Morgan Lewis today announced that it will expand in China with the addition of Ingrid Zhu-Clark—a well-respected energy transactions practitioner and former office managing partner at two international firms—who will join the firm as a partner in its Business and Finance practice, resident in Beijing. Along with Lucas S. Chang, Ph.D., senior partner of the firm’s Greater China practice, Zhu-Clark will be a Co-Managing Partner of the Beijing Office. The firm’s planned growth in Beijing comes on the heels of announcements that the firm has drawn dozens of attorneys internationally in recent weeks, including a significant expansion in London, a litigation team in Paris, and corporate and energy lawyers who practice in Russia and Kazakhstan.
“We are excited to continue our international expansion, particularly with respect to our energy capabilities,” noted Francis M. Milone, Chair of Morgan Lewis. “Ingrid and her team—paired with new colleagues soon to join us in Russia and Central Asia, our dynamic office in London, and our market-leading energy practice in the US—will be a terrific combination to serve our clients’ needs across the globe.”
“Having emerged as the second largest economy in the world, China is a vital market for most of our multinational clients,” added Dr. Lucas Chang. “Adding Ingrid’s tremendous experience and expertise in a sector with a profound impact on the way companies do business will be an ideal way to expand our capabilities in Beijing.”
Zhu-Clark practices in energy projects, especially in the area of oil and gas. She has extensive experience advising energy companies in various multijurisdictional acquisition transactions, farm-ins/outs, product sharing contracts, and joint operating agreements, in regions including Africa, South America, North America, Central Asia and Asia, and in many countries including Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Peru, Niger and Nigeria. She also has experience in multi-country pipeline projects, refineries projects and downstream cross-border gas sales, and transactional and regulatory advice to insurance companies doing business in China.
Zhu-Clark, who is admitted to practice in both the U.S. and China, speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, German, and Russian. She will join a Business and Finance practice comprised of more than 300 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia that focuses on mergers and acquisitions (including joint ventures, spin-offs, and strategic alliances), energy transactions (including oil and gas, utilities, and renewable energy), private equity, fund formation, finance, restructuring, securities (including public and private equity and debt offerings), emerging business and technology, outsourcing transactions, and tax. Applying a deep understanding of virtually every industry and type of business enterprise, Morgan Lewis attorneys serve as outside general counsel to many of the world’s leading companies and act as special counsel to others either in specific areas or on a transactional basis.
Morgan Lewis is a leading provider of legal services in the global energy industry, with extensive experience advising on some of the world’s most complex and significant energy transactions. The firm’s attorneys are well versed in national and cross-border transactions, as well as a wide range of energy and energy-related industry sectors. They have considerable experience managing and negotiating complex transactions in electric power; upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas; LNG; gas transportation; power transmission; and renewable energy projects.
