Buzz

The largest e-commerce company in China, Alibaba Group, has appointed former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer corporate partner Timothy Steinert as its new general counsel only days after announcing its plan for an IPO of Alibaba.com in Hong Kong. Steinert specializes in advising on international securities offerings of Chinese companies and cross-border M&A.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has appointed Thomas Man , formerly of Baker & McKenzie, as a partner in its Beijing office. Man was appointed by The Supreme People's Court of China as one of only two foreign advisors to the drafting committee of China 's Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science to draft the first Uniform Rules of Evidence for all Chinese courts.

Sidley Austin acted for China Development Bank (CDB), a government policy-oriented financial institution in its recent RMB bond offering in Hong Kong . The offering consisted of RMB 5 billion three percent bonds due 2009. The transaction, the first offering of RMB-denominated bonds by a PRC institution outside mainland China , was part of a PRC government initiative to introduce the country's currency to the international financial markets in preparation for RMB's eventual free convertibility.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP represented HSBC China Dragon Fund , a closed-end investment fund focused on investing in listed companies established or operating in the PRC, in its initial public offering and Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing of 371,910,000 units. The aggregate size of the offering was approximately US$478 million. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited was the lead underwriter of the IPO.

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Voice

" My classmate recently returned from the US with her LLM.
She now earns triple my salary!"

We all know stories about “golden” salaries paid to Chinese lawyers who have foreign legal degrees. But, triple the salary? Is this usual?

A triple salary difference between junior and mid level lawyers—who were classmates—is unusual, but not rare. A second key factor may explain a very large salary difference between classmates. This is a foreign bar qualification. In the current market, where international firms are actively working to retain their experienced talent, a Chinese lawyer with a foreign bar more readily fits the firm's career path. The data clearly shows the distinct value of having a foreign bar. The US will continue to be the top choice for Chinese LLM students and New York exam the bar of choice.

That a foreign LLM gives a younger lawyer a significant salary premium over a classmate without overseas education is not news. What is news is that this premium gap appears to be closing.

Data collected for the 2006 LawInn Legal Salary Survey & Review showed the group with the highest salary inflation—29%—was lawyers without overseas education in large global foreign firms. Compare this to the average 17.3% year-on-year increase (for all data across all employer groups). Employers of top legal talent value highly practice experience in China. A Chinese lawyer studying overseas gains a legal education and cultural experience but with an opportunity cost—lost work experience performing in China.

The broad salary range among classmates is also found among similarly qualified lawyers. Data collected for the 2006 LawInn Legal Salary Survey & Review shows the range for almost all levels—junior, middle, senior—within each employer group widened in 2006. At least two factors contribute to this wide range for similarly qualified candidates.

• An immature legal services market in China where we find a characteristic asymmetry of information about the “right” market price for talent
• A hot market for experienced lawyers driven by demand for legal services increasing faster than the available supply of experienced talent—leading to salary inflation

Click here to receive a copy of LawInn's 2006 Legal Salary Survey & Review .

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Fun

Professional billing for advice

A doctor and a lawyer were attending a cocktail party when the doctor was approached by a man who asked advice on how to handle his ulcer. The doctor quickly mumbled some medical advice to the man.

Turning to the lawyer he remarked, "I never know how to handle the situation when I'm asked for medical advice during a social function. Is it acceptable to send a bill for such advice?"

The lawyer replied that it was certainly acceptable to do so.

So, the next day, the doctor sent the ulcer-stricken man a bill. Imagine the doctor's surprise when he received the lawyer's bill.

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Vacancies

Our LawInn team is constantly working to bring you the best choice of legal opportunities in China. Here’s just a small selection of the positions we are currently handling:

In-house Counsel – Shanghai – Ref: LPC01804
This position is a fantastic opportunity for a lawyer to join one of the world's largest energy companies. The position reports to the Managing Attorney for the China and regional operations of the company.

Finance Lawyer – Shanghai – Ref: LPF03423
Our client is a “ Magic Circle ” firm. This firm is known for its expertise in banking and finance. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing legal advice in one or more of following areas: asset finance; property finance; project finance; securitization and capital markets.

Senior Corporate Counsel - Beijing - Ref: LPC05701
Our client is a global leader in infrastructure software, with more than 17,000 employees worldwide. The company does business with 99 percent of the companies listed on the 2006 FORTUNE 1,000 list. The ideal candidate should have 8+ years experience in an in-house legal department of a multi-national company within the IT/Software industry.

Chief Know-How Officer – Beijing – Ref: LPF04215
Our client is one of the world's largest law firms. The firm is structured around six global practice areas: banking and finance; capital markets; corporate M&A; litigation and dispute resolution; real estate; tax, pensions and employment.

Securities Lawyer – Hong Kong – Ref: LPF05003
Our client is a leading US law firm with a long-standing commitment to its Structured Finance practice. The practice of more than 85 firm lawyers involves securitization of a wide variety of assets. According to Chambers & Partners Law Firm Guide, this firm is “one of the world's leading securitization and structured finance firms."

For more positions, please click http://www.lawinn.net/service2.asp

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