Hong Kong has become a recognised hub for lawyers in finance, M&A and structured products, but alongside this is a growing need for solid dispute resolution and complex commercial litigation practitioners. Internationally focused firms such as Ashurst are well placed to provide such practitioners, according to the firm’s Asia head, Geoffrey Green.

Client demand for practitioners with a certain type of experience has led to the opening of Ashurst’s new dispute resolution practice in Hong Kong, which Simmons & Simmons recruit Gareth Hughes has been brought in to establish. “There has been an increasing tendency to involve litigators earlier – so it is as much about avoiding risk as dealing with the aftermath of a dispute,” Green said.

The region needs lawyers who have the experience of litigation and working with large corporations, but who can quickly pick up the transactional aspect of much of the finance work the firm is involved in, according to Green. “This is in part as litigators view matters with a different mindset to transactional lawyers, being able to draw on their experience of advising when things have gone wrong when providing input to the front end of the practice,” he added.

For those lawyers wanting to enter the dispute resolution area, Green emphasises that core litigation skills are key, and the financial aspects can generally be taught - but he also pointed out that the new practice will present the perfect opportunity for anyone looking to broaden their horizons from straight transactional finance work. “Whilst the initial focus of the team will be on financial services related disputes in Hong Kong, we will of course have a more general commercial litigation offering so that we can service clients' needs,” he said. For example, over recent years there have been a lot of shareholder disputes in Hong Kong, and what Green is looking for is strong commercial litigation lawyers to work on such disputes.