Latham & Watkins Recruits Freshfields Partners for Hong Kong Expansion

Latham & Watkins has secured two high-profile legal practitioners, Grace Huang and Edward Freeman, to bolster its Hong Kong operations. The move signals a strategic push to deepen the firm's influence in the Asian capital markets and M&A sectors, as both partners depart their long-standing roles at Freshfields.

Money Talk·September 1, 2026·reads: 630

Grace Huang joins the firm’s Capital Markets Practice, bringing significant regulatory experience. She currently sits on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Listing Review Committee and the Securities and Futures Commission’s Takeovers and Mergers Panel. Her expertise covers complex dual listings, SPAC transactions, and secondary offerings, reinforcing Latham’s capacity for high-stakes equity mandates.

Edward Freeman enters the M&A and Private Equity Practice, focusing on cross-border takeovers and privatizations. His background includes advising institutional investors and corporates on contested transactions and joint ventures throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Joining alongside them is counsel Cindy Kwong, who specializes in listed company compliance.

These appointments follow a series of recent lateral hires across the region, including antitrust specialist Angie Ng in Singapore and technology transactions expert Rhys McWhirter in Hong Kong. The firm aims to leverage these new additions to provide a more integrated approach to its transactional advisory work as demand for sophisticated legal counsel in the region intensifies.