King & Wood recently announced that three new partners Zhang Zhiyong (张智勇), Wu Nan (吴楠), and Zhao Shuang (赵爽) have joined its Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Silicon Valley offices respectively. Bringing deep expertise and extensive experience in maritime law matters, special situations, and cross-border intellectual property their addition will further strengthen the professional depth and service capabilities of the firm helping it consolidate its local service base, expand its international business footprint, and deliver forward-looking legal solutions to clients.
Based in the Shanghai office Mr. Zhang focuses on developing the foreign-related commercial and maritime practice. With nearly 30 years of experience he advises on a broad range of matters covering shipping, insurance, international logistics, ship financing and building, cross-border insolvency, international trade, commodity transactions, and futures trading. Earning a strong reputation in the industry he has represented domestic and international insurance institutions, protection and indemnity clubs, shipowners, liner companies, logistics companies, shipyards, financial leasing companies, commodity traders, and major central state-owned enterprises in significant and complex cross-border commercial and maritime disputes alongside non-contentious matters. Prior to joining King & Wood he served as a partner and Management Committee member at DeHeng Law Offices in Shanghai.
Joining the Guangzhou office Mr. Wu focuses on developing the special situations practice. With more than 10 years of experience in commercial law and non-performing assets he advises on the acquisition, management, and disposal of special situations assets, structured financing and investment, consensual debt restructuring, and enforcement. He has been deeply involved throughout the project lifecycle serving in multiple capacities including as a transaction adviser, debt recovery adviser, and restructuring adviser covering the entire investment lifecycle from fundraising and investment through management to exit. Establishing a strong industry presence in the Greater Bay Area he has long provided in-depth services to leading clients in the special situations market including the five nationwide asset management companies of China. Before his current transition he practiced as a senior partner at Guangdong Guozhi Law Firm.
Operating out of the Silicon Valley office Mr. Zhao focuses on expanding the cross-border intellectual property practice. Leveraging nearly 20 years of combined experience in technology R&D and IP law his practice spans patent prosecution and portfolio management, patent licensing, IP strategy advisory, and patent dispute resolution. His technical expertise covers cutting-edge fields including wireless communications, artificial intelligence and machine learning, medical imaging, audio and video processing, augmented and virtual reality, semiconductors, and smart home technologies. Prior to entering the legal profession he worked at Motorola Mobility and The Nielsen Company on the R&D of audio and video coding alongside video recognition systems. He previously practiced at Fish & Richardson and Condo Roccia Koptiw and served as a partner at Zhong Law LLC prior to joining the firm.
Gong Mulong (龚牧龙) Managing Partner of King & Wood stated that as the legal needs of clients become increasingly diverse and complex higher expectations are being placed on both the breadth and depth of legal services. Mr. Gong expressed confidence that the deep expertise of the three partners will enhance the ability of the firm to deliver comprehensive services. Meg Utterback (胡梅) Managing Partner of the North America offices at King & Wood emphasized that the arrival of Mr. Zhao will strengthen the capabilities of the firm in the United States across IP prosecution, litigation, and advisory services highlighting his particular strengths in patent drafting, patent portfolio management, and IP due diligence.
