And on this side of the page some more pertinent news via Charles Christian’s Orange Rag blog..
Hildebrandt have announced they are to open? offices in Sydney & Hong Kong.
We had already heard this rumour via a local legal consulting source in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago who suggested to us? that both offices may well be operating on the smell of an oily rag. Our source informed us that in the US staff levels at Hildebrandt have severely dropped since the downturn.
So.. are we to see one or two individuals in serviced offices or working out of each local TR office? All we know, for sure, is that the HK bod will spend most of their time on a plane and in countless pointless meetings around the region discussing the possibility of consulting work. In Sydney making a sale will be even harder with entrenched outfits like Mahlab gripping tightly to the miniscule budgets Aus firms will now be applying to consulting issues.
Here’s what Charles reports
Asia Pacific News Round-up
by Charles Christian on Fri 27 Nov 2009 01:00 GMT
? Hildebrandt expand Asia-Pacific Operations
Legal management consultancy Hildebrandt (part of the Thomson Reuters group) has announced the opening of new offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney effective January 1, 2010. According to the consultancy, the potential growth of the legal profession in Asia is impressive. Global firms continue to invest in the region although many lack a strategic business plan for their offices. Local and regional firms are also growing and we envision some potential consolidation of the market. The biggest challenge for local and regional firms is to put in place a structure and systems that will allow them to compete effectively in this changing market. “We would not be surprised if there were consolidation between the growing Chinese firms and a major US or UK firm.”
Hildebrandt chairman Bradford Hildebrandt adds “Establishing a local presence in Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney is a natural next step for Hildebrandt as we continue to expand our operations across Asia. There are many exciting opportunities for Hildebrandt to bring state of the art consulting services to the Asian legal market. It is important for us to have offices here in order to support the needs of our clients and others investing in these cities. Hildebrandt already has strong client relationships in Australia and will continue our commitment to the region, while expanding our commitment to Asia and the ongoing needs of our clients.”
Hildebrandt will use its presence in Asia to provide a range of legal services including practice organization, strategic growth, client relations, compensation and governance.
