As expected, bankruptcy attorneys are once again in demand. So we're highlighting an opportunity for junior associates in this week's Job of the Week, brought to you by Lateral Link. This position qualifies for Lateral Link's $10,000 signing bonus. (Lateral Link has paid out over $200,000 in signing bonuses this summer.)

Lateral Link has junior bankruptcy positions at some of the more sought-after firms in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Atlanta, and Chicago (like the one below). For information on these other positions, please contact your personal search consultant.

Position: Bankruptcy associate

Location: Chicago, IL

Description: A top Chicago-based law firm seeks junior bankruptcy associates. For more information about this position, or to apply, please see Position 9585 on Lateral Link.

If you are not already a Lateral Link Member, you can apply at www.laterallink.com. Also, because of the tremendous growth in Lateral Link's membership, Lateral Link is actively looking to hire additional search consultants in Washington DC and Texas. If interested, please email join@laterallink.com.

Just One Word: Bankruptcy! [New York Magazine]

Tax attorneys are all the rage, with in-house and law firm opportunities for 2008 JDs and up. The Job(s) of the Week highlight some of the best of these opportunities. These are in New York, but Lateral Link has similar positions in other cities as well. Lateral Link's $10,000 signing bonus applies to the positions below. If you are not already a Lateral Link Member, you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Junior tax attorney - The New York office of this top 25 law firm, well-known for its quality of life, is seeking junior tax associates. They will consider 2008 law school graduates to start immediately (including those who may have had their start dates pushed back at other firms). For more information, please see Position 6074 on Lateral Link.

[Ed. note / Disclosure: Please note that this post is authored not by the Asia Corporate Lawyers but by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles and an ATL advertiser. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years.]

This week, we are going to very briefly discuss the state of the market for major law firms in Asia, with a focus on M&A, and with our usual slant towards Hong Kong / China (as that is where the majority of the hiring is taking place these days). In future editions of the Asia Chronicles, we plan to eventually devote an article to all the major practice areas in Asia, as well as each major Asia market generally (e.g., Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore and Hong Kong).

Notwithstanding the global economic slowdown, most of our U.S. associate friends in Asia remain busy. Some, including the authors of prior installments of the Asia Chronicles, are as busy as ever. They are so slammed, in fact, that these poor writers don't have time to pen the Asia Chronicles this week (as well as some of the past several weeks -- or do their laundry, for that matter). But that is another story for another day, when we focus more on quality of life for U.S. associates in Asia.

So while we are authoring this week's edition of the Chronicles, as an emergency fill-in, we thought it best to provide our readers with some very basic information and facts about the topic at hand.

A number of U.S. and British firms in Asia, especially in Hong Kong / China, are actively building up their M&A practices. This is no surprise when considering current and projected market conditions. In fact, a survey just completed this month by Simmons & Simmons of 200 CEOs and CFOs of leading companies in the Asia Pacific region shows that 91% of the respondents believe that the level of M&A activity will increase or remain the same over the next twelve months, with over two-thirds of respondents believing M&A activity across the Asia-Pacific region will increase over that time frame, and with 87% of respondents believing that there will be increased M&A activity in China in the next twelve months.

Read more, after the jump.

Today's Job of the Week is a position in the Far East, brought to you by Lateral Link. In this year alone, Lateral Link will pay over $1,000,000 in guaranteed signing bonuses.

Position: Fund Formation Associate

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Description: The Tokyo office of this U.S.-based international law firm is seeking a mid-level to senior fund formation associate for their top-ranked practice. The associate must have 5+ years of experience and be serious about practicing in Asia. More senior candidates may be based in Hong Kong. No language skills necessary!

For more information about this position or to apply, please see Position 9525 at www.laterallink.com.

Since last week's non-legal Job of the Week in New York was such a big hit, we've decided to give you West Coast folks an opportunity to transition out of the law as well. And since some people reading ATL still want to keep practicing law, we've provided another top in-house spot for those of you on the East Coast.

Here are the Jobs of the Week, brought to you by Lateral Link. First the legal one:

Position: Senior Corporate Counsel
Location: Boston, MA
Description: This company, a rapidly growing leader in wind production, is seeking a senior corporate attorney with 7-8 years corporate and securities experience at a large law firm. Public company experience and Sarb-Ox a plus. The attorney must be comfortable working in a relatively unstructured environment and will be expected to handle substantial day-to-day responsibility while reporting to the General Counsel on larger issues. This position has tremendous potential financial upside. For more information please see Position #9409.

And now the non-legal one:

Position: Manager of Attorney Recruiting & Development
Location: San Diego, CA
Description: A premier global law firm, with more than 2,000 attorneys in 26 offices worldwide, seeks a bright, articulate, self-starting professional for its San Diego office. The successful candidate will manage all aspects of lateral attorney hiring, the fall and summer recruiting programs, and new attorney orientation, integration and development. The ideal candidate will have a JD, MBA or other relevant advanced degree and a minimum of 5 years of experience in a large law firm or professional services environment. No previous recruiting experience is required. For more information please see Position #9425.

Lateral Link is a free professional member network for attorneys. Benefits include a $10,000 guaranteed signing bonus for most positions, free professional career consulting and access to Vault guides, and personal job search assistance. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

We recently discovered that the folks over at Lateral Link are giving away free coffee. Anyone who registers with Lateral Link before the end of the month -- that's Monday -- will get a free Starbucks gift card. The catch is that you have to register through a special, super-secret link. (Hint: it is www.laterallink.com/java.)

Now here's the Job of the Week -- which, conveniently, is also free from Lateral Link:

Position: Mid-level Corporate Associate

Location: Chicago

Description: Although the lateral market in Chicago has been slow of late, this top Chicago-based firm is growing and is actively seeking a mid-level associate with general corporate experience, including M&A, securities and private equity experience. In addition to any bonus paid by the firm, this position qualifies for Lateral Link's standard $10,000 signing bonus.

For more information about this position or to apply, please see Position 9277 on Lateral Link. Current members can also contact their personal search consultant directly to discuss this position. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings (scroll down)

The latest Job of the Week, brought to you by Lateral Link, is perfect for a junior associate looking to move to a small in-house department in a unique industry. This past week, Lateral Link members accepted offers with Mayer Brown (Chicago), Quinn Emanuel (New York), Fish & Richardson (Boston), and Gibson Dunn (Los Angeles and San Francisco). Each of these members will receive Lateral Link's standard $10,000 signing bonus.

Position: Junior Corporate Counsel

Location: Orange County, CA

Description: This Orange County-based, sophisticated cosmetic and skin care company seeks a junior corporate/contracts lawyer (2-5 years) to join its small, collegial, and team-oriented legal department, in Irvine, CA. This position will report directly to the General Counsel. The ideal candidate will come from a large law firm environment and have excellent academic credentials. The candidate must be able to work independently and collaboratively in a friendly, fast-paced environment. California Bar Admission is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities will include drafting, reviewing and negotiating all forms of contracts and third party agreements, including, but not limited to, supply agreements, IT consulting agreements, non-disclosure agreements, leases, vendor contracts, distributor agreements, and other agreements originating from the Company's various business groups. This attorney will have extensive interaction with senior executives and business people in product development, marketing, finance, supply chain and other business lines. In addition, the lawyer will work with outside counsel often. This position offers a great work-life balance and control over hours in a growing, dynamic work environment.

For more information about this position, or to apply, please see Position 9277 on Lateral Link. Current members can also contact their personal search consultant directly to discuss this position. Membership in Lateral Link is free, and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings (scroll down)

This week's Job of the Week, brought to you by Lateral Link, is another solid in-house position for a junior attorney. In addition, this is one of many companies with whom Lateral Link has a strong relationship, so Lateral Link members will have an inside track on this position.

Position: Associate Counsel, Securities Regulation

Location: Philadelphia

Description: Known for its strong, ethical business practices and client focus, this Company fosters a collaborative, team-oriented environment that rewards and recognizes individual achievement. As a member of the Company's Securities Regulation broker-dealer team, the selected candidate will work with a group of eight talented professionals who share a commitment to excellence, and represent the Company and its subsidiaries on a variety of broker-dealer matters.

As Associate Counsel, the attorney will have primary or support responsibilities for a wide range of retail brokerage and fund distribution activities, including:
- Drafting and negotiating mutual fund supermarket service agreements.
- Advising on the distribution and marketing of investment products and services, including mutual funds, annuities and 529 Plan securities.
- Working with the Compliance Department and business units to interpret and implement FINRA, MSRB and SEC rules relating to broker-dealer activities, including licensing, sales practices, advertising, net capital, and customer protection and margin requirements.
- Advising the brokerage operations unit on clearance and settlement matters.
- Drafting, reviewing and negotiating required documents for the resale of restricted securities, certain corporate actions and other special transactions.
- Advising on fixed income and equity trading issues.
- Advocating on behalf of the Company with regulatory authorities.
- Educating officers and other employees as needed on legal issues.

Requirements: Law degree (J.D. or equivalent) and 2-5 years of securities law experience, with an emphasis on broker-dealer regulatory matters at a mid- to large-sized law firm. For more information about this position or to apply, please see Position 9227 on Lateral Link. Current members can also contact their personal search consultant directly to discuss this position. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings (scroll down)

The latest Job of the Week, one of many in-house positions currently available through Lateral Link, is a solid opportunity at a Chicago hedge fund. Lateral Link members have recently been hired to fill previous Jobs of the Week, including positions at Vanguard, DE Shaw, and Morrison Foerster-Tokyo.

Position: Assistant General Counsel - Hedge Fund

Location: Chicago, IL

Description: Prominent, well-established financial institution in Chicago seeks experienced (3-5 years) hedge fund/investment management lawyer. Ideal candidate will come from a law firm, hedge fund or financial institution. This person should have outstanding organizational and oral and written communication skills, be a self-starter, and be able to proactively identify needs for policies and procedures. This opportunity offers an extremely collegial work environment with more control over one's schedule.

To learn more about this position or to apply, please see position #9200 on Lateral Link. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings (scroll down)

[We previously posted this announcement last week. We just wanted to post it one more time before the application deadline of Friday, June 6. We've already received many excellent applications, which we will review more closely over the weekend. Thanks.]

Time flies. It's hard to believe, but Above the Law turns two this summer. We started writing for ATL in July 2006, and the site went live in August 2006.

We're happy to report that things are going swimmingly -- so swimmingly, in fact, that we'd like to (and need to) hire another full-time writer. Law firms are firing, but ATL is hiring. This gig may not pay $160K, but we guarantee it's more fun than document review or due diligence.

This is a full-time position. The pay is quite competitive for a media/journalism job, and standard benefits -- health insurance, a 401(k), abuse from anonymous commenters -- are included. If you're looking to transition from law into the writing life, this is an excellent opportunity.

If you'd like to apply, please email us (subject line: "New Writer Application"). Please describe yourself and your background, and explain why you'd be a great addition to ATL. If you have a particular vision for the site or ideas for new features, do share. Feel free to include a résumé, a writing sample, a link to your own blog (if you have one), or any other information you think might be relevant to evaluation of your application.

We will take applications through Friday, June 6 (and will probably throw in another plug for this next week). Thanks for your interest; we look forward to hearing from you.

Today's Job of the Week is a lifestyle opportunity for a generalist attorney. Although the market may be slowing down, Lateral Link is successfully assisting hundreds of attorneys with their job searches. In the month of May, Lateral Link paid its members over $100,000 in signing bonuses and referral fees.

Position: Associate to work with religious organizations

Location: Washington, DC

Job Code: Position #9144

Description: This is a unique opportunity to achieve work-life balance while working exclusively with a litigation partner on client matters for religious organizations. The partner is seeking a generalist with strong qualifications who is looking for a 9-to-5 job and who is able to meet a wide variety of client needs without needing assistance from several practice groups. Tasks will include both transactional and litigation matters.

For more information, please visit Lateral Link, or contact your personal Lateral Link search consultant.

Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings (scroll down)

Time flies. It's hard to believe, but Above the Law turns two this summer. We started writing for ATL in July 2006, and the site went live in August 2006.

We're happy to report that things are going swimmingly -- so swimmingly, in fact, that we'd like to (and need to) hire another full-time writer. Law firms are firing, but ATL is hiring. This gig may not pay $160K, but we guarantee it's more fun than document review or due diligence.

This is a full-time position. The pay is quite competitive for a media/journalism job, and standard benefits -- health insurance, a 401(k), abuse from anonymous commenters -- are included. If you're looking to transition from law into the writing life, this is an excellent opportunity.

If you'd like to apply, please email us (subject line: "New Writer Application"). Please describe yourself and your background, and explain why you'd be a great addition to ATL. If you have a particular vision for the site or ideas for new features, do share. Feel free to include a résumé, a writing sample, a link to your own blog (if you have one), or any other information you think might be relevant to evaluation of your application.

We will take applications through Friday, June 6 (and will probably throw in another plug for this next week). Thanks for your interest; we look forward to hearing from you.