​“This is a CKG summary of notable publicly announced partner, team and office moves across APAC during the quarter. It is intended as a market snapshot rather than a complete record of all market activity.”

Quarter in brief

Q1 2026 looked active in several APAC markets, but not in a broad-based hiring frenzy sense. The public-domain moves suggest a more selective pattern: Hong Kong saw continued investment in funds, capital markets and technology/cyber capability; Singapore remained strong for PE/M&A and arbitration; Japan saw targeted expansion by international firms in cross-border and infrastructure-related areas; Australia stayed competitive in disputes and finance; and PRC firms continued to strengthen both domestic benches and international-facing capability.

Hong Kong

K&L Gates added Huberta Chow as an Asset Management and Investment Funds Partner and Guiping Lu joined as a Capital Markets Partner in Hong Kong in January 2026. Norton Rose Fulbright also announced that Jason Chan joined as a Partner in its Hong Kong office in January 2026. Separately, Baker McKenzie hired Frankie Tam in Hong Kong to strengthen their technology and cybersecurity capability. Han Kun also appointed Joanne Loi as a partner in its Hong Kong branch in March, further strengthening its capital markets practice. 

CKG view – Hong Kong

The quarter’s publicly announced Hong Kong moves look concentrated in funds, capital markets, compliance, and tech/cyber, rather than a broad reopening of every practice area. That feels consistent with a market where firms are still being selective, but are willing to invest in areas tied to sponsor activity, regulatory complexity and AI / digital risk.

Singapore

In Singapore, Gibson Dunn announced in February 2026 that Nigel Gleeson, Jon Bowden and Alice Boughton joined the firm’s Singapore office as partners in the private equity and M&A practice groups. Baker Botts also announced in March that Katie Chung joined as a partner in Singapore to help build its international arbitration capability. Furthermore, Withers appointed former Sidley Austin partner Raymond Oh as a senior partner based in Hong Kong and Singapore, where he will lead the firm’s corporate practice. Harneys likewise strengthened its Singapore disputes bench with Wei Lee Lim taking charge of the dispute resolution practice there from early January.

CKG view – Singapore

Singapore continues to look like the most consistently investable international market in APAC, particularly for private equity, M&A, arbitration and cross-border corporate work. The publicly announced moves suggest firms still see Singapore as a regional growth platform rather than just a maintenance office.

PRC

On the PRC side, Han Kun added Sean Chen as a Beijing-based partner, strengthening its criminal and corporate practices, and also added Joanne Loi in Hong Kong for capital markets. At the broader strategic level, the King & Wood / Mallesons split was confirmed around the end of March 2026, with King & Wood launching new offices in Vancouver and Los Angeles ahead of that separation.

CKG view – PRC

The PRC story looks less like simple expansion and more like divergence of strategy: some firms are still adding bench strength in core domestic and Hong Kong-facing practices, while the King & Wood / Mallesons separation underlines that internationalisation models are continuing to evolve rather than converge.

Japan

Japan saw several meaningful international-firm moves in Q1. White & Case announced that Ed Sheremeta joined as a partner in Tokyo in January 2026. Sidley announced in March that Simon Barrett and Olivia Matsushita joined as partners in Tokyo in its Energy, Transportation and Infrastructure practice. Mayer Brown also announced in March that Toshiro Mochizuki and Kana Morimura joined its Tokyo office, following the recent addition of Masahisa Ikeda, with the group joining from A&O Shearman as part of an eight-lawyer Tokyo team.

CKG view – Japan

The Tokyo moves again look targeted rather than volume-driven, with an emphasis on cross-border M&A / private capital and infrastructure-linked capability. Japan still appears to be a high-barrier market where international firms are willing to invest, but usually through very deliberate senior hires rather than broad hiring campaigns.

Australia

In Australia, White & Case announced that Will Stawell rejoined as a partner in Sydney in January 2026, expanding its debt finance and financial institutions capability. K&L Gates also announced in January that Peter Brabant joined its Sydney office as a partner in litigation and dispute resolution, with a focus on energy disputes, investigations and arbitration. Dentons also announced in January that Sarah Fregon joined as a dispute resolution partner in Australia.

CKG view – Australia

The Australia moves point to an ongoing premium on finance, disputes and energy-linked capability, which is broadly consistent with the areas where established partners continue to attract real lateral interest.

Themes we’re watching

Firstly, firms still appear to be hiring selectively rather than expansively across APAC.

Secondly, the most visible public moves skew towards private capital, funds, disputes, regulatory/compliance, and technology / cyber / AI-adjacent work.

Thirdly, Japan and Singapore continue to look like markets where international firms will still invest heavily for the right strategic fit.

Fourthly, the PRC-related landscape remains active but more structurally mixed, particularly with the King & Wood / Mallesons separation.

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These are CKG inferences based on the pattern of publicly announced moves above.