Global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has announced the appointment of James Robinson as the first Corporate partner in its New York office.

James specialises in cross border mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and antitrust issues for multinational corporations on their investments into Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Example matters include advising SoftBank on its £24.3 billion acquisition of UK-listed ARM Holdings plc, Canon on its €1.5 billion acquisition of Dutch-listed Oce, Otsuka Pharmaceutical on its US$200 million majority acquisition of an IV-solutions business from Claris Lifesciences and a SE Asian sovereign wealth fund on its US$2.2 billion Asian telecom investment.

James re-joined Herbert Smith Freehills from Morrison & Foerster in Tokyo where he worked for over two years. James joined Herbert Smith Freehills in London in 1999 as a trainee solicitor and qualified into the Corporate practice, working on public and private M&A transactions and capital markets matters. He was seconded to the firm's Tokyo office in 2004, where his role was to support Japanese clients on their outbound M&A transactions into EMEA and APAC. He was made a partner in 2008 and was appointed Head of Corporate in Tokyo in 2010.

James will work closely with Global Head of Corporate Scott Cochrane and New York Managing Partner Tom Riley. 
Scott Cochrane commented: "James has many years of deal experience for Japanese clients investing outbound across the globe. Going forward, he will be bringing that experience to our US clients, helping us to identify ways to service them across the network."

Tom Riley commented: "The opportunities in the US are significant and one of James' objectives would be to maximise the significant outbound deal flow opportunities in particular into EMEA and APAC. This plays to our strengths in terms of our existing global platform, particularly as a leading firm in APAC. I look forward to working with James to further capitalise on our strong momentum in New York and advise an even more diverse range of clients on their cross-border matters."
This appointment follows the firm's recent high-profile hires of corporate lawyer Haitham Hawashin in Dubai, finance lawyer Dmitry Gubarev in Moscow and Disputes lawyer Brian Spiro in London. The firm also promoted 21 lawyers to partnership this year, covering eight offices between UK, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, which demonstrated the firm's commitment to investing in its global network of offices and creating a diverse partnership. 

Opened in 2012, the firm's New York office now has a team of over 30 lawyers including 11 partners representing clients in a wide range of commercial litigation, investigations, cross-border matters and class actions throughout the US, as well as infrastructure and project finance.

Herbert Smith Freehills advised on over 120 cross-border deals totaling US$160 billion in FY2016-2017, including British American Tobacco on its US$49.4 billion recommended offer for Reynolds and Sky on its proposed £18 billion acquisition by 21st Century Fox. 

About Herbert Smith Freehills' New York office

The New York office of Herbert Smith Freehills includes a team of international arbitration specialists as well as seasoned litigators representing clients in a wide range of commercial litigation, investigations, cross-border matters and class actions throughout the United States. New York is also the hub for the firm's global Latin America practice with a focus on infrastructure and project finance matters. Lawyers in New York are also qualified to practice in the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, Ecuador, New Zealand and Australia.

About Herbert Smith Freehills

Operating from 26 offices across Asia Pacific, EMEA and North America, Herbert Smith Freehills is at the heart of the new global business landscape providing premium quality, full-service legal advice. The firm provides many of the world’s most important organisations with access to market-leading dispute resolution, projects and transactional legal advice, combined with expertise in a number of global industry sectors, including Banks, Consumer products, Energy, Financial buyers, Infrastructure & Transport, Mining, Pharma & Healthcare, Real estate and TMT. www.herbertsmithfreehills.com Follow us on Twitter @HSFlegal
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