Seventh heaven as Watson Farley Williams heads east

City firm Watson Farley Williams is to be the seventh City firm to open an office in the Thai capital, Bangkok.Steven Burkill, a partner in the firms Singapore office, said he hopes to head the office, which will contain four or five other UK lawyers.Registration is about a week away, he said, adding that the firm will service mainstream shipping, wet and dry litigation, banking, and commercial work from Bangkok.Norton Rose opened last year and Australian firm Minter Ellison will form an association with Baker & McKenzie breakaway partnership Matzger MacGregor in Bangkok.Mr Burkill said a good quantity of blue-chip and disputes work, plus planned restructuring by the Bank of Thailand, make the region attractive.See Feature, page 20Jeremy Fleming