International firm Eversheds is one step closer to its goal of a 50-lawyer-strong Hong Kong office by 2011 – with the addition of Slaughter and May veteran partner litigator Mark Yeadon.
Yeadon retired from Slaughter and May earlier this year after 22 years at the firm – of which he spent 20 in Hong Kong and two in London. Yeadon has now joined Eversheds as its fourth disputes partner.
Yeadon has extensive experience advising major companies and institutions throughout Asia, resolving a wide range of disputes in relation to regulatory investigations.
“We are seeing a lot of interesting transactions, disputes and litigation work coming through Asia in the areas of financial services as well as regulatory and compliance work,” Evershed’s Hong Kong managing partner Nick Seddon told ALB in an interview.
“Mark finished with Slaughter and May in June and have been in talks with us for approximately four to five months. Both parties agree that it is a mutually beneficial relationship for Mark to join us, with his wealth of experience litigating in the Hong Kong market,” Seddon said.
Yeadon will work alongside Hong Kong litigation chief Ivan Ng.
Eversheds launched in Hong Kong in October 2008, after hiring the former Asia head of now defunct firm Heller Ehrman, Nick Seddon, who was also head of Asia practice of DLA Piper.
Seddon, currently Eversheds’ Hong Kong managing director, said the firm was still in growth mode in the region, with a particular focus of growing its lawyer count in the corporate and banking area in the course of the next few months. The firm currently houses almost 30 lawyers.
Seddon defends Evershed’s growth strategy as robust but profitable.
“Our Hong Kong office is the largest and that’s where we are growing the numbers for now. This is due to our ability to practice local law here in Hong Kong – where we can’t in other places such as Singapore and China,” Seddon said. “We are targeting 50 because this is where I see our firm in HK having the critical mass to compete with the other major internationals for any piece of work.”
Eversheds announced in April this year that it plans to open its fourth office in Asia – in Beijing.ALB
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