The firm was recommended in 11 Hong Kong practice areas and in eight Singapore practice areas. It entered the rankings for the first time for Indonesia Foreign firms; Singapore TMT: Foreign firms; and Asia Pacific: Regional International Arbitration. Here is the full list of recognized practice areas.
Asia-Pacific Regional
- International arbitration (new listing)
Hong Kong
- Asset finance (including aviation and shipping finance)
- Banking and finance
- Capital markets (equity)
- Corporate (including M&A)
- Dispute resolution: International arbitration
- Dispute resolution: Litigation
- Insurance
- Labour and employment
- Private equity
- Restructuring and insolvency
- Shipping
India
- Foreign firms
Indonesia
- Foreign firms (new listing)
Singapore
- Asset finance: Foreign firms
- Corporate and M&A: Foreign firms
- Corporate and M&A: Local firms
- International arbitration
- Projects: Foreign firms
- Shipping: Foreign firms
- Shipping: Local firms
- TMT: Foreign firms (new listing)
- White-collar crime: Foreign firms
South Korea
- Shipping: Foreign firms
Reed Smith operates under the name Reed Smith Richards Butler in Hong Kong. In Singapore, the firm is in a Formal Law Alliance with Resource Law LLC, with whom it shares its offices.
Lawyer rankings
Bryan Tan won a Hall of Fame designation and a Tier-1 ranking for Singapore TMT: Foreign firms. Bryan Tan and Calvin Chan are featured for the first time in the directory. Zeldar Wang is receiving a listing for the first time with Reed Smith. See below for the full list of lawyer rankings.
- Calvin Chan, Singapore White-collar crime - Foreign firms (Leading Individual) (new listing)
- Timothy Cooke, Singapore International arbitration: Foreign firms (Leading Individual)
- Denise Jong, Hong Kong Corporate (including M&A) (Leading Individual)
- Peter Lee, Hong Kong Asset finance: Shipping finance (Leading Individual)
- Lianjun Li, Hong Kong Shipping (Leading Individual)
- Donald Sham, Hong Kong Dispute resolution: International arbitration (Next Generation Partner)
- Simon Spells, Singapore Asset finance: Foreign firms (Leading Individual)
- Bryan Tan, Singapore TMT: Foreign firms (Hall of Fame) (Tier 1) (new listing)
- Hui Ling Teo, Singapore Asset finance: Foreign firms (Rising Star) (new listing)
- Zeldar Wang, China Shipping: Foreign firms, (Next Generation Partner) (new listing)
Hall of Fame entrants “must be widely regarded as being at the very top of the profession, and to have been consistently ranked as leading individuals by the Legal 500 for a number of years,” and in a change from previous rankings, inclusion now does not depend on having a requisite number of years as a leading individual.
Leading individuals are defined as “true market leaders, with long-established reputations in their sector, lead roles in multiple recent significant matters, and exceptional, widespread recognition and endorsement from peers in the market and clients alike.” Rising Stars are defined as associate-level lawyers who appear frequently in significant matters and make major contributions to practices. Next Generation Partners have five years or fewer at partner level, significant recognition from clients and peers in the market, and recent lead roles on multiple matters, according to the Legal 500 website.
Client quotes
“In addition to its strong domestic M&A practice, Reed Smith Richards Butler LLP‘s Hong Kong team has a notable offering in outbound and inbound M&A across sectors including financial services, automobiles, energy and consumer goods. … [The office] has substantial experience dealing with HK regulations such as the Takeover Code and exchange listing rules,” one Hong Kong client said.
“The firm’s extensive background in shipping ensures that it is particularly well-suited to handling cross-border maritime arbitration matters,” a Hong Kong client stated.
“[Reed Smith] encompasses the full range of projects in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources space. The firm’s expertise spans project development, acquisitions and disposals of project owners, project investment and divestment,” a Singapore client said in praise of the firm.
Another Singapore client said: “The ‘top-class white-collar crime practice‘ at Reed Smith LLP handles a diverse caseload on behalf of high-profile individuals, covering fraud, bribery and corruption. With a particular focus on internal investigations, the team is ‘well placed to advise on cross-jurisdictional issues,‘ managing matters across the entire Asia Pacific region.”