Malaysian law firm, Halim Hong & Quek has appointed Siva Kumar Kanagasabai as Senior Partner and Head of its Dispute Resolution Practice with effect from 1 January 2026, marking a significant senior lateral hire from Skrine. Kumar joins after more than 30 years at Skrine, where he was a partner and a longstanding member of its dispute resolution practice. He is consistently recognised by international legal directories and is known for his work in complex, high-value disputes. His practice spans commercial litigation and arbitration, fraud and asset recovery, maritime and shipping matters, and employment disputes. The appointment comes amid rising demand for sophisticated dispute resolution services, particularly in cross-border and commercially sensitive matters. By bringing in a senior practitioner with deep experience, the firm is reinforcing its disputes capability at leadership level. Commenting on his move, Kumar said: “I am excited to join Halim Hong & Quek, which has grown tremendously over the last few years both in size and stature. Although I am only joining HHQ as a partner now, I have known some of the founding partners of HHQ from the time we were students in university and I was even present when the firm was first launched. I was at the same law firm for 30 years and it felt like it was time for me to embrace a new challenge. Ultimately, it was HHQ which appealed to me the most with their clarity of purpose and unwavering commitment to finding innovative ways to deliver exceptional work for clients in a collaborative environment. HHQ’s ambition to grow specialist practice areas and to provide bespoke legal services...

Reed Smith has added banking and finance partner Dr Gregory Xu to its Singapore office. He will join the firm’s Transportation Industry Group. Xu joins from Stephenson Harwood, where he led the general banking and project finance offering in Southeast Asia, and served on the firm’s Supervisory Council, its executive committee. With over 15 years of experience, Xu advises on high-value, cross-border transactions across a wide range of sectors, including transportation — shipping, aviation, and logistics — trade, life sciences, energy and technology. He regularly acts for financial institutions, funds, export credit agencies, leasing houses, asset owners and Fortune 500 companies on complex financing, restructuring and enforcement matters. Xu has a strong track record in green and sustainability-linked lending, and advises on multi-jurisdictional insolvency-related enforcement and restructuring matters. He also brings extensive experience in general corporate and commercial...

JSA Advocates and Solicitors has added Rachana Rautray as a retained partner in its Mumbai office. Rautray is a highly accomplished technology and regulatory lawyer with nearly a decade of post-qualification experience. She brings deep sectoral expertise across data privacy and governance, payments and settlement systems, gaming, content regulation, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, as well as intellectual property and commercial contracts. A graduate of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, Rautray completed her BA LLB (Hons) in 2016, and is enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. Prior to joining JSA, she held senior roles at leading law firms, including Trilegal, AZB & Partners, L&L Partners and, most recently, served as Principal and Lead for the Technology Practice at Anagram Partners. Rautray has advised a wide range of domestic and international clients, including global technology companies, fintechs, digital platforms, gaming companies, intermediaries and e-commerce players, on complex regulatory and strategic matters. Her work spans Digital Personal Data Protection Act compliance, cross-border data flows, digital lending, platform governance, payments regulation, crypto and blockchain structuring, and AI-related risk assessment. She has also been closely involved in advising clients on business structuring, product launches, regulatory engagement, and strategic risk mitigation in rapidly evolving regulatory...

Baker McKenzie has added leading project finance lawyer Matthias Schemuth as a principal in the firm’s Singapore office (Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, Baker McKenzie’s member firm in Singapore) and as Asia Pacific Co-Head of Projects in its Finance & Projects practice, alongside Partner Jon Ornolffson in Tokyo. Schemuth joins from DLA Piper, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors across the Asia Pacific. He advises sponsors, developers, commercial banks, multilateral lending agencies and export credit agencies on the structuring and financing of large-scale projects. Schemuth‘s practice also spans international banking, structured commodity and trade finance, with a strong focus on emerging...

  Eversheds Sutherland has appointed partner Albert Yuen to lead its Technology, Data and Cyber offering in Asia. Yuen was previously head of Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) – Hong Kong at Linklaters, where he led and developed its TMT practice, advising on major regional and global mandates. His career encompasses 25 years’ extensive TMT experience across the Asia-Pacific region and on the US West Coast, having held senior positions with Linklaters and Osborne Clarke in Hong Kong, Gilbert + Tobin in Australia, and US firms Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles. In addition, Yuen brings valuable in-house skills and technical excellence through secondments with notable telecommunications companies in Asia and Australia. A senior figure in the region’s technology and data legal market, he advises on an array of key areas within the TMT space. Throughout his career, he has advised on multi-jurisdictional cloud and outsourcing projects for global and regional corporate...