Ex-World Bank counsel joins Orrick

Law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has hired attorney Peter Cleary to co-head its Asia energy and infrastructure group, according to a press announcement.

Orrick said Cleary will be based in Hong Kong and run its Asia business with co-head Yoichi Katayama, who is based in Tokyo. Katayama has been a partner with Orrick since 1997.

Prior to signing on with Orrick, Cleary was general counsel and secretary to the board of directors for Dubai-headquartered RAK Petroleum Public Company Limited. He joined RAK Petroleum in 2009, helping to organise a ‘reverse merger’ that resulted in RAK acquiring 43 percent of DNO International, an oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company based in Oslo, Norway.

Cleary has also been director and general counsel of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group. Cleary worked at MIGA from 2005 to 2010.

Orrick says Asia is a fast-growing market for its energy and infrastructure business.