Gibson Dunn Expands in Asia and Opens Hong Kong Office
By Gibson Dunn Crutcher Llp, PRNESunday, August 1, 2010
LOS ANGELES, August 2, 2010 - Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (www.gibsondunn.com) is further
expanding its international platform by opening an office in Hong Kong. The
new Hong Kong office is Gibson Dunn's second office in Asia. The firm opened
an office in Singapore in 2008.
The new Hong Kong office will focus on corporate transactions and
corporate compliance, regulation and investigations. The office will be
anchored by Kelly Austin, who joins the firm as a partner, after eight years
in Hong Kong with General Electric International, where she advised on
Asia-wide Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other compliance matters
across GE's Asian business units. Gibson Dunn partner Joseph Barbeau, who
previously practiced in Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997, is relocating to Hong
Kong from the firm's Palo Alto office. Also joining them is associate Kate
Yin, who is relocating from the Los Angeles office.
"Gibson Dunn has been expanding our global platform where our clients
need us, recently in Dubai in 2007, Singapore in 2008 and Sao Paulo in 2009,"
said Ken Doran, Chair and Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. "We have been
looking for the right opportunity in Hong Kong for some time, and the
opportunity to bring Kelly on board was key to our decision."
Doran added, "Kelly's extensive experience in designing and running a
world-class compliance program, leading internal and government
investigations, and driving compliance leadership across the region will be a
tremendous asset for our clients. Her regulatory and compliance practice
complements the firm's compliance and enforcement practices, as well as other
significant practices at the firm."
"Compliance issues in Asia present unique challenges and the risk of a
local enforcement action for multinational companies operating in Asia is
real," said F. Joseph Warin, Washington, D.C. partner and Co-Chair of the
White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group. "Many of the
U.S.-based FCPA disclosure and enforcement actions in the last two years have
had an Asia component, and combining on-the-ground expertise in Asia with
extensive support from the U.S. offices positions us to be particularly
effective for clients. Kelly's addition enhances Gibson Dunn's ability to
service client needs in the areas of antitrust, FCPA and related
anti-corruption statutes, securities enforcement, money laundering,
technological transfers and trade sanctions."
"I have worked extensively with Gibson Dunn and was attracted to the
opportunity to join one of the premier white collar practices among
international law firms," said Austin. "I look forward to working with the
team."
Barbeau's 12 years in Hong Kong include broad experience with foreign
investment in China, cross-border mergers and acquisitions for Hong Kong and
U.S. companies, and representation of private equity and pooled investment
funds across the region.
"With our strong Singapore team, we now have core capacities and plan to
steadily build out more depth with leading lawyers who can benefit from the
quality of the firm's practices across our other offices," said Barbeau. "Our
strength in New York and London with capital markets work, our depth in
Northern and Southern California with technology and media companies, and our
extensive, firmwide practices in the areas of FCPA and compliance,
international arbitration, and project infrastructure practice, provide a
foundation that we can build upon in Asia."
The new Hong Kong office will be located at Gloucester Tower, The
Landmark, in Central.
About Kelly Austin
Based in Hong Kong since 2001, Austin served as Compliance & Litigation
Counsel for Asia Pacific for General Electric International, Inc., where she
led compliance matters, government investigations, litigation and alternative
dispute proceedings for GE's diverse financial and industrial businesses
throughout the region. She coordinated an extensive staff of compliance
professionals and was responsible for designing and implementing compliance
programs, leading internal and government investigations and reviewing
regional risks and remediation initiatives. She received the 2006 GE Legal
Merit Award for exceptional performance.
Prior to her tenure at GE, Austin practiced with Zuckerman Spaeder in
Washington, D.C. from 1994 to 2001, where she handled criminal defense,
litigation, government ethics and regulatory matters, including Congressional
and Independent Counsel investigations and inquiries into alleged Medicare
fraud, competition law violations, environmental violations, government
contract fraud and obstruction of justice. In October 2000, she was appointed
to serve as Special Counsel to the Executive Office of the President.
Austin graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1993,
where she was Associate Editor of Law & Policy in International Business.
From 1993 to 1994, she was a law clerk for Boyce F. Martin, Jr., Chief Judge
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
About Joseph Barbeau
Barbeau is an international commercial lawyer who has extensive
experience with a wide range of corporate and financing transactions. His
practice has been wide-ranging, including start-ups, public and private
mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and major licensing transactions,
and spans an exceptional breadth of businesses, including technology
companies, medical devices and health care service companies, apparel,
automotive and electronics companies, hotels, and project infrastructure
companies. He also has substantial experience representing pooled investment
funds, both in formation and portfolio investment transactions.
Barbeau has practiced with Gibson Dunn since 2000, after 18 years with
another global firm, where he practiced 12 years in the Hong Kong office and
served as the Hong Kong managing partner. His cross-border experience
includes representing U.S. companies on their activities in Asia, and Asian
companies on their operations in the United States.
He received his law degree in 1981 from the University of Minnesota,
magna cum laude, where he was Articles Editor of the Law Review and a member
of the Order of the Coif. He was a law clerk to the Hon. Gerald W. Heaney of
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He is co-author of A Guide
to Foreign Investment in the United States (2nd Ed. 1992 Longman).
About the Firm
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is a leading international law firm.
Consistently ranking among the world's top law firms in industry surveys and
major publications, Gibson Dunn is distinctively positioned in today's global
marketplace with more than 1,000 lawyers and 17 offices, including Brussels,
Century City, Dallas, Denver, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich,
New York, Orange County, Palo Alto, Paris, San Francisco, Sao Paulo,
Singapore, and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit
www.gibsondunn.com.
Kenneth M. Doran, Chair and Managing Partner, +1-213-229-7537, or Joseph Barbeau, Partner, Hong Kong Office, +852 3669 8149, or Kelly Austin, Partner, Hong Kong Office, +852 3669 8152, or Pearl Piatt, Director of Communications, +1-213-229-7963, all of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
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