Chicago, Illinois-headquartered law firm, Mayer Brown, has announced the appointment of Kay-Jannes Wegner as partner within its litigation and dispute resolution practice. Based in Singapore following relocation later this summer, he reports to Yu-Jin Tay, who leads the international arbitration practice in Asia.
Edern Coënt also joins the firm’s Singapore base as senior associate within international arbitration. Both come from South Korean law firm, Kim & Chang, with their appointments effective from May 1.
The international arbitration practice has doubled in size in Singapore in recent years, Tay told FinanceAsia, noting the firm’s appointment of partner Paul Teo in October 2020.
Wegner’s recruitment coincides with a strong uptick in Mayer Brown’s LNG and energy involvement, he shared, as well as construction and infrastructure-related arbitrations, which the firm projects will continue. This sharp rise in energy-related work reflects broader trends in the global LNG sector, renewables sector and climate-related developments, as well as “short-term ongoing developments in Europe”, Tay told FA.
Additionally, the firm is seeing a rise in its construction-related disputes across sectors, including power and transport, as construction work in Southeast and South Asia picks up after two years of Covid-related restrictions.
“The energy and construction sectors for us involve big ticket, high stake, cross-border disputes which uniquely require a deep bench of partner level expertise combining arbitration skills, sector knowledge and strong geographical or cultural familiarity on the ground.”
Wegner spent 11 years at Kim & Chang, most recently as a senior member within the firm’s international and cross-border litigation practice, and head of its European arbitration desk. He earlier held senior associate roles at Herbert Smith Freehills and Clifford Chance. He is specialised in advising clients on defence procurement arbitrations, investment treaty arbitration, and energy-related arbitrations, in particular and sits as an arbitrator in ICC and Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) cases.
Coënt is a New York and France-qualified lawyer who has experience working in Paris, Hong Kong and Seoul, including at the Secretariat of the ICC Court of Arbitration.
Wegner and his family will relocate to Singapore from Seoul in August, Tay said. Since April, he has been on temporary secondment to Mayer Brown’s Frankfurt office, working across ongoing high-profile arbitrations. Coënt is also making a start in the firm’s German office.
Despite his relocation from Seoul, Wegner will continue to be fully involved in the firm’s recognised Korea-outbound arbitration practice, Tay added.
“Mayer Brown is one of the few international arbitration practices that is consistently top-ranked for Korea-outbound arbitration work, despite not having an on the ground presence in Seoul.”
Following Wegner’s appointment, Mayer Brown becomes the sole international arbitration practice in Singapore to have two Chambers-ranked partners from the Korea market.
“We expect Korean clients and Korea-related arbitrations to continue to form a major part of our practice. The current matters we are busiest on for Korean clients are LNG/energy cases, as well as construction/engineering cases and defence procurement cases.”
The firm will continue to grow this practice by adding selectively recruited partners with a proven track record in specialised areas of arbitration in Asia, Tay concluded.
Wegner and Coënt’s appointments follow other high-profile hires for Mayer Brown in Singapore. Justin Tan, energy M&A partner, and Soumitro Mukerji, fund finance partner, joined earlier in the year, as did associates, Aloysius Liu and Daniel Chua.
