US/UK trial specialist law firm, Kobre & Kim LLP, has opened a new office in Hong Kong, becoming the city’s fir
US/UK trial specialist law firm, Kobre & Kim LLP, has opened a new office in Hong Kong, becoming the city’s first “all litigation” law firm. The firm focuses its practice on international government investigations, large commercial disputes and international asset recovery. Responding to Hedgeweek via email, William F McGovern (pictured), a former ED at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong who will lead the firm’s Asia operations, said that K&K expected to see an increase in cross-border civil litigation and US government investigations involving Asian businesses. “There are very few US trained litigators in Asia and virtually none with a US government background,” said McGovern, adding that 12 of the firm’s partners were senior government lawyers “so we have deep expertise in defending government actions.” McGovern believes that opening its doors in Asia will present opportunities to market other K&K litigation products such as international arbitrage. The firm, which often acts as counsel due to its conflict-free nature, has already worked on an increasing number of Asia cases and sees Hong Kong as a regional intersection. “We have spent the last several months developing relationships with the local, regional and global lawfirms who have offices in Asia,” wrote McGovern, who hopes that this will help lead to referrals from its peers who lack US expertise. “The Hong Kong legal market has been really welcoming of our model here and we are looking forward to being part of this community at all levels,” added McGovern. The firm’s co-founder, Steven G. Kobre, a former federal prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice, will be supporting McGovern.
