Asia Pacific Legal Market Summary And Partner Moves - July 2019

(As excerpted from our monthly Associate Newsletter - Asia Pacific)

Associate Newsletter – Asia Pacific is a monthly resource that reports current legal market news, trends, partner moves and active opportunities in the Asia Pacific legal markets.

Legal Market Summary

HONG KONG

Stepping into summer months, the recruitment market in Hong Kong has not slow down. We have seen a lot of hiring activity in M&A, HK and US capital markets, banking and funds. Majority of the openings are at the mid to senior level. Mandarin is always important for transactional roles, but there are a few openings within the funds, banking and US capital markets teams that do not require Mandarin skills. Firms are open to candidates from the US, London or Australia market.

CHINA

FCPA teams are busy in Beijing and Shanghai markets. There are several FCPA positions available across US firms, and majority of them are looking at candidates with at least two years of experience. A few other openings appear among UK firms within funds, banking and M&A sectors. Most of these openings are falling within mid-level to senior level.

We have also found law firms are less willing to relocate candidates from the US market and prefer someone with local PRC experience. Some of the candidates who spent a couple of years in the US are facing discount by US firms in Beijing and Shanghai markets given the lack of local experience.

SINGAPORE

Singapore remains a steady market. We have seen significant hiring activity on litigation teams within the last few months. Corporate and finance are also areas that law firms are looking to invest in.

SOUTH KOREA

Seoul remains a steady market. We have seen an increase in hiring opportunities this year from international firms. Applications for these roles have been high, and there is a lot of competition among excellent caliber talent. Fluent Korean language skills and native-level English are still in high demand, but planning and diligence should be taken into account for any future moves.

JAPAN

Active M&A transactions continue to be the market driver. There has been a strong appetite for M&A lawyers as well as Japanese-qualified lawyers and bilingual foreign-qualified lawyers with three years PQE+ across practice groups and firms.

AUSTRALIA

As we begin the new Australian financial year, global and national law firms continue to show strong demand for top lawyers across banking and finance, infrastructure and construction, real estate, corporate/ M&A and technology practice groups. Demand for commercial litigators to handle regulatory as well as class action defense matters also remains high.

Firms continue to look to sponsor UK, New Zealand and South African-qualified lawyers with top-tier experience who wish to relocate to Australia.

Partner Moves