Mallesons Hires Clifford Chance Disputes Partner Denis Brock for Hong Kong

Mallesons Stephen Jaques hired commercial litigator Denis Brock from Clifford Chance LLP to be a Hong Kong-based partner as the firm boosts its disputes resolution and regulatory practices to meet client demand.

Brock, 48, said he’ll return to Hong Kong from London, where he moved in 2006. He will join Mallesons’ 17-lawyer, Hong Kong-based disputes and regulatory practice in October, Tony O’Malley, a Sydney-based managing partner, said in a phone interview.

Mallesons, based in Sydney, has more than 1,000 lawyers in Australia and Asia, including 16 partners based in Hong Kong. The firm advised Bank of China during an investigation by Hong Kong regulators into the sale of minibonds, products linked to the collapsed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Minibonds were custom-made securities linked to the creditworthiness of companies and backed by collateralized- debt obligations.

“Contentious advice has grown exponentially in the last couple of years for us,” O’Malley said. “The increased regulation of financial products and services has meant that many of our banking and corporate clients that operate in this space have increased demand for regulatory advice and support.”

Brock, who is leaving Clifford Chance after 24 years with the firm, acted for the Hong Kong government in litigation over the proposed listing of the real estate investment trust, Link R. The Court of Final Appeal ruled in 2005 that the initial public offering could proceed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Debra Mao in Hong Kong at dmao5@bloomberg.net

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