Paul Hastings Buys into Hong Kong
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP has bought Hong Kong law firm Koo & Partners to bolster its presence in the Far East.
Jong Han Kim, a partner in Paul Hastings’ Costa Mesa office is set to move to Hong Kong. Kim heads the firm’s South Korean practice.
“Many of our clients do a lot business in Asia,” said William Simpson, chair of Paul Hastings’ Costa Mesa office and a partner in the firm.
The firm’s OC office has 57 lawyers and is the eighth-largest law firm in the county, according to the Business Journal’s list of law firms ranked by local attorneys.
Donald Koo, founding partner of Koo & Partners, will head Paul Hastings’ Hong Kong and Beijing offices.
“China occupies a prominent place in the business plans of many of our institutional clients,” said Seth Zachary, chairman of Paul Hastings, which is based in Los Angeles.
Koo said the firm has submitted an application to the Chinese authorities to rename the Beijing office to reflect the combination.
To conform to Hong Kong Law Society regulations, Paul Hastings will operate in Hong Kong as a foreign registered law firm for three years. Koo & Partners will retain its name during that period.
“We will realign our practice with Paul Hastings’ strategic direction,” Koo said. “Although the new focus of the practice means there will be jobs and staff portfolio displacement in Hong Kong, the ability to offer integrated advice to our clients presents new and exciting opportunities for growth.”
With a current staff of 250, the Hong Kong office is Paul Hastings’ largest Asian operation following the Koo & Partners buy.
Koo founded Koo & Partners in 1993.
“China’s membership in the WTO will further accelerate the pace of its economic progress and open more opportunities for global enterprises, and China will be adjusting its regulatory framework accordingly,requiring legal understanding of those complex adjustments,” Zachary said.
Paul Hastings has about 840 attorneys in seven cities in the U.S., London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Beijing. It was founded in 1951 in Los Angeles.
The firm’s practices include corporate, employment, litigation, real estate and tax.
,Chris Cziborr
