Elaine Lo, the pioneering lawyer on her way up
Lawyer pioneered M&A negotiations on the mainland 30 years ago on her way to becoming the first female senior partner at Mayer Brown JSM
Elaine Lo's career exemplifies the rise in Hong Kong of professional women, whose efforts have made this city one of the best in Asia for them.
Lo, Asia chair and senior partner at Mayer Brown JSM, has worked for the law firm for more than 30 years. She has handled major mergers and acquisitions (M&A), some of which have epitomised the mainland's changing face.
She first went to the mainland in 1983, when the bamboo curtain was opening up and foreign businesses were being allowed in.
Her task was to negotiate a shipbuilding contract for China State Shipbuilding Corporation (the arm of the government that supervised all shipyards), which had received its first order to build a vessel commissioned by a Norwegian shipping company.
This assignment and subsequent ones helped her learn how to communicate with and serve mainland clients, and she was given responsibilities usually limited to more senior lawyers.
