This article is well worth a read as we see more partners looking at Chinese firms as a viable alternative to the big US or UK magic circle firms.. AALE wonders if the PRC firms already have a strategy in place to use these partners and their London & New York , Washington connections to open China law firm offices in Europe, UK & the US.
Here the post
http://asialegalblog.com/?p=2388
Top law firm Partners defect to local PRC firms: A wave of the future?
May 11th, 2010 by John-Christopher Record
Two high-ranking partners of US and UK law firms have joined local Chinese firms recently, Clifford Chance capital markets partner Rupert Li, who moved to Beijing?s King & Wood and Lovells Beijing Managing Partner Robert Lewis who joined Shanghai?s Albright Law Offices. Formerly Chief Representative of Clifford Chance?s Beijing office and member of the firm?s Partnership Council, Li will join King & Wood as International Managing Partner and will lead their efforts to expand its international law capability with a focus on Hong Kong. ?My entire career has been spent somewhere on the periphery of some far-flung legal empire,? says Li, but now ?I?m suddenly at the center.?
Ms. Wang Ling, Managing Partner at King & Wood stated, ?We believe Rupert will strengthen the firm?s competitiveness at the international level. His good relationship with international firms will also be very helpful to further cooperation between firms.? Clifford Chance Asia Managing Partner Peter Charlton said, ?In the four years since he joined CC, Rupert has made a significant contribution to the growth and management of our China practice and to the development of our lawyers in China. He has been a respected member of several firm management committees and a good friend and mentor to his colleagues in China.? Although Li says his departure from Clifford Chance is amicable, he asserts that all foreign firms face significant challenges to growth, including restrictions that ban foreign firms from local practice and other regulatory issues.
Last week, former Lovells Beijing Managing Partner Robert Lewis joined Shanghai?s Albright Law Offices as a senior international legal consultant, since Chinese practice restrictions on foreign lawyers prevent him from being a partner. This move makes Lewis one of the most senior Western lawyers to join a domestic law firm in China. Lewis, an 18-year veteran of the China market, sees it tilting decisively in favor of domestic law firms. He believes that this trend will only accelerate, and points to the fact that inbound work on behalf of multinationals investing in China has already shifted sharply away from international firms toward their Chinese counterparts. ?It?s disproportionately going to areas where international firms don?t have their own offices,? says Lewis, ?Chinese companies are almost peculiarly focused on whether you have an office somewhere.?
While moves like this have been anticipated by market spectators for some time now, it seems to be occurring earlier than anticipated- reflecting the growing strength and prestige of leading Chinese firms, which have recently been dominating ?inbound? China practices, even among multinational clients. While there certainly are many top-notch U.S qualified attorneys practicing at leading local Chinese firms such as King & Wood, AllBright and Broad and Bright, it appears that high profile moves such as the aforementioned may be part of a growing trend. That said, the historically significant cultural differences in foreign and local firms still remain (most notably firm environment, partnership structure and scale/scope of corporate transactions). It will certainly be interesting to see where this trend takes us and how this will affect client retention and associate movement.
