Charles Russell Speechlys LLP

Real Estate; Hotels & Hospitality

Partner, Head of Asia

Simon is our Head of Asia and the Head of Real Estate and Hotels & Hospitality across Asia and the Middle East.

Simon spent nearly 15 years in the Middle East, having lived and worked in all three jurisdictions where we have offices – Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai. In the past few years, Simon has been based in Asia and splits his time between our Singapore and Hong Kong offices.

Simon specialises in real estate. His main areas of expertise are master planned development projects as well as city centre redevelopment, real estate investment, management and finance. Simon is also recognised as an expert in relation to hotel & hospitality work, particularly in relation to development, investment and management of hotels. He has advised on nearly 50 transactions in the last decade.

In addition, Simon regularly advises our Asia and Middle East clients with their outbound investments into the UK in relation to both commercial as well as residential property.

Simon acts for a variety of developers, financial institutions, government and quasi-government entities, sovereign wealth funds and private clients (including Royal Family members) across Asia and the Middle East.

Simon has been recognised as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global and Legal 500 EMEA consecutively for the last decade.

Simon is admitted to practise in England and Wales, and also a Registered Foreign Lawyer in Singapore and Hong Kong. He is licensed to practice in Dubai with the Legal Affairs Directorate.

 ''The Real Estate team in Hong Kong has efficiently provided cross border services for local clients in Hong Kong who require UK conveyancing advice and services. The team has removed the barrier of different time zones for clients in Hong Kong who no longer require to speak to the UK lawyers in the evening. '' Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2025, Real Estate (International Firms)

 ''The team is experienced and has an international angle, able to deal with cross-border property issues. '' Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023, Real Estate (International Firms)