Morgan Stanley’s William McGovern has joined New York based Kobre & Kim LLP to head a new Hong Kong office targeting Asian clients in disputes with U.S. regulators or global banks.
In today’s article at businessweek.com, firm founder and former assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Kobre was quoted as saying: “What we’re seeing is the globalization of rules relating to anti-bribery, antitrust and securities regulation. There is a real demand in Asia for a law firm willing to take an adverse position against larger companies.”
Per Kobre, the Hong Kong office will have five lawyers by year’s end.
The Hong Kong office will be Kobre & Kim’s first in Asia. The firm opened an office in London last year. Per spokeswoman Pallas Knight, the Hong Kong office is expected to open at the end of September.
McGovern worked as a lawyer at Morgan Stanley for six years, including as an Executive Director in Hong Kong since 2008.
Kobre & Kim LLP is routinely called upon to represent large institutional clients in significant matters. Institutional clients who have engaged Kobre & Kim LLP’s services recently include leading hedge funds, private equity firms, banks, industrial borrowers, and the Audit Committees of several Fortune 500 companies, among others. The firm represented hedge funds in connection with Bernard Madoff’s fraud.
Kobre & Kim LLP’s private clients are largely composed of managing directors or executive officers at top-tier investment banks, private equity firms, and blue-chip companies, as well as celebrities. The firm recently represented current and former executives from Amaranth, Bank of America, Bristol-Myers Squibb, General Motors, KPMG, and Monster.com, among others.