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An Overview of International Law Firms' Lateral Hires in China

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An Overview of International Law Firms' Lateral Hires in China AN OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS’ LATERAL HIRES IN CHINA (2019) WHICH FIRMS WERE HIRING AND WHAT PRACTICE AREAS WERE STRONG Private Practice | In-House ssq.com INTRODUCTION 2019 was another year of challenges for the China legal market. We saw continued uncertainty but there were moments of optimism, as law firms continued to hire partners and associates and more international firms started to take advantage of the latest development on law firm regulations and set up various Chinese alliances. Here, our China consultants Shawn Chen, Levana Huang, Betty Chen, Nicole Xu and our China researchers’ team have collected and analysed data on the partner and experienced associate hires made by the China offices of major international and Chinese law firms over the last year and put together our annual review and analysis of legal recruitment trends. PARTNERS & TEAMS How many partners were hired? Partners hired by year and location SSQ has been tracking partner moves in China for years. According to NUMBER OF YEAR BEIJING SHANGHAI our research, in the past four years (2016-2019 inclusive), a total of 89 PARTNER HIRES partners were hired by 37 major international (US/UK headquartered) law firms in Beijing and Shanghai. 2019 14 7 7 Lateral partner hire activity dropped by 40% in 2019 compared to 2018 23 15 8 2018. The decline had begun in 2018 but accelerated in 2019. This 2017 28 14 14 suggests the nervousness among international law firms on making 2016 24 10 14 heavy investment into China has become even more prominent, and highlights the increasing challenges these firms’ China businesses are facing. In contrast, our latest research shows the handful of ‘Red Circle’ Chinese law firms hired roughly around 30 new partners in Beijing and Shanghai in 2019 – mostly from their peer or lower-ranked PRC firms and only a few from international law firms. Chinese law firms continue to grow revenue and expand teams although the pace may not be as quick as before. ssq.com Who hired these partners? FIRM NAME 2019 2018 2017 2016 TOTAL NUMBER OF PARTNER HIRE Morgan Lewis 1 3 5 9 Baker & McKenzie (Fen Xun) 2 1 4 1 8 Clyde & Co (Westlink) 1 1 3 1 6 DLA Piper 1 2 2 5 Allen & Overy (Lang Yue) 1 1 1 1 4 Herbert Smith Freehills (Ke Wei) 1 3 4 Linklaters (Zhao Sheng) 2 2 4 White & Case 2 1 1 4 Jones Day 3 3 K&L Gates 3 3 Dechert 2 1 3 Perkins Coie 2 1 3 Cooley 2 2 Orrick 2 2 Simmons & Simmons 2 2 Stephenson Harwood 1 1 2 Minter Ellison 2 2 Morrison & Foersterer 2 2 Arnold Porter 2 2 Reed Smith 1 1 2 Quinn Emanuel 1 1 Mayer Brown 1 1 Freshfields 1 1 Ropes & Gray 1 1 Winston & Strawn 1 1 Blank Rome 1 1 Katten Muchin 1 1 Baker Botts 1 1 Hogan Lovells 1 1 Shearman Sterling 1 1 Kirkland & Ellis 1 1 Paul Weiss 1 1 Latham & Watkins 1 1 Norton Rose Fulbright 1 1 Pillsbury Winthrop 1 1 Bird & Bird 1 1 Akin Gump 1 1 PARTNERS & TEAMS Who hired these partners? What practice areas were taking new partners? In 2019, 10 international law firms made just 14 partner hires, and TOTAL almost half of these hires (i.e. six) were successfully done through the PRACTICE AREA 2019 2018 2017 2016 PARTNER China alliance platforms of four firms, namely, Baker & McKenzie Fen HIRES Xun, Linklaters Zhao Sheng, Herbert Smith Freehills Ke Wei and Allen Corporate/M&A 5 11 9 15 40 & Overy Lang Yue. This sends a strong message itself to the market IP 3 7 2 12 that this is probably the best way to grow under the current market. Projects 1 4 3 8 In previous years we saw more international firms hiring at the partner Dispute resolution 2 2 4 8 level: Regulatory/Compliance 2 3 2 7 Banking & finance 2 1 1 2 6 2019 2018 2017 2016 Employment 3 3 TEN FIRMS NINETEEN FIFTEEN FOURTEEN Capital markets 1 2 3 FIRMS FIRMS FIRMS Anti-trust/Competition 1 1 2 This shift suggests that fewer international law firms have the interest » General corporate/M&A continues to be the busiest area but PE and/or the capability to invest in China currently. related M&A expertise in China is attracting wider and wider hiring interests, which we believe is largely driven by many of those leading Morgan Lewis continues to top the table with a total of nine partner international law firms’ global strategy to pursue premium deals and fees. hires in four years – all of whom were made following their newly opened offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2016 and 2017. » Regulatory work, not necessarily the anti-corruption and investigation However in 2019, their headcount growth slowed and their hiring matters, but those generated from China’s further opening up in the patterns fell more into line with their contemporaries in the market. financial services sector are growing quickly and will continue to attract more firms to invest and hire in this space. » International dispute resolution has become one of the very few remaining fields where international law firms can still successfully compete with and triumph over their Chinese law firm peers. Any firm committing to this market should seriously formulate a plan on how to build up and maintain a dispute practice in China. » We did not see any serious IP partner hires in 2019 but this practice area remains busy and promising for international law firms in China, particularly in the patent related and TMT/life sciences areas. ssq.com EXPERIENCED ASSOCIATES How many experienced associates were hired in 2019? 42 20 Experienced associates Law firms were hired into law worked with SSQ to hire at firms by SSQ Associate level in 2019 In 2019 SSQ seriously pioneered Chinese law firm alliances with international firms. Half of our associate placements were into these Of firms. These hires range from senior partner 13 were traditional to entry level, covering a wide spectrum of these 42 associate hires practices including anti-trust, banking and Associates 22 were employed into the China into the newly finance, employment, dispute resolution, etc. representative offices 7 were recruited established PRC In tandem with the growth of these Chinese of 12 international by ‘Big 4’ alliance firms of 3 5 alliance firms, we are also seeing increasing law firms accountancy international law demand for candidates who have not only practices and top firms passed the PRC bar examination, but also Chinese law firms have obtained the official license to practice in China. Based on our research and knowledge of the legal recruitment market, we estimate around 100 experienced associates were hired by all the major international (US/UK headquartered) law firms in China in 2019. ssq.com EXPERIENCED ASSOCIATES How much were these associates paid in 2019? What key practice areas were taking experienced associates? TOTAL ASSOCIATE HIRES BY SSQ IN PRACTICE AREA > CNY 1 CNY 500K – < CNY 2019 Million 1 Million 500K Corporate/M&A 25 ANNUAL SALARY (CNY) IP 5 (>$142,000) ($71,000-$142,000) (<$71,000) (>£109,000) (£55,000-£109,000) (<£55,000) Capital markets 3 Depute resolution 3 Total number of hires 6 (14%) 10 (24%) 26 (62%) Anti-trust/competition 2 Employment 1 Funds 1 As a result of the cautious market in 2019, firms made much more Regulatory/Compliance 1 considered compensation offers to junior and middle level lawyers. Banking & finance 1 Candidates who were offered CNY 1 million or above were placed with US firms that offered ‘Biglaw’ salary scale or the senior level lawyers within Corporate and M&A remain the most active. While capital markets the top international law firm’s Chinese alliances. continues to thrive, we actually noticed a decrease in experienced hires in this space, perhaps due to the quickly climbing fee-charge pressure that The salary, compensation and benefits in the Chinese alliance firms has driven firms to adapt a more prudent approach towards investing in have to be structured creatively so as to maintain the standard of the new headcounts. international law firms and maximize the advantages and benefits brought by the local set-up. Across intellectual property, more law firms are consciously shifting their focus from trademark to patent practices as a strategic plan to delve deeper into more niche industries in China. Dispute resolution and anti- trust are two popular practices that many international law firms are trying to build up in China but the solid skillsets and talents in these areas are very rare to find. ssq.com CONTACT US If you would like to find out more about the China legal market, please contact the following SSQ China consultants: Beijing office 2310, 23/F, China World Tower B 1 Jianguomenwai Avenue, SHAWN CHEN BETTY CHEN LEVANA HUANG NICOLE XU Chaoyang District, Beijing, China MANAGING DIRECTOR MANAGER MANAGER MANAGER t +86 10 6535 0186 t +86 10 6535 0161 (Beijing) t +86 10 8509 8770 t +86 21 6167 2835 t +86 21 6167 2838 +86 21 6167 2833 (Shanghai) m +86 138 1086 7220 m +86 138 1090 0315 m +86 183 2118 6561 Shanghai office m +86 188 1108 2300 e [email protected] e [email protected] e [email protected] 3005, 30/F, Tower 2, Jing An Kerry Centre e [email protected] 1539 Nanjing Road (West) Shanghai, China t +86 21 6167 2833 ssq.com.
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