[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

** Check out our new daily Asia biglaw blog at THEASIACHRONICLES.COM! *

Evan here. While Korea practices, mostly based in Hong Kong, have been busy over the past year and in some cases even quite understaffed, there has up until just recently not been much hiring going of US associates with Korean background. We recently made a couple such placements at top 10 US firms in HK, one class of ’07 and one ’08, and appear close on another ’08 and an ‘05. However, there are many more very well qualified Korean US associates on the market in Asia than there are openings. Further, firms that do have needs in this area are moving very slowly to make hires, sometimes waiting months to complete an interview process.

Part of the reason is because firms have so much leverage in the lateral hiring market, due to the large number of native Korean US associates seeking to lateral at present from top US firms in NYC to Asia. The other main reason is that many of the top US and UK firms in Asia, while off hiring freezes months ago, still do not have the full green light to hire all the US associates they need. When firm management back in US or UK is only allowing one or two US associate hires in HK, for example, those offices are hiring the biggest area of need – native Chinese US cap markets associates.

We are predicting that there will be more hiring US associate hiring in Korea practices this fall and in early ’11 than was the case in the first half of ’10. There will also be more hiring of Korean native US associates at firms in HK that do not have a Korean practice, per se, but have a strong need for an associate or two with Korean fluency and ability to work on the ground in Korea for much of the year. One of our recent ’08 placements fits this description. Such needs arise as firms have more deal flow out of Korea, but not any Korean native associates. This type of hire will not be for only Korean deal work, but will be a mix of Korean and Pan Asia markets deal flow, with special responsibilities coming in the Korea work of course. Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: STATE OF LATERAL US ASSOCIATE HIRING – KOREA PRACTICES”

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

** Check out our new daily Asia biglaw blog at THEASIACHRONICLES.COM! **

Evan here. When considering a move to Singapore, it is more important than in other Asia markets that you have some type of credible connection to the city-state. This would seem ironic, since in Singapore firms routinely hire English-only US associates, so on the surface it would seem the perfect Asia market to target if you do not have an Asian background.

While it may have been true during the ’07 hiring boom that associates without Singapore ties were able to penetrate that market , this is no longer the case. US and UK firms all over Asia in ‘07 were dealing with a shortage of well-qualified US associate candidates, so even though Singapore was not hiring nearly as much as Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo, it was an easier place to land in ‘07 for someone who had no connection at all to Asia.

Today, things are quite different. While the number of openings in Asia are once again relatively high (especially in Hong Kong / China and Singapore), there are many more qualified candidates for these positions than there were in ‘07. A number of our Singapore Biglaw client firms are hiring now, but are being understandably very selective.

One of the key factors our candidates for Singapore are dealing with is the issue of why, exactly, they are moving to Singapore. Why Singapore, why this particular paradise tropical location? Unprepared candidates or recruitment consultants are sometimes caught off guard. Were your parents or grandparents born in Singapore, were you born in Singapore (as Evan was), do you have an aunt in Kuala Lumpur? Think about what you can come up with in terms of nexus before contacting us, let alone sitting for an interview. Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: Singapore Nexus”

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

** Check out our new daily Asia biglaw blog at THEASIACHRONICLES.COM! **

Evan here. While PRC firms, Korean firms and Japanese firms have for years successfully recruited US biglaw associates, in ’09 such recruitment was more successful than usual. There are two reasons for this trend: i) most top US firms in Asia were on hiring freeze throughout ’09, making it extremely difficult for even the most impressive US associates to lateral to a US practice in Asia in ’09 (such lateral moves did happen, most with Kinney involved, but not in great number, relative to ’06, ’07, ’08 and ‘10); and ii) there has been a feeling in the market in the past couple of years that some local firms in Asia, especially PRC firms, are catching up to US practices there.

We know a number of US associates who made the move from top 10 US firms to PRC firms in ’09 (some with Kinney’s help). We also know a handful of US associates from top tier US firms that moved to Korean and Japanese local firms in ’09. This type of lateral move has been a good one for those looking for more of an entrepreneurial role early on in their career, especially if they have very strong personal connections at banks and other relevant entities in the target country. However, this type of move has been a bad one for those who are focused on keeping their technical skill set at a top US practice level of sharpness (in order to open up career doors now and in the future).

Unfortunately, most lawyers realize at some point that the skill set is paramount in importance in a legal career, typically coming ahead of even client control when working at top-tier firms. Having joined a local firm, it is very difficult to move from a local firm back to a top US firm, even within the same market where the associate has been getting unique major domestic firm experience. This is true, even if (in that market) US associate lateral hiring has picked up tremendously (which is the case in HK / China this year). Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: CONSIDERING A PRC FIRM OR OTHER LOCAL FIRM IN ASIA?”

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here. Please note that we have launched a new daily blog – THEASIACHRONICLES.COM – that will include our posts here at Above The Law, but also add additional daily posts, as well as source relevant Asia biglaw news from various media. You can search through all posts using “tags” (ie, expat packages) or any search term you come up with. Here is the latest post below:
***********************

WHY EXPAT / COLA DID NOT FALL IN HONG KONG

By Evan Jowers

A great draw of US biglaw associates to Hong Kong is the lucrative and somewhat illogical expat / cola allowances. Even though the cost of living in Hong Kong is not much different than New York (housing is a bit higher in HK), it is common to receive an expat / cola allowance of well over $60,000 USD.

Last year most in the Hong Kong market expected the lucrative US associate expat / cola allowances to lower dramatically, due to the global recession (which did greatly reduce deal flow in HK / China from late ’08 to mid ’09) and with many firms on global hiring freeze at the time. However, in reality, the expat / cola allowances at the more competitive US and UK firms in HK were never really in danger of dropping much, even during the very slow lateral biglaw hiring period in HK from December ’08 until October ’09.

Actually, when it comes to expat / cola at major US and UK firms in HK, there are two groups:

Competitive: the majority of the top 20 US and UK magic circle firms, and a minority of lower ranked firms, pay expat / cola somewhere in a range of $60,000 to $90,000 (for singles with no children; some of these firms give much higher expat / cola to associates with kids, especially school-aged), with the majority of those in mid 60’s and only a handful at $80,000 or above. These firms all have set in stone non-negotiable expat / cola allowances for each US associate and it is the same allowance at all associate seniority levels. Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: KINNEY LAUNCHES DAILY ASIA BIGLAW BLOG – THEASIACHRONICLES.COM / WHY EXPAT / COLA DID NOT FALL IN HONG KONG”

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here, writing from Hong Kong. Robert and I are just finishing up another busy trip to visit clients and candidates in Hong Kong. During the course of ten days we had over 50 meetings (mostly with firms regarding US associate hiring) and potential candidates (at associate and partner level).

We have Alexis on the ground permanently in HK, but it is always good for Robert and me to continue to visit HK about once every two months, to stay informed and meet our clients in person. I will be heading to Beijing later this month and Robert and I will be back in HK in August. Although Dubai is not exactly a hot lateral market this year, I will be also in Dubai in August (unfortunately at the time of year when it is literally too hot to walk down the street very far).

Firms where we have very recently made placements of US associates in HK / China, in the past several months: (* – multiple placements)

· Simpson Thacher *
· Milbank *
· Paul Hastings *
· Allen & Overy *
· Latham*
· Cleary
· Skadden
· Sidley Austin
· Ropes & Gray
· Kirkland & Ellis
· Jones Day
Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: KINNEY’S RECENT HK / CHINA US ASSOCIATE PLACEMENTS / LATERAL MARKET REPORT”

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Alexis Lamb here, writing from Singapore to share with you some insights and opportunities that Hong Kong’s lion-faced neighbors to the south have to offer.

NO LANGUAGE SKILLS NEEDED

One of the major advantages in considering Singapore is that language skills are not necessary to get a job, or even live, in Singapore. English is the language of business in Singapore. Lack of language skills will not be a barrier to entry for the attorney who wants to move to Asia and is willing to consider Singapore.

Language skills are not even necessary to conduct daily activities in Singapore. Taxi drivers and other service employees overwhelmingly speak fluent English in Singapore whereas the language barrier is a larger issue in Hong Kong and, to a much larger degree, in mainland China and Japan.

SUPERSTAR GENERALISTS WANTED

A lack of capital markets or private equity experience might restrict a candidate’s marketability in Hong Kong; however it is a non-issue in Singapore. A common request of hiring partners is “We don’t care what they do. They just have to be good.” In other words, a candidate’s practice group is much less important than his academic and law firm credentials as long as such candidate has general transactional law experience. Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: A Shout-Out for Singapore”

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here. The number of US associate openings in Asia continue to increase substantially (including at two top 10 US firms coming off hiring freeze very recently), especially in HK / China, where we have been making multiple placements on a weekly basis recently. This week has been a particularly good week, with Alexis, Yuliya and I each making placements in Asia (Singapore, BJ, SHG and HK).

If you are in HK, BJ or SHG and would like to meet with Robert, Alexis or me this month, Robert and I will be in HK / China the 2nd half of May, Alexis is in Singapore next week, and she is of course based in HK permanently. Further, Yuliya (who is based in Russia) and I will be available in NYC on May 18 and I will be in NYC May 30 to June 2. If you happen to be in Las Vegas this weekend or Miami next week, well I will be there too and can make myself available.

One of our top US firm clients has asked us to help them find two US securities associates interested in relocating to Sydney. The two positions will be filled by 3rd to 5th year cap markets associates, most likely coming from a top 20 US firm in New York or another major US market. The role will be entirely US securities law and not deal at all with local law (unlike which can happen in HK and other overseas markets at some firms). This US cap markets practice in Sydney is widely considered to be the best in Australia. It is an opportunity to settle down permanently in Sydney (there is career advancement potential and this firm has a track record of promoting partners from within in busy overseas offices) or spend a few years getting interesting experience and then head back to US. While this position will be challenging and of course consist of long hours, a strong argument can be made that it is a better quality of life than working in biglaw in NYC. Past experience or strong connection to Australia not needed to apply for this position. Of course, we are happy to go over the opportunity in detail with you by phone / email if you are interested. I met with the hiring partner from this firm’s Sydney office yesterday, as he was in the US on business. He said they are prepared to move very quickly with offers for the right two candidates, so it will not be a drawn out process. Further, this particular top US firm has a track record of moving very quickly with US associate hires in Asia. Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA AND ASIA U.S. ASSOCIATE OPENINGS”

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here, writing from home in Miami.  Please note that I will be available to meet US biglaw associates thinking of an Asia move while in San Francisco April 14 to 17 and in NYC April 24 to 26 and May 2 and 3.  For most of May Robert and I will be working from our Hong Kong offices and of course available there to meet our readers.  As always (at least when she is not traveling the world running, and sometimes winning, marathons), Alexis is working from our HK offices.

Kinney Recruiting will be participating in the VietAbroader Career Conference at NYU, April 24 – 25, sponsored by VietAbroader and NYU’s Asia Law Society.  I will be giving a presentation, and available to answer questions, on working in biglaw in Southeast Asia.  Thus, even if you are not specifically interested in living and working in Vietnam, feel free to stop by NYU at 12noon Sunday, April 25, if you are interested in lateraling to a market in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore or Hong Kong, for example.

Things continue to go well in our US associate and counsel recruiting efforts in HK / China, with now well over 20 placements already in ’10, including 2 more this week.  We have a number of offers outstanding as well, so expect more placements soon.

As for the state of the biglaw US associate lateral hiring in Asia, things have not changed much since our last post. The number of openings and hiring in HK / China and Singapore continue to increase substantially, although keep in mind that firms are being very selective (much more so than what was the case in ’06 through mid ’08 Asia hiring boom, for example), due to the flood of very qualified candidates on the market (especially those seeking to lateral from NYC). Also, please note that the interview / hiring process is still taking much longer than what is typical. As long as the US major markets are in only a slow recovery, firms will hesitate to give even their busiest and understaffed Asia offices a full green light on hiring laterals. Therefore, US and UK firms in HK / China, for example, are typically looking to hire only about half of their actual US associate lateral need. Further, firms sometimes at the last minute try to band aid a need with an internal secondment, especially at the more junior levels. Firms also have a lot of leverage in the market now, considering how many impressive US associate lateral candidates are available (in contrast, in ’06 and ’07, for example, firms were giving quick offers because of the scarcity of highly qualified US associate candidates on the market in Asia). So in short, be prepared for a rather long interview process at your eventual landing spot and also a job search that is more likely to take months than weeks. Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: State of the Market for April ’10″