Chicago law firm Winston & Strawn opens its fourth Asian office in Taipei.

Winston & Strawn, the international Chicago-headquartered law firm, has announced plans to launch an office in Taiwan by March 2014.

The branch, located in Taipei, will be led by Washington DC-based partner John Alison, who joined the company in August 2013 from rival Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner. Alison is joined by three patent litigation partners from the same firm -- Steven Anzalone, Paul Goulet and Thomas Jarvis. Another DC-based patent litigation partner, Vivian Kuo, is also involved in the Taipei launch. Alison has served as Finnegan's managing partner in Taiwan for the past 10 years.

The final number of partners and lawyers in the new office has yet to be finalised. The Taipei branch is Winston & Strawn's fourth in the Asian region; the other three are in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.