Ashurst appoints five within global energy team

The partners all join from Shearman & Sterling. Their recruitment boosts Ashurst's capacity to address opportunities presented by the net zero transition.

June 13, 2023

UK-headquartered law firm, Ashurst, has expanded its energy and infrastructure capabilities by appointing five new partners across the UK and Asia Pacific. All new hires join from US rival firm, Shearman & Sterling.

In Asia, Ashurst has appointed Seoul-based Anna Chung, Singapore-based Jean-Louis Neves Mandelli, and Singapore-based Scott Baggett.

In London, the firm has hired project finance lawyer, Sanja (Sonny) Udovicic, and M&A and project development lawyer, Julia Derrick. Derrick was previously a partner at Ashurst before a career break and nine-month stint at Shearman & Sterling.

All new partners came on board between mid-May and early June, a spokesperson for the firm told FinanceAsia.

The appointments come as corporates globally accelerate their efforts towards net zero emissions, wrote the firm’s statement.

“Future projections indicate that, based on Apac's increasing share of global GDP, the region will continue to drive substantial progress for the decarbonisation of our global economy,” the spokesperson added.

Key megatrends that Ashurst is seeing in the decarbonisation space in Asia include carbon capture and storage; offshore wind; battery storage; deep storage (including pumped hydro); green hydrogen; and corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs).

The spokesperson highlighted Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia as countries active in creating frameworks to support decarbonisation and to attract local and foreign investment.

Other technologies such as carbon capture – while in their nascent stages – will also be vital in pursuing the path to net zero, the spokesperson added.

Commenting on further hiring plans, she said that energy transition continues to be a key pillar of the firm’s hiring strategy and building out talent in this space remains important, globally.

Other recent appointments in the region include former Norton Rose Fulbright lawyers Paul Lingard, Miriam D’Souza and Jessica Davies as partners in Perth, in August 2022.

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