Bristol-headquartered international law firm Osborne Clarke has entered the South East Asian market by making a significant hire in Hong Kong ahead of a proposed strategic alliance with a new law firm in the territory.
Osborne Clarke has recruited Marcus Vass from Bird & Bird in Hong Kong in what it called the first step of its Asia strategy. Next it plans to link with a new law firm in Hong Kong established by John Koh, with whom Marcus worked closely at Bird & Bird.
Marcus Vass advises international online retail companies, advertising agencies and local retail clients on telecoms, media and data protection issues. He is rated in the top tier in the Asia Pacific editions of Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners legal directories. 
John Koh advises private and international companies on mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts and arrangements and joint ventures throughout Asia. He is dual-qualified in England & Wales and Hong Kong.
CEO of Osborne Clarke’s international organisation Simon Beswick said the firm had been planning on supporting clients from a number of industry sectors on their legal needs in Asia for some time.
“We welcome Marcus Vass to the UK partnership,” he said. “He will continue to provide support to clients between Europe and Asia. His expertise in advising clients operating in digital business market as well as other industries fits perfectly into our sector approach and will enable us to continue to give our clients creative business-focussed advice at a competitive price.
“We’re really looking forward to introducing John to our many clients that are in the sectors he specialises in digital business, automotive, life sciences and energy and utilities.”
Osborne Clarke extended its global reach earlier this year by opening an office in San Francisco to build on its presence in the US and extend its network among the West Coast’s tech community. It has had a base in Palo Alto, at the heart of Silicon Valley, since 2001 and also has an office in New York as well as offices in 16 cities across the world including London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Madrid and Munich. It employs 600 lawyers.
