Goldman Sachs' former legal head James Wood has joined law firm O'Melveny & Myers as counsel in the corporate finance practice.

Wood (pictured) will be based in the firm's Hong Kong office in the securities enforcement and regulatory counselling group. Previously at Goldman Sachs Asia as executive director in the legal department, he says the move was prompted by a desire to return to private practice.

"I was looking to go back into private practice and O'Melveny provided me with a great platform," he said. "I had regularly worked with the firm while at Goldman Sachs and Goldman's had recruited some of its most senior partner hires from O'Melveny."

The appointment also provided the opportunity to work with old colleagues, he said, including Michael Moser and Colin Law, both of whom worked with him at Freshfields. 

The move is the third in-house to private practice transfer announced in only the last few weeks; the other two transfers also saw legal heads at Wachovia Bank and Rabobank move to Simmons & Simmons and KhattarWong respectively. Wood's change of address is also one of the many lawyer moves to Hong Kong this month.
 
"I have seen a lot of people come and go in Hong Kong," said Wood. "There is, however, a stable core of practitioners who seem to have been around for much of their professional lives. I understand that qualifying locally may become more difficult in the future. It will be interesting to see how this change may impact moves to Hong Kong."

Although it is a time of uncertainty for the legal sector, Wood remains positive about the value of Hong Kong as a legal hub.

"I am confident that Hong Kong is and will always remain a popular destination for lawyers," he said. "Hong Kong continues to be the most important financial centre in Asia and it should remain as such, provided our leaders show careful foresight. While a number of Asian cities have changed dramatically - mostly for the better - in the past 10-15 years, reports of the 'death' of Hong Kong [have been] greatly exaggerated."

Howard Chao, partner in charge of O'Melveny's Asia practice, is also confident about Hong Kong, with plans to add lawyers to the firm's regional practice.

"We are continuing to invest in Hong Kong because we remain persuaded of Hong Kong's importance as a leading international centre for the long term," said Chao in a statement.