Linklaters further boosts Asia team with seven hires

Increasing client demand has led iternational law firm Linklaters to appoint its largest ever number of partners in Asia. The seven new partners will be based in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.

Three of the hires are in the capital markets group. Patrick Sheil will transfer to the Tokyo office from New York in May, where he will focus on new debt and equity issues. Joining him in Tokyo will be Mark Brown, who will specialize in structured finance and securitization.

Completing the trio of capital markets partners will be Dean Lockhart in the Singapore office. Lockhart has international experience in debt and equity deals, as well as privatizations and structured finance.

The firm's Hong Kong office will house the remaining four new partners. Teresa Ma, a corporate specialist, transfers from London to join David Clark, head of the employee benefits team and Elaine Knee, a projects lawyer.

The last of Hong Kong's fab four will be Patrick Fontaine, who joins in July as a banking and finance partner.