Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton on Thursday announced plans to launch a Hong Kong law practice with a partner recruited from U.K. firm Norton Rose.

Freeman Chan, an experienced capital markets lawyer, is currently head of the China corporate finance practice at the U.K. firm. He has acted as issuer’s counsel in several recent Hong Kong initial public offerings, including the $741 million debut of Sihuan Pharmaceutical in October and the $450 million IPO of China Modern Dairy in November.