NEW YORK– LAWFUEL – Law Firm Newswire –Greenberg Traurig, LLP, the firm with the most extensive U.S. platform among the top 20 firms on the NLJ 250, has steadily and carefully been building its international network. Following the success of its Amsterdam office, it has been operating successful offices in Zurich and Tokyo, and exclusive alliances with Olswang, in London, Brussels and Berlin; Studio Santa Maria, in Milan and Rome; the Hayabusa Asuka firm in Tokyo; and non-exclusive alliances elsewhere.
Today, Greenberg Traurig announced further moves in the international arena. These include the opening of its Shanghai office, the firm’s first location in China; an important addition to its Tokyo presence; and new leadership for its Global Practice Group.
The world’s second largest economy, China is a leading exporter of business and consumer goods and a vast land of opportunity for Western products and international investment. Shanghai, in turn, serves as the gateway to Mainland China and Greenberg Traurig’s move is a significant step in the firm’s continued international evolution. More recently, Shanghai has also emerged as a key staging ground for China’s growing outbound investments.
Joining Greenberg Traurig as Chief Representative of the Shanghai office is Peter A. Neumann, an attorney with extensive experience in the Greater China region, practicing in China since 1993. His practice covers broad-based foreign direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and commercial matters. Neumann has represented a wide range of publicly-held and privately-held clients based in the U.S., Europe, U.K., Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia. The firm expects to have seven lawyers based in the Shanghai office within the first few months.
“The new Shanghai office was driven by the firm’s need to assist our diverse client base entering, or already operating, throughout Asia. We believe it is important to have top quality and culturally consistent representation on the ground in this rapidly developing continent appropriate for the business need while exercising discipline in what appears to be an overheated business and legal market in the short term,” said Richard A. Rosenbaum, President of Greenberg Traurig.
In tandem with the opening of its Shanghai office, and consistent with the prior announcement of its formal agreement with Japanese alliance firm Hayabusa Asuka to form a registered joint venture association (gaikokuho kyodo jigyo) between the two firms in the coming months, subject to approval under applicable law, Greenberg Traurig will be relocating Allison Rosenberg, a Real Estate shareholder currently resident in its New York office, to Tokyo.
“We are fortunate that a unique individual like Allison will be an important part of our Tokyo team, given her knowledge of the language and culture, her multi-year experience working in the market for other major firms in the past and the high quality work and collaborative spirit she has shown while resident in our New York office,” Rosenbaum said.
In order to ensure the continuing successful collaboration and organization of the firm’s international practice in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and to further support the work being done between the US and its offices and alliances around the world, James Bacchus and Patricia Menendez-Cambo have been appointed co-chairs of the firm’s Global Practice Group. They will work together to coordinate the firm’s efforts in this important area.
Washington-based Bacchus is a former Chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization, a former Member of Congress and a former international trade negotiator for the United States. Menendez-Cambo, resident in Miami, has spearheaded some of the most important legal transactions in Latin America in recent years and is one of the “50 Most Influential Women Lawyers,” and one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers,” in the United States, as selected by The National Law Journal.
“With the leadership of these internationally renowned lawyers who have evidenced their extraordinary quality and been role models for our culture over many years at the firm, we are indeed in the best of hands,” Rosenbaum added.
About Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, full-service law firm with more than 1750 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The firm was selected as the 2007 USA Law Firm of the Year by Chambers and Partners.
Greenberg Traurig serves clients from offices in: Albany, NY; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Atlanta, GA; Boca Raton, FL; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Houston, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Morristown, NJ; New York, NY; Orange County, CA; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Sacramento, CA; Shanghai, China; Silicon Valley, CA; Tallahassee, FL; Tampa, FL; Tysons Corner, VA; Washington, D.C.; West Palm Beach, FL; Wilmington, DE; and Zurich, Switzerland. Additionally, the firm has strategic alliances with the following independent law firms: Olswang, London, Berlin and Brussels; Studio Santa Maria, Milan and Rome; and Hayabusa Asuka Law Offices in Tokyo.
For additional information, please visit the firm’s Web site at www.gtlaw.com.