 |
|
|
Continued strong economic performance in both Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland is providing a majority of law firms with an advantageous business environment in which to operate. Plenty of work for most corporate and banking teams, the key revenue earning mainstays for the vast majority of commercial firms, is contributing to solid financial results. From a recruitment perspective, we are seeing significant demand for both banking & finance and corporate commercial specialists, especially at the senior assistant and associate levels, typically with a minimum requirement of three years post qualification experience. Those candidates who have the benefit of an education in either the United Kingdom or the United States and have good quality English and Chinese language skills are particularly sought after. In spite of the fact that lots of firms are very busy, experience suggests that a majority will nevertheless have the patience to wait for a candidate of the requisite quality rather than hire someone whose skill set is less than they consider appropriate. The net effect is that the competition for the best candidates is currently quite fierce. On the contentious front, in Hong Kong, there is presently a significant need for high quality practitioners amongst some of the leading litigation practices. Their focus tends to be on general litigation, with notable demand for lawyers with experience of shareholder disputes, and construction litigation specialists. On the Mainland, there is little call for disputes lawyers, save for those who focus on patents and trademarks. China practice continues to be a key area for recruitment. However, we have recently seen a move amongst some of the leading international firms to require candidates for associate level PRC roles to have high quality US based M&A experience on their resume. The reality seems to be that as the drive to efficiency continues to grow in leading practices, there is less time to mentor new recruits. The requirement is for candidates who can hit the ground running, so as to leave the more senior lawyers free to focus on attracting and undertaking high quality fee earning work. In the PRC, most UK and US based international firms are now tending to concentrate primarily on Shanghai in preference to Beijing. The main exceptions to this trend are practices with a strong focus on regulatory and patent matters, for whom the principle consideration is to be as close as possible to central government. Accordingly, so far as recruitment is concerned, Shanghai is very busy and generally the easier place for lawyers to find the kind of role they are seeking. The fact that the nature of work tends to be more international than in Beijing is another important factor for candidates to take into account. For the first time, we are starting to see a growing trend amongst some of Shanghai's better lawyers to move outside of the PRC. Typically, the most likely initial move will be to Hong Kong, but the SAR can be a stepping stone to work in either the US or the UK. That said, to be able to consider such a move seriously, a lawyer will need to have some overseas education as well as training and work experience from a highly regarded firm within the Shanghai market. As one would expect in times of economic prosperity, the in-house recruitment market is also busy. The requirement for candidates to have strong Chinese language skills is, however, growing, which again means that the competition for highly skilled candidates is significant. We are noticing increased headcounts in a substantial number of in-house legal teams, but not only because of the high performance levels of the core businesses of the companies in question. Fees charged by law firms can of course be very significant and there appears to be a move amongst certain companies to try to do as much legal work as possible in-house in order to limit the cost of outsourced work. While the staple diet for in-house roles tends to be corporate commercial and finance lawyers, there is currently a shortage of funds specialists for openings in the growing number of hedge funds moving into Hong Kong. There is also significant demand for compliance officers to cope with increased regulatory requirements. The healthy market has led to bigger bonuses than a year ago, which, by and large, have kept candidates happy. In terms of base salaries, in-house departments are being forced to react to the private practice market increases in order to compete for the best talent. |
| < Back |
|