DLA Piper names two new partners in Asia

International law firm DLA Piper has promoted two lawyers in its Hong Kong office to partners as part of the 2010 global promotion round that saw 41 lawyers worldwide become elevated to the partnership.

The two new partners in Hong Kong are Yuet Ming Tham and Ernest Yang, who have both been appointed to the firm's Asia litigation and regulatory group. The promotions in Asia also include one of counsel in Beijing and eight senior associates or senior professional support lawyers in its Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan offices.

According to a press release, Tham has a strong track record advising her multinational clients in regulatory and compliance matters as well as investigations across Asia-Pacific related to allegations of corruption, fraud, money-laundering, data protection, extradition and competition law. She has particularly strong expertise with jurisdictions such as Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia and has worked on a number of large-scale investigations by authorities around the world, including the US Securities & Exchange Commission, the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong, and the State Administration for Industry & Commerce in China.

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Tham was the regional compliance director for Pfizer, responsible for compliance and investigations in Asia-Pacific and Japan.

Yang's experience relates to shipping and international trade disputes, including charter parties, ship sales and purchases, ship construction, cargo claims, sale of goods, collision, grounding and offshore projects. As per the release, he has been recognised in The Asia Pacific Legal 500 as having "strong commercial and legal knowledge in shipping law". He has also written and co-authored several books on time charters, arbitration and injunctions, which have been published in China, and is a part-time lecturer at Hong Kong University's LLM Programme on Arbitration Practice.

In a written statement, Asia managing director Alastair Da Costa noted that the two new partners in Asia have made "a significant contribution to the development of [the firm's] Asia-Pacific business and have immense potential to continue to drive DLA Piper's performance to higher levels in Asia".  The promotions, including the new of counsel in Beijing, Jenny Liu, also demonstrates DLA Piper's investment in and long-term commitment to Asia as a region, which is "vitally important" to clients and DLA Piper's international network, he said.  

The promotions are all effective from January 1.

Globally, the litigation and regulatory group saw the largest intake of new partners, with 18 promotions, followed by corporate with 10, and finance with six. Some 16 partners were promoted in Continental Europe, 14 in the US and nine in the UK, in addition to the two in Asia.

DLA Piper is an international legal practice with over 3,500 lawyers across 67 offices and 29 countries. Its legal and business advisers provide a comprehensive range of services to local, regional and international businesses.