When Michael Han, the head of the China antitrust practice for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, announced last month he was leaving for Chinese firm Fangda Partners, many in the legal community expressed surprise that a rising young partner leading a key practice area for a Magic Circle firm would make such a move.
But though Han, who was a Chinese government official before moving to international law practice, himself declined to comment, many of his peers in the Chinese antitrust arena say his move made a certain sense, given how the practice was developing. They think other Chinese antitrust lawyers currently working at international firms may follow suit and move to domestic firms as well.
