Global 100 firms embraced foreign expansion again in February. Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) announced a significant addition to its Latin America footprint with the launch of an office in Rio de Janeiro, hiring BP’s global corporate assistant general counsel (GC) Andrew Haynes as office co-head, while US litigation leader Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan set up shop in Brussels, Baker & McKenzie in Myanmar and Jones Day in Perth.
NRF’s new office in Brazil, which will also be run by current head of Colombia, Glenn Faass, will be the firm’s third in the region after Venezuela (Caracas) and Colombia (Bogotá), and its 55th office worldwide.
Haynes joined NRF at the start of February from BP, where as assistant GC global corporate he oversaw all M&A legal work for BP.
Following a year of rapid international expansion that saw highly profitable litigation outfit Quinn dominate the global litigation agenda in 2013 with launches in jurisdictions such as Sydney and Hong Kong, the top 35 Global 100 firm in February confirmed to Legal Business that it is to broaden its capability with a launch in the heart of the European Union (EU), in Brussels.
The new office, its seventh in Europe, will focus on EU and member state competition litigation and investigations and will be managed by Nadine Herrmann, head of the firm’s European competition practice.
‘Any major antitrust dispute or investigation includes an EU component.’
John Quinn, Quinn
Herrmann will divide her time between Quinn’s Hamburg and Brussels offices. Joining her in Brussels will be dual US and English-qualified antitrust and intellectual property partner Catherine Manley and German-qualified Jan Jacob.
Quinn managing partner John Quinn commented: ‘Any major antitrust dispute or investigation includes an EU component. In fact, more and many originate in the EU. Brussels is the epicentre of EU competition matters. We believe we had to have an office in Brussels to effectively represent our clients in these global disputes.’
Jones Day, meanwhile, launched in Perth last month, hiring Allens partner Stephen McComish to spearhead the launch of its second office in Australia after Sydney, focusing on projects and related disputes, particularly in the energy sector.
The launch comes as global giant Baker & McKenzie became the latest foreign player to launch an office in Yangon, Myanmar, led by Sydney-based infrastructure and corporate partner Chris Hughes.