Asia Pacific Legal Market Summary February 2017

CHINA

The latest statistics show both completed and cancelled Chinese outbound investment reaching a record high in 2016. It is likely that there will be more uncertainties for China outbound investment moving forward, with China tightening the foreign exchange regulations and the approval process for overseas investment. Despite all these facts, we have been hearing from law firm partners that the outbound sector remains to be where they see the most room for development coming from.

HONG KONG

The market has picked up after Chinese New Year. There are more opportunities available in the market, especially at the junior to mid-level in the following sectors: finance, corporate M&A, FCPA, HK litigation and funds. These opportunities stem from both growth and replacement needs. Candidates seem to be more open to opportunities, and firms are welcoming this trend.

SINGAPORE

Since the Chinese New Year holiday, we have seen an increase in hiring in corporate and disputes, particularly for associates qualified in Singapore. There is an optimistic view of the market this year with a heavy focus on work originating in India and other jurisdictions surrounding Singapore. We see corporate and disputes being the main focus of hiring this year. Whilst we envisage a good pipeline of opportunity, we also think these roles will be highly competitive, so strong deal experience and education credentials are essential.

AUSTRALIA

The market for February has started off steady, setting a good precedent for the first half of this year. Opportunities in banking and financial services, corporate and real estate are the most prominent this month, with the largest number of opportunities at the 3 to 7 years of experience range. International opportunities for Australian lawyers looking to move to London or New York are picking up, with finance being the standout need in both cities.

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RECENT PARTNER MOVES IN ASIA PACIFIC

Partners	Practice	To	From	Location
Andrew Bishop	Banking	White & Case	Ropes & Gray	Hong Kong
Billy Wong	Corporate	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Connie Cheung	Corporate	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Edwin Luk	Corporate	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Eli Gao	Capital Markets	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Geoffrey Chan	Investment Management	Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom	Ropes & Gray	Hong Kong
Jane Ng	Corporate	Stephenson Harwood	Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft	Hong Kong
Jenny Nip	Corporate and Investment Funds	Walkers	Maples and Calder	Hong Kong
June Chan	Corporate (Capital Markets)	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Keith Cheung	Corporate	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Louise Liu	Corporate	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Maurice Hoo	Corporate (M&A and Private Equity)	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Michael P. Wong	Funds	Dechert	K&L Gates	Hong Kong
Paul Teo	Dispute Resolution	Baker McKenzie	Hogan Lovells	Hong Kong
Pui Hong Chik	Corporate	Ashurst	Linklaters	Hong Kong
Robert Woll	Corporate and Securities	Mayer Brown JSM	Deacons	Hong Kong
Roger Zhou	Capital Markets	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Rosita Chu	Capital Markets	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Yan Zeng	Private Equity-Related M&A	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	Hong Kong
Pan Xiang	Disputes	AnJie Law Firm	Guangdong Zhong An	Beijing
Ning Zhang	Corporate	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	Beijing and Hong Kong
Mathew Lewis	Corporate	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	Beijing and Shanghai
David Pan	Corporate	Llinks Law Offices	Huntsman Corp. (China)	Shanghai
David Shen	IP and Life Sciences	Allen & Overy	AstraZeneca	Shanghai
Liang Xing	Corporate	Fieldfisher	Mylink Law Office	Shanghai
Paula Liu	Corporate	Kirkland & Ellis	Clifford Chance	Shanghai
Rocky Wu	IP and Dispute Resolution	Fieldfisher	Jincheng Tongda & Neal	Shanghai
Anan Sivanathan	IP	Bird & Bird	Creative Technology	Singapore
Gerallt (Gez) Owen	Litigation and Dispute Resolution	RHTLaw Taylor Wessing	Withers	Singapore
Mark Wong	Corporate and Energy	Duane Morris & Selvam	Rajah & Tann	Singapore
Moses Lin*	Litigation and Arbitration	Ince Law Alliance	Hill Dickinson	Singapore
Junzaburo Kiuchi	Corporate	EY Law	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	Tokyo
John Brewster	Corporate and M&A	Ashurst	Clayton Utz	Melbourne
Shane Kyriakou	M&A	Ashurst	Herbert Smith Freehills	Melbourne

*CORRECTION to January 2017 Newsletter: Please note that Moses Lin moved from Hill Dickinson to Ince Law Alliance.

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.