Traffic figures. We’re not sure how scientific this approach is but we thought we’d report it anyway..
Here’s the introduction to their little piece
Asia firmly remains hotbed of growth in global legal industry
By ALB | Friday, 3 April 2009
The CEOs of many multinationals and their counterparts in international law firms are scouring the world for signs of new growth amidst the economic wreckage. And if the latest record-breaking web traffic statistics for the region’s leading legal website are anything to go by, they’d do well to keep their sights firmly trained on Asia.
In the last month alone, ALB websites (www.legalbusinessonline.com) registered more than 87,000 visits, breaking a new record. This phenomenal traffic provided over 218,000 page views, on which readers found not only the latest legal news but also hard-hitting analysis and insightful news features on regional trends in the legal industry.
Like the three editions of ALB magazine (China, Asia, Australia/NZ), the websites have a readership profile covering the gamut of private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, investment bankers, senior-level executives and anyone with a need to know about the top end of the legal services market. But with the convenience, enhanced functionality and timeliness of the online offering, reader numbers have exploded both in terms of absolute numbers and geographical spread.
Here’s the full article if you’d like to read on
We’re not sure if they really think that the growth in traffic reflects a newfound interest in the region’s legal industry or whether this is a thinly disguised marketing and brandin piece.
To be fair .. here at Practice Source our traffic has doubled in 2009.. and we found we are especially busy with traffic about 6-8 weeks ago. But we have to say we’re not sure that means that the whole world wants to open a branch of the law firm in the region. Hong Kong is still expensive, Singapore & China are sparing with new practice licenses, India is still debating. That leaves Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia all of whom’s domestic legal markets are already filled by strong locals and foreign firms that have been on the ground for reasonably long periods of time. To be sure there are opportunities but there’s no easy money in the region .. even in the best of times.
