Camilla is a Managing Director at Lewis Sanders working with lawyers at associate, counsel and partner level. She has successfully placed lawyers into both in-house and private practice teams across the region building long term relationships with both clients and candidates.
Law firm hiring has definitely recovered after a slow 2020 as record numbers of lateral partner moves are being reported.
The below table sets out lateral moves in Hong Kong at partner level since January 2021 across a range of practice areas. This includes counsel level candidates making a lateral move into a partnership position. A significant number of these moves are as a result of firms strategically growing certain practice groups.
Name
Leaving
To
Practice
Yue Song
Clifford Chance
King & Wood Mallesons
Debt capital markets
Neeraj Budhwani
Clifford Chance
Milbank
Private equity, M&A
James Ford
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Allen & Overy
Funds & Alternative Assets
Norman Hui
Eversheds Sutherland
Dentons
Corporate
Mengyu Lu
Sidley Austin
Kirkland & Ellis
Capital markets
Janice Yau Garton
DLA Piper
Stephenson Harwood
Real Estate
David Chu
Proskauer Rose
Bird & Bird
Litigation/Investigations
David Swain
Deacons
Lewis Silkin
Intellectual property
Anthony Chan
Squire Patton Boggs
Hauzen LLP
Corporate commercial
David Harrington
Minter Ellison LLP
Kirkland & Ellis
Litigation
Yvette Yu
Baker McKenzie
Hill Dickinson
Litigation
Vivien Teu
Vivien Teu & Co LLP
Dentons
Investment Funds and Corporate practice
Andrea Randall
Gall
RPC
Employment
Wayne Ma
DLA Piper
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Real Estate
Sherlynn Chan
Stevenson, Wong & Co.
Deacons
Family law
Alessandro Nolet
White & Case
Linklaters
Banking
Xiaoxi Lin
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Corporate
Jason Toms
Reed Smith
Stephenson Harwood
Shipping
Soo Khim Keoy
Withers
Clifford Chance
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Jonathan Wong
Freshfields
Clifford Chance
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Stuart Miller
Mayer Brown
Clyde & Co
Aviation Finance
Rachael Shek
Eversheds Sutherland
Clyde & Co
Litigation
Jimmy Chan
Clifford Chance
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Litigation/Investigations
Silvia On
Stephenson Harwood
Charles Russell Speechlys
Private Client
Ian Devereux
Stephenson Harwood
Charles Russell Speechlys
Private Client
William Hallatt
Herbert Smith Freehills
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Financial Regulatory Services
Michael Makridakis
Delta Capital Partners Management
Conyers
Insolvency and disputes
Eugene Yeung
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
K&L Gates
Aviation Finance & Restructuring, Insolvency
Edwin Chan
Paul Weiss
Goodwin
Private Equity
Erica Wong
Ogier
Deacons
Banking and finance
Dr. Liu Wei
DLA Piper
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Capital Markets
Corey Zhang
Clifford Chance
King & Wood Mallesons
Capital Markets
Christopher Whiteley
Ashurst
CMS
Finance
Victoria Lloyd
Ropes & Gray
Baker McKenzie
Capital Markets, M&A
Peggy Wang
White & Case
Norton Rose Fulbright
Private Equity, M&A
Victor Sim
White & Case
Norton Rose Fulbright
Leveraged, Structured and Real Estate Finance
Vivien Yu
Baker McKenzie
Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Immigration
Margie Chan
Norton Rose Fullbright
White & Case
Capital Markets
Yucheng Fan
Maples
Harneys
Funds
Paul Guan
Paul Hastings
Kirkland & Ellis
Real Estate Private Equity
Benjamin Wang
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Jia Yuan Law Firm
Capital Markets
Philip Culhane
Culhane & Associates LLP
Goodwin
Funds
Philip Hyde
K&L Gates
Mayer Brown
Corporate & Securities
Lu Guiping
K&L Gates
Mayer Brown
Corporate & Securities
Chiang Ling Li
Jones Day
Tiang & Partners
Intellectual Property
Mark Yeadon
Eversheds Sutherland
Conyers
Disputes & Restructuring
Joseph Chu
Simmons & Simmons
Withers
Litigation & International Arbitration
* The content of table is created to the best of our knowledge, it may not cover all the lateral moves.
Hiring has of course not just been limited to partner moves. Law firms have been seeing an increased deal flow with M&A activity involving Hong Kong companies seeing the strongest first half in four years. Some 713 deals worth a combined US$55.4 billion were announced in the first half, a 50.4 per cent increase in value from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data. It was also the most since the first half of 2017 when transactions totalled US$68.9 billion. This increased deal flow has naturally resulted in an increase in hiring within corporate teams. In addition, we have seen firms looking to hire candidates with expertise in banking (in particular leveraged finance), litigation, arbitration and listed company compliance. Demand has mostly been at the mid-level as firms look for candidates who have a solid training and foundation together with strong client facing skills and Mandarin language skills.
There has been a rush for law firms to secure the strongest candidates in the market, with many candidates receiving multiple offers and sign on bonuses being paid to encourage candidates to onboard as soon as possible.
Compared to a year ago, when law firms were implementing pay freezes, suspending partner profit and reducing salaries, this year has seen the majority of law firms reinstate or even increase salaries and pay bonuses to their staff. In addition, many international and US firms have paid ‘COVID bonuses’.
These additional ‘COVID bonuses’ are gestures of appreciation to staff for their commitment and resilience during the challenging environment faced during the last 12 months. They ranged from a fixed one-off bonus, to an additional week’s holiday, to a bonus equivalent to 2-5% of annual salary. This is in addition to the relevant firms’ standard performance-related bonus scheme.
Amongst US firms offering a ‘Cravath rate’, Milbank was the first to announce an increase in associate salaries, with first year lawyers being paid US$200,000 per year. This was quickly followed by Davis Polk, who pushed first year salaries even higher to US$202,500 per year leading to a number of other US firms to follow suit. As with the UK and international firms, US firms also paid ‘COVID bonuses’ in addition to the final year-end bonus, usually in two tranches across the year.
Lawyers looking to change jobs at the moment have many options to choose from and therefore firms need to ensure that they remain competitive not only in terms of salary but also in relation to annual leave, flexible working policies and other benefits such a maternity/paternity leave and health insurance.
A number of law firms with significant Asia practices have been reporting impressive % growth in global revenue as figures for 20/21 are released and it is hoped that this upward trend will continue.
Lewis Sanders Market Reviews – Record Lateral Moves for the Start of 2021
By Camilla Worthington, Managing Director at Lewis Sanders
Camilla is a Managing Director at Lewis Sanders working with lawyers at associate, counsel and partner level. She has successfully placed lawyers into both in-house and private practice teams across the region building long term relationships with both clients and candidates.
Law firm hiring has definitely recovered after a slow 2020 as record numbers of lateral partner moves are being reported.
The below table sets out lateral moves in Hong Kong at partner level since January 2021 across a range of practice areas. This includes counsel level candidates making a lateral move into a partnership position. A significant number of these moves are as a result of firms strategically growing certain practice groups.
* The content of table is created to the best of our knowledge, it may not cover all the lateral moves.
Hiring has of course not just been limited to partner moves. Law firms have been seeing an increased deal flow with M&A activity involving Hong Kong companies seeing the strongest first half in four years. Some 713 deals worth a combined US$55.4 billion were announced in the first half, a 50.4 per cent increase in value from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data. It was also the most since the first half of 2017 when transactions totalled US$68.9 billion. This increased deal flow has naturally resulted in an increase in hiring within corporate teams. In addition, we have seen firms looking to hire candidates with expertise in banking (in particular leveraged finance), litigation, arbitration and listed company compliance. Demand has mostly been at the mid-level as firms look for candidates who have a solid training and foundation together with strong client facing skills and Mandarin language skills.
There has been a rush for law firms to secure the strongest candidates in the market, with many candidates receiving multiple offers and sign on bonuses being paid to encourage candidates to onboard as soon as possible.
Compared to a year ago, when law firms were implementing pay freezes, suspending partner profit and reducing salaries, this year has seen the majority of law firms reinstate or even increase salaries and pay bonuses to their staff. In addition, many international and US firms have paid ‘COVID bonuses’.
These additional ‘COVID bonuses’ are gestures of appreciation to staff for their commitment and resilience during the challenging environment faced during the last 12 months. They ranged from a fixed one-off bonus, to an additional week’s holiday, to a bonus equivalent to 2-5% of annual salary. This is in addition to the relevant firms’ standard performance-related bonus scheme.
Amongst US firms offering a ‘Cravath rate’, Milbank was the first to announce an increase in associate salaries, with first year lawyers being paid US$200,000 per year. This was quickly followed by Davis Polk, who pushed first year salaries even higher to US$202,500 per year leading to a number of other US firms to follow suit. As with the UK and international firms, US firms also paid ‘COVID bonuses’ in addition to the final year-end bonus, usually in two tranches across the year.
Lawyers looking to change jobs at the moment have many options to choose from and therefore firms need to ensure that they remain competitive not only in terms of salary but also in relation to annual leave, flexible working policies and other benefits such a maternity/paternity leave and health insurance.
A number of law firms with significant Asia practices have been reporting impressive % growth in global revenue as figures for 20/21 are released and it is hoped that this upward trend will continue.