Greenberg Traurig appoints trio to launch in Singapore

Greenberg Traurig appoints trio to launch in Singapore

A trio of attorneys have been hired by Greenberg Traurig from Hogan Lovells ahead of plans to open a branch in Singapore, which would be the firm's third branch in the region

Assignees initially set to work in Tokyo are the second highly-regarded group of hires this week after Miami-based firm Winthrop & Strawn appointed six real estate finance lawyers from New York and North Carolina.

Among the new Greenberg team members is Joseph Kim, who joins as a shareholder and leader of the firm's Asia energy and infrastructure practice. William Wu and Da Woon Jeong, who previously worked at Hogan Lovells, will also join as shareholders of the firm.

The UK firm's Tokyo office was run by Wu and Jeong. They were both associates at Hogan Lovells in Hong Kong.

The Tokyo-based Kim has more than two decades of experience covering energy and infrastructure sectors across Asia. He was a partner of Hogan Lovells in Tokyo for seven years after joining from Paul Hastings in 2014, where he was also a partner.

Jared Raleigh, who has relocated from Melbourne, is the final member of the team. He was previously at Acciona Construction Australia as a senior legal counsel. Raleigh worked in Singapore for Jones Day and Hogan Lovells during the period of 2014 to 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In the coming weeks, the Singapore office will open for business, the law firm said. The four new hires will initially be based in Tokyo.

The quartet will take an active role in the energy transition and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments in the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors.

Governments are committed to decarbonising their economies to turn them into net-zero carbon economies and the team is prepared to handle matters dealing with new energy solutions and technologies, like constructing green hydrogen and ammonia economies, according to the organization.

Upon arriving in Singapore the team will work with Greenberg's Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai offices to expand investments by institutional funds and private equity clients in the Asia Pacific region.

Richard Rosenbaum, the chairman of Greenberg's executive committee, commented: "Singapore is fast becoming the main business hub in Southeast Asia, surpassing Hong Kong somewhat as a major international hub. Further additional offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul are anticipated in the near future."

It just so happened that US rival McDermott Will & Emery opened offices in Singapore in 2021, gaining presence in Asia one year after Winston & Strawn acquired its joint venture in Shanghai.

In the last week, the corporate counsel appointed Yuet Ming Tham to lead the office. Yuet Ming Tham was previously co-head of Sidley Austin's government litigation and investigations group.