Asia round-up: Bakers ushers in new Singapore head as MoFo and Taylor Wessing plot regional growth

Posted on |

Aside from the big Asia Pacific news this week of SJ Berwin’s tie-up with King & Wood Mallesons, other major players are expanding in the region or re-freshing their leadership teams.

Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow, the Singapore arm of Bakers, has appointed a new managing partner. Andy Leck is to replace Edmund Leow, who has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner in the Supreme Court of Singapore. Leow will leave the global law firm on 31 August to take on his new role. Continue reading “Asia round-up: Bakers ushers in new Singapore head as MoFo and Taylor Wessing plot regional growth”

Asia Round-up: Singapore in focus for Minter Ellison, Sidley Austin and Taylor Wessing

Posted on |

The decline in Singapore M&A has seemingly done little to dampen the enthusiasm of international firms to launch or build their practices in the region.

Sidley Austin – which despite having been in Singapore since 1982, has just 10 lawyers in the region and to date has not had the same impact as top-tier banking & finance and corporate Magic Circle rivals Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance and Linklaters Singapore – has benefited from Vinson & Elkins recent decision to close its office in Shanghai, by hiring energy partner Tju Liang Chua. Continue reading “Asia Round-up: Singapore in focus for Minter Ellison, Sidley Austin and Taylor Wessing”

Comment: The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100

Posted on |

The market for the world’s largest law firms remains as reliably turbulent as ever. As this month’s edition of Legal Business shows, top 100 law firms in the world as a whole eked out a 4% hike in revenues to generate $84.9bn, a figure slightly flattering underlying growth due to a handful of sizeable mergers – including the creation of Herbert Smith Freehills and King & Wood Mallesons. Revenue per lawyer was flat. In real terms, the world’s legal elite is once again flat or modestly shrinking and headline income growth slowed in comparison to the 2011/12 year. Conditions remain considerably better than seen during 2009/10 but are a long way from pre-2008 boom years. Continue reading “Comment: The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100”

Asia Round-up: Field Fisher launches in Shanghai while Global 100 leaders position themselves in Hong Kong and Dubai

Posted on |

Field Fisher Waterhouse has joined forces with Ryser & Associates in Shanghai while a show of strength among the Global 100 leaders in Hong Kong over the past week has seen Jones Day, Dentons and DLA Piper bolster their finance and capital markets capability.

Field Fisher announced yesterday (8 July) that it has launched in Shanghai under the brand Field Fisher Ryser. Ryser & Associates was formed in 2004 with a focus on intellectual property and corporate. Continue reading “Asia Round-up: Field Fisher launches in Shanghai while Global 100 leaders position themselves in Hong Kong and Dubai”

The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100

Posted on |

The market for the world’s largest law firms remains as reliably turbulent as ever. The group as a whole eked out a 4% hike in revenues to generate $84.9bn, a figure slightly flattering underlying growth due to a handful of sizeable mergers – including the creation of Herbert Smith Freehills and King & Wood Mallesons. Revenue per lawyer was flat. In real terms, the world’s legal elite is once again modestly shrinking and headline income growth slowed in comparison to the 2011/12 year. Conditions remain considerably better than seen during 2009/10 but are a long way from pre-2008 boom years.

It has been another year that has re-enforced the overall dominance of US firms, largely due to the strength of the US economy and a delayed revival in contentious work. Of course, the relevant performance of UK advisers since 2008 looks considerably worse due to the sustained weaknesses of sterling and the euro but by any measure, the Magic Circle has lost some ground. Compared to their mid-2000s’ heyday, the profits gap against key New York rivals has again ballooned out, while a group of broad-service US rivals are now challenging their scale and global reach.

Continue reading “The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100”

To soar or crash with an Asian giant

Posted on |

If you are going to finally do a global merger, it would be fitting for one of the most distinctive City practices to hook up with the great outlier of the Global 100. That is what is on the agenda for SJ Berwin as it this summer mulls an outline deal to combine with King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), the ground-breaking union between the top commercial law firms in China and Australia.

And what an outlier KWM is. When large mergers happen in the profession, a received wisdom among clients and peers soon takes hold. But since KWM was formed in March 2012, creating a 2,100-lawyer Asia-Pacific giant, consensus has resolutely failed to emerge. For some, it is a world-beater with an unmatchable position in the most powerful economic region of the 21st century. For others, it is a desperate act by two firms who had saturated their domestic markets and faced the awkward reality that their businesses won’t easily go global. After all, Australian and People’s Republic of China law travels badly and the increasingly heavily-lawyered and fee-sensitive Asia-Pacific region is currently struggling to live up to expectations.

Continue reading “To soar or crash with an Asian giant”

Global 100: Scheduled departures

Posted on |

Asia continues to dominate when it comes to new offices opened by Global 100 firms. But despite the attraction of exciting Eastern destinations, there are growing questions as to whether the travel is paying off.

‘People have the view that Asia is a rice bowl and they are waiting to gorge themselves,’ says a partner at a US law firm based in Singapore. Given the trends in recent office openings by the Global 100, it would appear there are still plenty of firms queuing up to have their fill. Over half of the 41 Global 100 firms that opened new offices in the last 12 months chose to open them in Asia, adding up to 28 new offices in the region in total, with Seoul and Singapore by far the most popular destinations. This contrasts significantly with last year when just ten Global 100 firms launched ten new offices across Asia.

Continue reading “Global 100: Scheduled departures”

Asia-Pac continues to challenge new entrants as DLA Piper freezes Australia salaries

Posted on |

The impact of the Australian downturn has once again been thrown into sharp relief after DLA Piper’s staff in the region were told not to expect pay rises and some partners to expect a drop in pay as the office failed to meet its targets.

As first revealed by RollOnFriday, an email from chief operating officer and stand in local managing partner Andrew Darwin told staff ‘for many…there will be no increase in base salary this year and for others there will only be a modest increase.’

Local partners, meanwhile, were told: ‘many partners will have no increases or, in some cases, a reduction in their remuneration.’ Further savings are also expected to be made on expenses. Continue reading “Asia-Pac continues to challenge new entrants as DLA Piper freezes Australia salaries”

Asia round-up: K&L Gates, Akin Gump, Addleshaws and Milbank bolster presence

Posted on |

A raft of leading UK and US firms boosted their East Asian presence this past week, including K&L Gates, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Addleshaw Goddard, with Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo a continuing focus of international attention.

On 31 May, Hong Kong corporate partner Virginia Tam moved from White & Case to US rival K&L Gates’ established 19-lawyer office, set up as its first Asian post 15 years ago. Continue reading “Asia round-up: K&L Gates, Akin Gump, Addleshaws and Milbank bolster presence”

Asia round-up: Morrison Foerster and Quinn Emanuel expand in Asia

Posted on |

Singapore has been in focus over the past week after Morrison Foerster launched an anti-corruption practice and as UK and US firms vie for the next round of local law licences.

Morrison, which opened in Singapore in January, this week relocated litigation partner Daniel Levison from its Tokyo office to spearhead its Southeast Asia anti-corruption practice. Continue reading “Asia round-up: Morrison Foerster and Quinn Emanuel expand in Asia”