Clyde & Co acquires 18-strong DLA Piper Bangkok team in strategic Southeast Asia expansion as UK firms deepen Asia-Pacific presence
Clyde & Co has made a significant lateral hire in Bangkok, bringing across a team of 18 lawyers from DLA Piper's Thailand practice in what represents one of the largest single-office team moves in Southeast Asia's legal market to date. The acquisition of a cohesive practice group of this size reflects Clyde & Co's strategic push to deepen its footprint in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, where insurance, shipping, energy, and infrastructure legal markets have been expanding rapidly. The move follows a period of consolidation in the Bangkok legal market, where international firms have been competing to build credible local practices capable of advising on inbound foreign direct investment, cross-border M&A, and complex disputes. DLA Piper loses a substantial presence in the Thai market as a result of the departure. For Clyde & Co, the hire extends its Asia-Pacific network, which already covers Singapore, Hong Kong, and other regional hubs. The Bangkok practice is expected to integrate with Clyde & Co's existing shipping, aviation, insurance, and energy sector capabilities — all areas with strong English-law and London-nexus transaction flow. The move reflects a broader trend of UK-headquartered firms investing in Southeast Asian capacity as the region becomes an increasingly important destination for capital from the Gulf, UK pension funds, and European infrastructure investors.
Why this matters
Team moves of this scale — 18 lawyers leaving a global firm in a single coordinated departure — are rare and carry significant legal, regulatory, and commercial risk for both acquiring and losing firms. For Clyde & Co, integrating a practice group of this size in a civil law jurisdiction like Thailand requires rapid attention to client conflict checks, regulatory permissions to practise, and harmonisation of billing and matter management systems. From a client perspective, the transition raises questions about continuity of advice and confidentiality of pending matters migrating across firms. The wider significance for London law students is that UK firms are increasingly treating Southeast Asia as a growth frontier, driven by infrastructure investment flows and the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership), which the UK joined in 2023 — expanding English-law-governed trade and investment frameworks in the region.
On the Ground
A trainee supporting an international team integration of this kind would coordinate local counsel instruction letters for regulatory approval of the practice transfer in Thailand, assist with sanctions screening memos for incoming client relationships, and prepare choice-of-law summaries for existing mandates transitioning to the new firm.
Interview prep
Soundbite
An 18-lawyer Bangkok team lift-out signals that Southeast Asia has become a genuine international expansion frontier for UK law firms, not just an outpost.
Question you might get
“What are the key professional conduct and regulatory issues a UK law firm must navigate when integrating a large team of lawyers from a civil law jurisdiction like Thailand?”
Full answer
Clyde & Co has hired an 18-strong team from DLA Piper in Bangkok, one of the largest lateral moves in Southeast Asia's legal market. This matters commercially because it reflects UK firms competing for the high-value inbound investment, insurance, and energy legal work generated by the region's economic expansion — work that is frequently governed by English law or requires London-market insurance expertise. The broader trend is that ASEAN is attracting sustained capital inflows from Gulf sovereign wealth funds, European pension managers, and US infrastructure investors, all of whom want firms with credible on-the-ground Asian presence backed by Magic Circle or Silver Circle capability. This suggests international practices at UK firms will continue to see strong lateral hiring and organic growth across Asia through the next cycle.
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