Micky Yang of Gowling WLG - First-time WLG | summit Delegate

Micky Yang
Partner at Gowling WLG
First-Time Summit Delegate

1) Briefly describe your practice.

In a nutshell, I provide corporate advice to clients in the real estate sector. I started my career as a mainstream corporate lawyer, but I have devoted the last decade to solely servicing clients who operate in the property space, working as an integral part of multidisciplinary teams with a clear sector focus.

I advise a diverse array of domestic and international clients in the real estate sector (including, amongst others, PE houses, asset managers, institutional investors, and family offices) on the corporate aspects of inward and outward property investments and disposals. I have amassed considerable experience advising on complex investment and development joint ventures.

2) You were a first-time attendee at WLG | summit Lisbon '22. How do you think that introduction will affect your involvement in WLG?

I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to attend the summit in Lisbon and meet such a diverse and talented group of professionals from around the globe, all willing to connect and collaborate.

Our clients are increasingly mobile, and we want to be able to accompany them on their journeys wherever they want to do business. Having access to the connections that WLG facilitates is invaluable. It means we can leave our clients in the hands of someone we know personally and who will look after them. It is a matter of trust.

For that reason, I am keen on remaining involved in WLG. I managed to meet many of the delegates in Lisbon, but not all, and there are some that I would like to know better. I am sure there will be opportunities for connecting in the future.

3) You met with a group of real estate lawyers from other WLG member firms. Tell me how you feel network lawyers can work together to service clients in this area and the value you feel those connections will bring to your practice.

We service our clients in the way they want to be serviced (at least that is our aim!). That means having a deep understanding of the sector in which they operate and speaking their 'language.'

The same applies in some ways to working alongside lawyers in other jurisdictions, and it is always easier if their teams are sector-focused in the same way we are. Bringing together professionals that know a sector can only be a good thing. It makes the connections within the network more meaningful and, hopefully, more likely to result in actual referrals.

4) What is something you like to do in your free time (hobby)?

My thing right now is teasing my pre-teen son and deliberately making him turn bright red. So easily done. I am ashamed to admit I take a lot of joy out of it, but he definitely is not enjoying it. I hope he forgives me one day. Don't judge me, please.

I also like cooking. I can cook paella, kimchi fried rice, and even Sunday roast (I think I have mastered homemade Yorkshire puddings). It is an expression of the influences I have received from three very different cultures.

Generally, I am not big on sports, but my boys give me credit for being a decent scuba diver and downhill skier.