Asia Pacific Legal Market Summary September 2025

(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

Recruitment activity across Hong Kong’s legal market is thriving, driven by rising deal flow and demand across practice areas. Firms are hiring at all levels, with HKIPO, Corporate M&A, funds, and finance teams seeing strong momentum. PRC firms continue to hire assertively, intensifying competition. Candidates with Mandarin skills, international training, and drafting experience are highly sought after. Recently, we have seen US firm returning to the Hong Kong market, responding to client demand and regional growth. This move signals renewed interest in the jurisdiction and adds depth to the hiring landscape, creating compelling opportunities in a fast-paced environment.

CHINA

Recruitment activity in Beijing and Shanghai remains steady, with select opportunities emerging in capital markets, arbitration, and investigation practices. Firms are increasingly open to relocating candidates from Hong Kong and Singapore, creating attractive prospects for professionals seeking regional mobility. While hiring is cautious, there’s demand for mid-level lawyers with Mandarin fluency and international experience, particularly in FCPA investigations and litigation.

Notably, several PRC firms have expanded their footprint across Asia and the Middle East this year, signalling a strategic push for international growth. This reflects a broader trend of firms strengthening teams with globally trained talent to meet evolving client needs.

SINGAPORE

Hiring across the legal market remains active, though firms are taking a more measured approach. Funds, M&A, disputes, and finance continue to be busy areas, with recruitment happening across all levels. There’s steady demand for Singapore-qualified lawyers, especially those with several years of experience, though senior hiring is more selective. Notably, Singapore recorded seven lateral partner moves last month, mostly in dispute resolution, reflecting a shift in focus and cautious optimism in the market. While opportunities are available, firms are prioritising agility and regional expertise, making it a good—but competitive—time for experienced professionals to explore new roles.

SINGAPORE - Interim Legal

Interim legal hiring in Singapore is trending upwards, driven by demand in financial services, tech/fintech and the energy sectors, amongst others. Organisations are looking for junior to mid-level lawyers (3-8 PQE) with good law firm experience for roles involving commercial contract drafting, negotiations, regulatory compliance and M&A. In the current conservative market, we are seeing interim roles used to manage costs, cover projects and to deal with regulatory developments.

SOUTH KOREA

The Korean legal market remains stable but cautious. The US remains a major target for many Korean conglomerates, and tariff negotiations between the two countries stalled deals, while the July investment “pledge” catalyzed renewed investment plans, and then the September immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG battery plant in Georgia introduced new frictions. While most international firms are holding steady, two have recently opened corporate roles—creating rare opportunities for foreign-qualified lawyers. This is a notable shift from the stagnation in the international firm market earlier in the year, and Korean firms remain busy. Candidates considering a move to Seoul from the US may find this a good time to act.

JAPAN

The Tokyo market remains relatively active as we head into the final quarter of the year. Private equity investment into Japan remains active, and demand for bengoshi associates continues to be strong, especially in the corporate and finance space, and there are also several litigation roles open. Notably, a few US firms offering top-of-market compensation are open to hiring bengoshi with strong English skills. For foreign-qualified lawyers, roles in M&A and capital markets remain available, while there has not been much activity on the project finance front. Compared to earlier in the year, there are fewer new roles overall, and firms remain highly selective—favoring foreign-qualified candidates from top international firms with strong credentials and language skills, and corporate bengoshi with strong inbound and domestic deal experience.

AUSTRALIA

The Australian legal market has remained active since the start of the new financial year on July 1st. Leading the charge has been a rise in demand for Associates and Senior Associate’s with public M&A, including capital raisings and IPO experience. Despite public M&A being quiet over the last few years we have seen a revival of public transactions this year with future forecasts looking healthy for continued activity in this space. Continued demand for M&A lawyers with private M&A and private equity experience has remained steady with several firms in Sydney and Melbourne having demand for such expertise. Other practice areas that are seeing steady demand are Banking & Finance (as always!), Financial Services Regulatory, Real Estate, Energy & Infrastructure and Commercial Litigation. Sydney remains the most active market in terms of openings, with Melbourne and Brisbane not far behind.

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