May 23 (Reuters) – Five lawyers are leaving U.S. law firm Shearman & Sterling to join UK rival Ashurst as partners in London, Seoul and Singapore, Ashurst said Tuesday, two days after Shearman and Allen & Overy announced merger plans.
Joining Ashurst’s energy and infrastructure practices are partners Sanja (Sonny) Udovicic, Julia Derrick, Anna Chung and Jean-Louis Neves Mandelli. Scott Baggett, who was a counsel at Sherman, is also joining Ashurst as a partner.
Derrick is returning to the firm after a nine-month stint with Shearman, London-headquartered Ashurst said.
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Udovicic and Derrick will be based in London, while Chung is joining the Seoul office, and Neves Mandelli and Baggett will be in Singapore, an Ashurst spokesperson said.
The lawyers advise both sponsors and lenders across the globe on project development and finance, Ashurst said.
The team advised Saudi Arabia property developer NEOM Company on the Helios Project to dvelop a $6.5 billion green hydrogen and ammonia production facility, according to Shearman. A Shearman spokesperson said the firm wishes the group well.
New York-founded Shearman and London-founded Allen & Overy said on Sunday that they are planning to combine pending a vote by partners at both firms, creating a firm with around 3,900 lawyers and $3.4 billion in global revenue.
Ashurst merged with South Korean law firm HwaHyun in December of 2022, becoming the first international law firm to practice Korean law and hire local attorneys in the country since the legal market opened to foreign law firms in 2011.
