Asia Pacific Legal Market Summary January 2017

CHINA

Happy Chinese New Year! Outbound business remains to be the focus for many international and domestic law firms in 2017, and we see more firms starting to play a material role in outbound transactions. Firms are watching out for how the US presidential election and the changes in China’s foreign exchange policy will impact the market. We have heard from partners that they still foresee large growth potential in the outbound sector in the long-term, and lawyers with a combination of international practice experience and local knowledge will be in high demand.

HONG KONG

Happy New Year! 2017 started off busy with a number of new searches launching in the first week. Openings are mainly within transactional practices; however, there are a few disputes openings for associates at the senior level. Most of these openings are replacement roles. A few law firms (especially UK law firms) are having internal discussions in the next couple of weeks regarding 2017 headcount. We foresee more roles will be released to the market after Chinese New Year.

SINGAPORE

The Singapore market is off to a strong start this year with several opportunities in finance at international firms and a good indication from clients that it is going to be a busy year with good growth. A turbulent 2016 saw firms cautious with their hiring plans, but we are hearing from clients that they are currently assessing their hiring needs for the year ahead and see opportunities for growth in corporate, arbitration and specialist areas.

AUSTRALIA

January is always a quiet month for the Australian market, with office closures over Christmas and the New Year, and with Australia Day towards the end of the month, movement tends to slow to snail’s pace until the start of February. January is a good month for those associates in the market to evaluate their position and make enquiries about other potential opportunities available to them—domestically or internationally. Especially for mid-level corporate and banking lawyers, the market is very much open to those who seek a change. 

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RECENT PARTNER MOVES IN ASIA PACIFIC

These listed partner moves are obtained from both public sources and Major, Lindsey & Africa. This list is not intended to represent Major, Lindsey & Africa as the consultancy involved in the moves, although some moves may have been brokered by Major, Lindsey & Africa.