Squire Sanders is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Michelle Chen as partner in its Global Corporate Practice in London. She was previously Director of China Business at Berwin Leighton Paisner.
Dr. Chen, dual-qualified in England and Wales and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), advises on foreign direct investment, including business establishment and regulatory approval into China and on Chinese outbound investment into the UK. She also handles ongoing matters such as regulatory approval and compliance, corporate governance, anti-bribery and employment.
Dr. Chen also advises on cross-border corporate, commercial and M&A transactions and has been closely involved in numerous listings on both the Hong Kong and London stock exchanges. She has more than two decades’ experience advising both international and Chinese clients on cross-border transactions and related issues, supporting clients in numerous sectors including telecommunications, media, property, retail, banking and energy.
After qualifying as among the first PRC lawyers in 1990, Dr. Chen worked for 10 years as an international law legal advisor to the State Council of the PRC and has an in-depth understanding of the Chinese government on a working level. She has been closely involved in several high-profile projects, including the formal transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China and the establishment of the Hong Kong legal system. Dr. Chen has acted as the head of the Beijing office of one of the largest and most established law firms in Hong Kong and also served as Group Legal Counsel at Hong Kong-based investment holding company Hutchinson Whampoa responsible for the group’s China-related matters.
Dr. Chen has a BA in law from Cambridge University, and also an LLB and PhD in International Law, as well as an LLM in Intellectual Property Law from Peking University. Prior to joining Squire Sanders she was the head of China practice in two international law firms based full time in London.
Jane Haxby, partner and EMEA Chair of Squire Sanders’ Global Corporate Practice, said: “We welcome Michelle to the firm and to the London office, where she is the fifth partner to join us since January. Michelle is highly regarded by her peers, many of whom include in-house counsel at some of China’s largest businesses. She joins us at an important time, as our China outbound and inbound work continues to develop. Chinese outbound M&A, in particular, is growing globally with the UK, Western Europe, Germany especially, and North America being key regional focuses for Chinese investors. Following our recent appointment of China outbound specialist Dr. Benjamin Kroymann in Shanghai, Michelle’s experience will further strengthen our capabilities for clients both in China and internationally.”
Commenting on her move, Dr. Chen said: “Squire Sanders’ investment in the Asia-Pacific region, and the impressive links it has built between China and all the key jurisdictions around the world that matter to Chinese businesses make it the obvious home for the kind of cross-border work that I specialize in. I am greatly looking forward to working with the firm’s China experts in London, Germany and across Europe, as well as its talented team in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.”
Squire Sanders’ Global Corporate Practice has recently published its latest report on China Outbound M&A Trends in partnership with Mergermarket.
