Baker McKenzie has hired a three-lawyer arbitration team in Hong Kong from the departing Addleshaw Goddard. Led by partner and disputes head Ronald Sum (L), the team also consists of associates. Plato Cheung and Beryl Wu.

Earlier this year, Addleshaw Goddard had announced it would be closing its Hong Kong office. Last month, litigation partner Janie Wong joined Howse Williams.

The addition of Sum continues a sequence of lateral partner hires at Baker McKenzie Hong Kong over the past 14 months. Capital markets specialist Thomas Tarala joined in March from HNA Group where he was general counsel, prior to which Joy Lam, a former Sidley Austin partner specialising in blockchain and virtual assets, moved in January. In July last year, Baker McKenzie’s Hong Kong office welcomed capital markets and M&A expert Victoria Lloyd as partner from Ropes & Gray.

Sum advises on dispute resolution with special focus on mainland China-related issues, international arbitration, cross-border disputes, commercial disputes, sports-related disputes, insurance and reinsurance. In international arbitration, he has acted as both counsel and arbitrator in administered arbitration proceedings in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, Australia, London and the U.S.

Sum joined Addleshaws in 2019 from Locke Lorde, where he was the East Asia head of arbitration and ADR. Prior to that, he was a partner at Troutman Sanders (now Troutman Pepper). Sum has also been a partner at Eversheds Sutherland, Blank Rome, and DLA Piper.

With this addition, Baker McKenzie now has 45 partners in Hong Kong.