Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe Opens Singapore Office; International Finance Practice Now Has a Base in Asia

Business Wire, May 8, 1996

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 1996--Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, one of the leading finance law firms in the United States, today announced the opening of its Singapore office.

Lawyers in the firm have provided legal services to clients in Asia and in various countries throughout the world for some time. Now, with the opening of its first overseas office in Singapore, Orrick is able to provide an increased depth of services to existing clients and to make its finance expertise more readily available to new clients in Asia.

"This is a very important day for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe," said Ralph H. Baxter, Jr., Orrick's chairman and CEO.

"A presence in Asia -- and in Singapore specifically, has been something we have considered for a long time. A number of our lawyers have spent much of their time in Asia and Europe in recent years serving the tremendous worldwide need for legal expertise in project and infrastructure finance. We waited to open an office until we felt we had the right people and the right place to begin. Today, we do."

Orrick's finance expertise has earned the firm number-one rankings among law firms in both asset-backed financing and municipal finance, according to the most recent survey conducted and published by The American Lawyer. In that same survey, Orrick was among the ten leading law firms in the area of project finance, ranked by number of financings closed last year. Through its Singapore office, the firm plans to make that expertise available to a broad range of sponsors, developers, primary lenders, underwriters, and bilateral or multilateral agencies.

"As in each of our offices, we plan to blend the firm's existing talent and tradition of excellence with outstanding locally and regionally recruited lawyers with whom we share a vision of quality, cost-effectiveness, and commitment to service," said William R. Campbell, Partner-In-Charge of the firm's Singapore office.

Campbell, whose finance practice has long concentrated on the representation of domestic and foreign banks and other financial institutions in cross border financings of infrastructure and aircraft, has focused for the last several years on the development and financing of power, telecommunications and other infrastructure projects in Asia for multinational developers and financial institutions.

Campbell has practiced internationally since joining Coudert Brothers in 1976. He was a partner specializing in international project finance at Graham & James for 10 years and has been an Orrick partner since 1993, spending most of that time in Asia. Campbell graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was a member of the Texas Law Review. Campbell is joined in the new office by Orrick associates David Vance, Eleanor Wong, Bruce Schulberg, M. Tamara Box and Nicholas Chan.

Vance is an Honors graduate of the University of Texas Law School where he served as an editor of the Texas International Law Journal. His practice focuses on project finance, leasing transactions, commercial finance and general corporate and securities work. Prior to joining Orrick's Singapore effort, Vance was an associate in the firm's Los Angeles office.

Wong is a Masters (Corporate Law) graduate of the New York University School of Law and a law graduate of the National University of Singapore. She is called as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore and also is a member of the New York Bar. She has extensive experience in corporate and financial law.

Schulberg is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law where he served as Editor of the Columbia University Journal of Chinese Law. Schulberg has practiced in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta and New York and is a frequent speaker on the legal aspects of project finance and corporate matters.

Box is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. where she served as the Executive Editor of the Journal of Law & Policy in International Business. Box has worked on several major deals throughout Asia including work on a credit transaction that was named "Deal of the Year" by Asia Money.

Chan is a graduate of Pembroke College, The University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England. He is called to the Bar of England and Wales and is called as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore. He has experience in general corporate, capital markets and finance law throughout Asia.

Wong, Schulberg, Box and Chan join Orrick from Coudert Brothers' Singapore office.

"We are thrilled with today's start," said Baxter. "We look forward to providing Orrick services to our clients from Singapore. We have learned through the years that hard work and a commitment to clients and to the community are very important to the success and growth of a new office."

Orrick, which traces its roots to 1863 in San Francisco, where the firm helped finance much of California's infrastructure and many of its institutions, has helped accomplish complex financings for more than a century. Projects have ranged from the finance work on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and New York's Carnegie Hall, to major infrastructure and power projects in Asia, Latin America and Europe.