A piece in the Am Law Daily published Friday suggests..
That the AP’s "bright spot" for law firms may well be litigation
Tony Lin in Hong Kong writes in his article
LETTER FROM ASIA: Economic Crisis Shifts Spotlight to Litigation
The story of international law firms in Asia has long been all about transactions–infrastructure financings, foreign investment, and, especially in recent years, blockbuster public offerings of mainland Chinese companies. But with capital markets in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai now as moribund as those in London or New York, a number of firms are finding an unexpected bright spot in the region: litigation.
Linklaters announced this week it would relocate senior litigation partner Tom Lidstrom from London to Hong Kong in January, and other firms are also gearing up for an Asian disputes uptick as well.
"Contentious work is increasing across the board," says Mark Johnson, head of the Asian dispute resolution group for Herbert Smith in Hong Kong. "We are receiving a growing number of instructions from global and regional financial institutions. Much of this is directly or indirectly related to the credit crisis, including compliance issues and internal investigations."
Read the full story at
