Herbert Smith Freehills hires three new projects and disputes partners in China

Herbert Smith Freehills has appointed three partners to its Mainland China team, specialising in projects and projects-related disputes.

• Hew Kian Heong is one of the leading international construction and infrastructure disputes lawyers in China, regularly acting for Chinese and international clients in complex cross-border disputes.
• Ellen Zhang is one of the leading lawyers in the Chinese PPP and outbound investment market, advising Chinese companies on complex project development, investment and financing overseas, particularly in the power and infrastructure sectors.
• Michelle Li has a strong reputation in construction and infrastructure disputes, particularly advising Chinese state-owned enterprises on a broad range of project implementation issues and disputes arising from overseas projects.

“Our firm has already captured a healthy amount of Chinese project and investment work generated by China’s US$900 billion ‘Belt and Road’ initiative,” said CEO Mark Rigotti. “Adding the transactional and disputes experience on complex projects offered by Hew, Ellen and Michelle will complement our existing team perfectly. I’m delighted to welcome them to the partnership.”

The appointments will increase the size of Herbert Smith Freehills’ Greater China team to 27 partners and over 170 other legal professionals in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

“The massive scale of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative is generating huge numbers of infrastructure projects across Asia and beyond – and every new project also has the potential for complex disputes,” said Justin D’Agostino, Managing Partner, Asia. “Hew, Ellen and Michelle will join our existing team advising clients on these developments and add essential projects, financing and projects disputes expertise to our offering.”