You are using an outdated browser and your browsing experience will not be optimal. Please update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Install Microsoft Edge

May 23, 2019

Tilleke & Gibbins Adds Three Partners, Expanding Regional Commercial and Energy Practices

Subscribe to Updates
Tilleke & Gibbins

Tilleke & Gibbins is pleased to announce that three partners will join the firm’s corporate and commercial department as of June 4, 2019, along with two counsel and four associates.

Two of the new partners—Joseph Tomkiewicz and Supasit Boonsanong—will together head the firm’s energy industry practice, acting for national and international operators in the petroleum industry, as well as companies focused on new energy technologies and renewables, such as wind and solar power. Their efforts will be focused not only on Thailand’s well-established oil and gas industry, but also on the emerging energy industry opportunities across Southeast Asia through the firm’s offices in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Profiles of the new partners are provided below.

  • Joseph Tomkiewicz is a seasoned energy industry counsel with over 28 years of managerial, transactional, and litigation experience in the world’s largest companies. Prior to joining Tilleke & Gibbins, Joseph was General Counsel for Chevron Asia South Limited, where he oversaw all legal affairs for upstream operations across several jurisdictions, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. He has also served as general counsel for Chevron affiliates in Nigeria and Bangladesh, advising on upstream, midstream, and downstream operations. His roles prior to joining Chevron included over a decade with Mobil, where he managed a team of over 250 members responsible for the USD 85 billion merger of Exxon and Mobil, and held several positions in the Middle East.
  • Supasit Boonsanong has over 35 years of experience as an oil and gas industry lawyer in Thailand, and one of the most sought-after authorities in the Thai energy sector. He has previously held positions at some of Thailand’s most well-respected law firms, and at the headquarters of a major Thai petrochemicals and energy organization. He specializes in banking and finance and mergers and acquisitions, and provides advice to leading energy and natural resources companies with a focus on project, joint venture, licensing, supply, construction and financing agreements. He regularly advises on complex, cross‐border transactions.
  • Prisna Sungwanna specializes in corporate law, commercial transactions, and labor and employment, and is particularly known for representing major Thai, regional, and international organizations in complex merger and acquisition matters, including intricate joint ventures. She also has extensive experience in advising foreign investors on establishment of legal entities in Thailand, obtaining foreign business licenses and certificates and Board of Investment promotion, and ongoing business issues. Her employment practice involves regularly advising on work permits and visas, and she is also adept at handling high-value real estate matters.

The new partners will be accompanied by two counsel, Charuwan Charronchitsathian and Tanadee Pantumkomon, who each have over a decade of experience handling a broad range of corporate and commercial matters at some of Bangkok’s most prestigious firms, including Chandler MHM and Baker McKenzie. They will also be accompanied by four associates.

Commenting on this development, Piyanuj (Lui) Ratprasatporn, partner and head of the firm’s corporate and commercial practice, stated that “this marks an exciting new chapter in Tilleke & Gibbins’ almost 130 year history. As a result of the new hires, Tilleke & Gibbins now boasts one of Thailand’s largest corporate and commercial teams, the broadest range of transactional experience, and the most impressive energy industry offering of any firm in the region.”

Tiziana Sucharitkul, co-managing partner and director of the firm’s dispute resolution practice, added that the new members of the team “…bolster Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial offerings to further cement our position as Thailand’s foremost full service firm. We look forward to working closely with them to add significant value to the services that we offer to our clients going forward.”

With these appointments, Tilleke & Gibbins now has 30 partners (14 of whom work in the firm’s regional corporate and commercial team) and over 150 associates across Southeast Asia.

About Tilleke & Gibbins

Tilleke & Gibbins is a leading Southeast Asian regional law firm with over 180 lawyers and consultants practicing in Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, and Yangon. The firm represents the top investors and the high-growth companies that drive economic expansion in Asia in the key areas of commercial transactions and M&A, dispute resolution and litigation, and intellectual property.

 Established in 1890, Tilleke & Gibbins has grown into the largest independent law firm in Thailand and a leading international firm in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam based on its client focus, regional expertise, and international vision. The firm’s corporate clients include world leaders in the fields of aviation, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, energy, consumer goods and retailing, manufacturing, financial services, insurance, information technology, and telecommunications, among others. Tilleke & Gibbins proudly helps global companies excel in Asia and domestic companies shine abroad.

Download Full Article

Industries

Energy

Practices

Corporate/M&A

Locations

RELATED INSIGHTS​ 

January 14, 2022
On January 12, Enlit Asia, a digital content platform and events organizer for the energy industry, published an article that featured the insights of Joseph Tomkiewicz, partner and co-chair of Tilleke & Gibbins’ regional energy practice. Titled “Uncertainty & Silver Linings: An Energy 2022 Outlook,” the article takes stock of some recent trends in the energy industry in Asia, and considers how power production and consumption might play out in the coming year. The writer sought Joseph’s perspective specifically on the continued volatility of natural gas prices, which spiked throughout ASEAN in 2021. Joseph explained that the price of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) may well end up being the single most influential factor for the ASEAN power sector in 2022. The article also noted that a possible silver lining of the high prices could be an accelerated shift toward renewable and sustainable energy sources in line with the region’s targets as affirmed in the latest United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Overall, the article makes the case that 2022 will again be a year of transition for the energy sector in ASEAN as the world moves toward more sustainable practices and greater emphasis on environmental, social, and corporate governance goals. To read the full article, please visit the Enlit Asia website.
Read More
November 15, 2021
Tiziana Sucharitkul, co-managing partner of Tilleke & Gibbins and director of the firm’s dispute resolution department, spoke in two International Bar Association (IBA) webinars on law firm management and strategic direction. Tiziana appeared in her capacity as a member of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee, first in an IBA Global Showcase session on October 28, 2021, and then again at an IBA Officers’ Briefing on November 9. The first event brought together two panels of law firm managing partners from around the world to discuss the matters of greatest concern to the legal industry in a session titled “What is the Future of our Law Firms?” Together, the panelists discussed issued such as the return to physical offices, how best to serve clients, how to encourage and support collaboration among lawyers, and what pricing strategies will look like in the future. This session formed part of the week-long IBA Global Showcase—a global conference sharing knowledge and celebrating successes in law firm policy and practice. In the second session, open only to officers of the IBA, Tiziana was one of three guests interviewed about law firm transitions and strategy. Alongside managing partners from leading firms in India and the USA, Tiziana discussed how established family-run firms can evolve into regional powerhouses, taking examples from her own experience with Tilleke & Gibbins’ regionalization and growth over the past two decades. For more details on the IBA and the 2021 Global Showcase, please visit the IBA website.
Read More
September 17, 2021
Andrew Stoutley, chief operating officer of Tilleke & Gibbins, provided a lengthy quote to Asian Legal Business (ALB) for a recent feature on how law firms in Southeast Asia are increasingly using data analytics and information to drive their business strategy. The article featured contributions from a number of partners and executives from firms across Southeast Asia on the different ways that their firms are applying data to their operations and incorporating information and analytics into their strategic decision-making processes. In his contribution, Andrew explained that as technology has become central to virtually all operations at Tilleke & Gibbins, metrics and data have been harnessed to inform decisions at all levels. To illustrate this, he gave the example of a broad strategic planning process that the firm has undertaken to lay out strategy for the coming years. Identifying and gathering key quantitative and qualitative data points was crucial to the process, which considers every element of the firm’s planned operations for the next several years. Andrew went on to discuss the importance of determining how best to share the data with the relevant stakeholders, such as through visualizations or dashboards that allow staff to monitor the progress of operations. The other informants for the article reported a similar uptick in reliance on data—such as in competitive intelligence, billing, and matter management—and emphasized the necessity for firms to recognize the value of data as a resource that must be protected and used wisely. The full article is available on page 4 of the September 2021 issue of ALB.
Read More
September 10, 2021
On September 9, Joseph Tomkiewicz, partner and co-chair of Tilleke & Gibbins’ regional energy practice, was moderator for a webinar titled “Proceeding to the Next Stages of Thailand Solar: Forecast to 2025 and Vision to 2035,” organized by Neoventure. Joined by three high-profile professionals in the energy industry in ASEAN, Joseph led an interactive session that focused on the direction of solar energy development in Thailand —especially the expected rise of floating and rooftop solar over the next decade. He also steered the discussion to cover analysis and forecast of policies and incentives for each type of solar project in Thailand, scrutinized market updates and compared business models, and led the panelists in reviewing commercial trends. The session was joined by key players in the energy industry who will have a significant role in shaping and growing the solar energy industry in Asia.
Read More