Tilleke & Gibbins is pleased to announce the promotion of three partners to our firm’s partnership, effective January 2019:

John Frangos focuses on complex disputes across Southeast Asia from the firm’s head office in Bangkok. With over a decade of experience in Thailand and Vietnam, John’s strong knowledge of local business practices and customs, and his deep understanding of the region’s political and economic landscapes, help him to guide foreign investors through the legal environments in which they operate. John assists clients with the full range of cross-border commercial disputes, liability claims, high-stakes white-collar criminal matters, and international arbitration. He leads the firm’s regional aviation disputes practice, acting for airlines, lessors, and other aviation industry leaders. He also co-heads Tilleke & Gibbins’ regional compliance and investigations practice, handling anti-corruption and regulatory investigations and advising on corporate compliance programs.

Linh Thi Mai Nguyen is based in the firm’s Hanoi office, and heads the Tilleke & Gibbins trademark team in Vietnam. She is recognized as a leading trademark attorney by the WTR 1000, an “IP Star” by Managing Intellectual Property, and a “Rising Star” by Euromoney with multiple nominations at the annual Asia Women in Business Law Awards. Linh brings an encyclopedic and practical understanding of Vietnamese IP law to the partnership, both from a lawyer’s perspective and from the viewpoint of Vietnam’s legislators and judiciary, drawing on more than a decade of experience as a trusted IP counsel to owners of world-famous brands, and five years as a legal program officer with the USAID-funded STAR project, where she coordinated with government agencies to ensure that Vietnam’s legal regime complied with international commitments.

Wiramrudee (Pink) Mokkhavesa is an attorney in the firm’s regional intellectual property practice, based in Bangkok, who is well regarded for her extensive experience in brand protection, IP enforcement, and anticounterfeiting. Her practice is focused on IP portfolio strategy and management, including registration, commercialization, and protection of trademark, copyright, patent, and other intellectual assets in Asia and worldwide, from the administrative level up to the higher courts. She primarily represents multinational corporations and market leaders in the apparel and luxury goods, automotive parts, consumer products, and software industries. Pink is also well known regionally and internationally for her tireless work to raise public awareness of counterfeiting, through her leadership roles in organizations such as INTA, her strong working relationship with national government agencies in Thailand, and her regular appearances in domestic and international media.

Commenting on the appointments, Darani Vachanavuttivong, Co-Managing Partner and head of the firm’s IP practice, noted that “these exceptionally talented professionals have played an integral role in the growth of our practices, and our reputation for excellent client service, across Southeast Asia, and they are an outstanding addition to the partnership of our firm.”

Tiziana Sucharitkul, Co-Managing Partner and head of the firm’s dispute resolution practice adds, “Our new partners have excelled in their careers in key strategic industries—notably in automotive, aviation, life sciences, luxury goods, and technology—and we are confident that their tenure as partners will greatly enhance the services we provide to clients.”

Tilleke & Gibbins now has 27 partners and 145 associates in our seven offices across Southeast Asia.