Written by Katherine Ng, Consultant at Lewis Sanders
Whilst the year started off on a quiet note given the close proximity between the New Year holidays and Chinese New year festivities, the re-opening of the borders and removal of covid restrictions have come as a welcome relief. Business travel can finally resume and lawyers are once again able to reconnect with clients and colleagues in person. In particular, firms are looking to cement their relationships with clients in Mainland China given their unique positioning as a bridge between China and the rest of the world.
Firms have been taking a conservative approach to hiring whilst they assess both pipelines and strategy for the year ahead. Despite there being very few urgent roles, firms are now starting to express an interest in seeing profiles from strong candidates as they consider increasing headcounts.
We saw a number of Partner moves this quarter including Counsels making the step up to Partner as a result of a move. In the employment space alone, Tess Lumsdaine joined Baker McKenzie as a Partner from Herbert Smith Freehills and Wendy Wong re-joined Simmons & Simmons as a Partner. Restructuring expert, Lorinda Peasland, joined Appleby as a partner from Harneys, where she was previously a consultant. M&A expert, Xin Fang, joined DLA Piper as a Partner from Mayer Brown, where she was a Counsel. Isabella Wong also returned to Deacons as a regulatory Partner from investment management company PIMCO, where she was a Senior Legal Counsel. Areas that remained active include employment, restructuring / insolvency, finance and corporate. Some moves that are worth noting include Conor Warde, the previous head of shipping finance and maritime transactions from Mayer Brown, joining CMS. Disputes partner, Stephanie Chan, joined Sidley Austin, after a short period with Reed Smith Richards Butler. Paul Hastings also hired Steven Hsu from Sidley Austin as its second capital markets partner in Hong Kong in three months.
Associate recruitment was relatively stable this quarter with very few firms actively hiring. However, in certain niche specialties such as project development and finance, competition and intellectual property / technology, firms are continuing to look for strong candidates. In addition, we have seen international, offshore and PRC firms competing to hire strong junior litigators with Chinese-language skills and insolvency experience. Firms are preferring to hire lawyers with at least two years of post-qualification experience and the demand at the very junior end is limited. The need for funds lawyers slowed down slightly this quarter, following the various movements last year, but more openings are anticipated by Q3 this year. Capital market roles are also currently not active, but it is expected that law firms will need to recruit more corporate associates at the later stages of 2023. Hong Kong IPO activities are expected to gradually reach pre-Covid days as interest rates are believed to stabilize, with KPMG envisioning Hong Kong to be one of the top listing destinations globally with a strong pipeline of more than 120 companies seeking IPOs targeting fundraising of HK$180 billion from about 90 deals.[1]
Law firms are feeling more positive about the year ahead and it is envisioned that recruitment activities in Hong Kong will therefore start to pick up.
Q1/2023 Private Practice Update
Whilst the year started off on a quiet note given the close proximity between the New Year holidays and Chinese New year festivities, the re-opening of the borders and removal of covid restrictions have come as a welcome relief. Business travel can finally resume and lawyers are once again able to reconnect with clients and colleagues in person. In particular, firms are looking to cement their relationships with clients in Mainland China given their unique positioning as a bridge between China and the rest of the world.
Firms have been taking a conservative approach to hiring whilst they assess both pipelines and strategy for the year ahead. Despite there being very few urgent roles, firms are now starting to express an interest in seeing profiles from strong candidates as they consider increasing headcounts.
We saw a number of Partner moves this quarter including Counsels making the step up to Partner as a result of a move. In the employment space alone, Tess Lumsdaine joined Baker McKenzie as a Partner from Herbert Smith Freehills and Wendy Wong re-joined Simmons & Simmons as a Partner. Restructuring expert, Lorinda Peasland, joined Appleby as a partner from Harneys, where she was previously a consultant. M&A expert, Xin Fang, joined DLA Piper as a Partner from Mayer Brown, where she was a Counsel. Isabella Wong also returned to Deacons as a regulatory Partner from investment management company PIMCO, where she was a Senior Legal Counsel. Areas that remained active include employment, restructuring / insolvency, finance and corporate. Some moves that are worth noting include Conor Warde, the previous head of shipping finance and maritime transactions from Mayer Brown, joining CMS. Disputes partner, Stephanie Chan, joined Sidley Austin, after a short period with Reed Smith Richards Butler. Paul Hastings also hired Steven Hsu from Sidley Austin as its second capital markets partner in Hong Kong in three months.
Associate recruitment was relatively stable this quarter with very few firms actively hiring. However, in certain niche specialties such as project development and finance, competition and intellectual property / technology, firms are continuing to look for strong candidates. In addition, we have seen international, offshore and PRC firms competing to hire strong junior litigators with Chinese-language skills and insolvency experience. Firms are preferring to hire lawyers with at least two years of post-qualification experience and the demand at the very junior end is limited. The need for funds lawyers slowed down slightly this quarter, following the various movements last year, but more openings are anticipated by Q3 this year. Capital market roles are also currently not active, but it is expected that law firms will need to recruit more corporate associates at the later stages of 2023. Hong Kong IPO activities are expected to gradually reach pre-Covid days as interest rates are believed to stabilize, with KPMG envisioning Hong Kong to be one of the top listing destinations globally with a strong pipeline of more than 120 companies seeking IPOs targeting fundraising of HK$180 billion from about 90 deals.[1]
Law firms are feeling more positive about the year ahead and it is envisioned that recruitment activities in Hong Kong will therefore start to pick up.
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/zennonkapron/2023/01/11/hong-kongs-ipo-market-is-poised-for-a-revival/?sh=7a5eaa6a7215