Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) is set to open an office in Myanmar after hiring Chris Hughes, formerly the managing partner of the Baker & McKenzie office there. 

Hughes, who will head the Myanmar office for BLP, stepped down from his previous role in late August. An emerging markets transactional specialist, he worked on finance deals, projects work and M&A activity in sectors including power, government, consumer goods, telecommunications as well as energy and infrastructure.

In addition, Hughes led the team that drafted the Myanmar Company Law reform process, an initiative sponsored by the Asian Development Bank. This is expected to be submitted to Parliament soon.

BLP established a presence in Myanmar in March 2014 after local firm Legal Network Consultants (LNC) became a member of BLP’s Asia Network. The new office will not affect BLP’s relationship with LNC, which will stay on as a member of the network.

“With further political stability and clients demanding more insightful expertise across Southeast Asia, this is the perfect time for BLP to expand its presence in the region. Myanmar is one of the most emerging of the Southeast Asian economies and Chris’ appointment provides real local knowledge which will be of huge benefit to our clients,” said Bob Charlton, BLP’s head of Asia, in a statement.

This will be BLP’s 14th office in its 12th country. In Asia, it has offices Hong Kong, Singapore and the PRC.