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Charltons picked up the prestigious award in the face of strong local competition in recognition of the firm’s commitment to the advancement of women, including flexible work arrangements to help women advance in the legal profession. Approximately half of Charltons’ associates are women, as are most of its partners, with women in the majority in the Beijing, Shanghai and Myanmar offices, all also managed by women.This is the second time in three months that Charltons has won a major industry award. In September 2013, also in a strong field of contenders, it was named Boutique/Specialist Law Firm of the Year 2013 at the Macallan Asian Legal Business Awards.
Charltons was founded in Hong Kong in October 1998 by Julia Charlton (pictured) following an early career with a “Magic Circle” law firm in London and Hong Kong. It has since established itself as a leading boutique legal adviser on Hong Kong capital and corporate finance markets.
A Mandarin-speaker leading a multilingual team, Julia said: “2013 has been a landmark year for Charltons with a team of Charltons' women lawyers coordinating an investment banking industry-wide project to create the Hong Kong Sponsor Due Diligence Guidelines, the development of our Myanmar office and the strengthening of our M&A and regulatory practices - I firmly believe our approach to flexible and part-time working has played a key role in helping us provide cutting edge advice to key clients in a highly competitive environment.”
Julia shaped Charltons’ progressive work practices for women on the basis of her own experiences as a single mother of four. Three of her children have now graduated from Oxford University, and the fourth is currently completing a medical degree at King’s College, London.
Charltons is a focused corporate finance firm employing a team of around 50 legal professionals and support staff who are vastly experienced in offering advice to both multinational and local companies operating in Hong Kong and the PRC. The firm has represented US, European, Japanese and Hong Kong investment banks in corporate finance transactions, including H-share, PRC and red chip offerings. Many of Charltons lawyers are dual qualified in Hong Kong and in other jurisdictions. Alongside its Hong Kong headquarters, the firm has representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai and an arm in Yangon, Myanmar.
Over the past 12 months, Charltons coordinated the Hong Kong Sponsor Due Diligence Guidelines(www.duediligenceguielines.com), a 760 + page guide, involving extensive consultation with industry players including over 40 investment banks, two of the Big Four accounting firms and over 20 leading Hong Kong law firms. The globally-unique Due Diligence Guidelines offer guidance to investment banks acting as IPO sponsors to listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in order to meet standards being set under new legal and regulatory requirements. Charltons' recently established Myanmar office complements the firm’s strengths in the natural resources sector, with work in Myanmar to date including a major joint venture, a copper mine acquisition, an offshore Myanmar private equity fund, restructuring a gold project and representing a UK listed oil company in the 2013 round of Myanmar Government oil tenders. The firm also advised securities and commodities traders moving in to the Hong Kong market as well as advising on funds, reorganisations and M&A and private equity transactions and a number of ongoing IPO projects.
Julia raised four children as a single working mother. She began her career with Slaughter and May in London before moving to Hong Kong for the firm in 1987. She has remained in Hong Kong ever since and established Charltons in October 1998 after being a partner in another city firm.
Both Julia and Charltons have received numerous industry accolades and awards, and Julia herself has for a number of years been named a “Leading Lawyer” by Asialaw. In 2008 she was named Professional of the Year in the AmCham/SCMP Women of Influence Awards. She is an absolute advocate of the need to provide a flexible and supportive environment for women to balance family and career commitments.
Julia has also found the time to become actively involved in a wide range of Corporate Social Responsibility and regulatory activities in Hong Kong, including as a member of the Listing Committee of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and of the Takeovers Panel and Takeovers Appeal Panel of the SFC, and as a member of the Securities Law Committee of the Hong Kong Law Society.
A fluent Mandarin-speaker, she has served as an independent non-executive director on the boards of listed mainland Chinese companies and acts as Treasurer for the Friends of the London School of Economics in Hong Kong. She has delivered a large number of speeches and professional papers.
Together with her children, Julia has established two charities operating in Asia. The Asia Education Foundation funding university education for students from rural China and the Asia Environmental Foundation focusing on environmental protection and disaster relief.
Release ID: 26495
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