Steve Immelt, Hogan Lovells CEO, suggested that the aim of the move is mainly to offer global coverage to multinational clients rather than seeking to win new business from prospective domestic clients. He said: 'There is a significant alignment between our client interests in Australia, the United States, Africa and South East Asia. This move enables us to draw on the full resources of our global offering, especially in highly regulated industries such as energy and mining. We have long recognized the strategic importance of having an Australian capability in order to successfully develop our Asia practice but the opportunity had to be the right one.'

Japan

Nicky Lester was the head of the banking and finance practice group at Allens. Tim Lester was the Allens lead on Japanese work and was particularly involved in energy and natural resources. Hogans currently has 2,500 lawyers in 41 offices around the world. Source: Hogan Lovells