Prolegis, the boutique which struck a formal law alliance (FLA) with Herbert Smith Freehills in 2015, has launched a disputes practice in its Singapore heartland with the hire of a team led by Daniel Chia (pictured) from Morgan Lewis.
Chia, who led the Asia disputes practice at Morgan Lewis, will take on the role of director and head of litigation and will bring with him three other lawyers. Jonathan Tang and Yanguang Ker will join Prolegis as directors, along with associate Charlene Wee.
Prolegis’ new disputes team will work closely through the FLA with HSF’s Southeast Asia disputes practice, led by Alastair Henderson, particularly with the firm’s 14-lawyer disputes team in Singapore.
Chia regularly appears before the Singapore High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Singapore International Commercial Court in major commercial disputes, arbitration-linked cases and restructuring and insolvency proceedings.
The team has experience representing multinational and Singapore companies, private capital funds and technology companies in payments and cryptocurrency services, as well as high-net-worth individuals.
Simon Chapman KC, Asia head of dispute resolution at Herbert Smith Freehills, said: ‘This major investment in the Prolegis practice provides our clients with seamless access to Singapore law disputes advice through the FLA. Daniel and his team’s eminent reputation in the Singapore courts is the perfect complement to our own market-leading Asia disputes practice.’
‘This is a major milestone in our investment plans for this region,’ said HSF Singapore managing partner Fatim Jumabhoy. ‘To meet growing client demand, we will continue to target the best lateral hires, nurture our longstanding alliance relationships and develop our existing talent.’
