For Melia, who joined Appleby as a partner in 2009, the transfer means a return to Asia. Prior to Appleby he spent six years with Reed Smith Richards Butler in Hong Kong and Beijing.
Melia’s areas of expertise include mergers and acquisitions, listings, private equity transactions, banking and finance matters, and general corporate/commercial matters.
Appleby became the largest law firm in terms of partners in March 2010, following its merger in 2009 with the Isle of Man’s Dickinson Cruickshank, and currently employs more than 800 lawyers and professional specialists.
It has offices in such key offshore jurisdictions as Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, as well as in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Zurich.