regulatory investigations for over 16 years. During his tenure he advised private equity houses and asset managers in disputes. Mervis is the latest KWM lawyer to move to other rival firms in recent months.

• Clifford Chance promoted Infrastructure and PPP specialist Michael Pearson to partner. Pearson has worked at the firm for nearly eight years and during his tenure has advised sponsors on the UK Military Flying Training PPP project, a shortlisted bidder for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, the sponsors for the Herefordshire and Worcestershire energy from waste project, and the lenders in the Thameslink rolling stock project. Pearson is one of 24 new partners who will climb the ranks on 1 May, bringing the total number of Clifford Chance partners to 577 globally.

• M&A veteran Frank Layson joined DLA Piper as a partner in the firm’s Atlanta office. Layson formerly worked as a partner at Jones Day for nearly four years and specializes in domestic and international mergers and acquisitions. In addition to M&A matters, he focuses on joint ventures and strategic alliances on behalf of a mix of public and private companies across different types of industries.

• Duane Morris appointed James Seery and Dean Colucci as partners in the firm’s Newark corporate practice group. Both join Duane Morris from LeClairRyan. Seery previously led LeClairRyan’s capital markets practice area team. He focuses his practice on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate law. Colucci also joins the firm from LeClairRyan’s capital markets practice area team. His practice focuses on capital markets, M&A, structured transactions, and infrastructure development and finance.

• Lowenstein Sandler hired Evan Bienstock as partner in the firm’s tech group. He will be based in its in New York office. Bienstock previously worked as a partner in Mintz Levin’s corporate and securities practice for 10 years. During his tenure he focused on venture capital and M&A transactions for start-up tech and life sciences companies. He specializes in venture capital and private equity financings, representing both the funds providing capital and the companies seeking funding.

• Andrew McMillan joined Pinsent Masons as a corporate partner in its advanced manufacturing and technology team. Chaplick joins the firm from Ashurst where he led the firm’s communications practice. He has experience advising TMT corporates, investment banks and private equity houses on in-sector mergers and acquisitions and high-value commercial contracts. Andrew's hire follows a string of recent investment into Pinsent Masons' AMT sector, including the appointment of a four-lawyer team in Munich from Mayrhofer & Partner.

• US law firm Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi has added six lawyers from Herrick, Feinstein to its corporate transactions, private equity, commercial litigation, and trusts and estates practices. Edward Stevenson, Michelle Bergeron Spell, Paul Schafhauser, William Healey, Daniel Swick, and Glenn Stein all join the firm across its different practices. Stevenson previously served as co-chair of Herrick's corporate department and specializes in corporate transactions, middle market mergers and acquisitions, private investment funds, and venture capital.

Know of any private fund lawyer moves we missed? Submit the news to nicole.m@peimedia.com.