Buzz

Herbert Smith’s highly-rated Beijing managing partner Jeremy Xiao is leaving the firm to join Credit Suisse as a managing director in the bank’s Beijing investment banking division. Xiao acted on some major deals in the region. These include advising on Sinopec’s $3.4bn (￡1.7bn) initial public offering - the first-ever triple listing in Hong Kong, New York and London - and on the $10bn (￡4.9bn) Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and $2bn (￡984m) China Merchants Bank floats.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has recruited six new lawyers for its new Beijing office after a double raid on UK firms DLA Piper and Allen & Overy. DLA Piper corporate partner Janet Jie Tang joined Akin Gump as a partner along with a three-lawyer team comprising corporate lawyers Lu Ying and Zeng Linyan and IP lawyer Wang Yuanming.

Eight new partners were recently added as partners of Zhong Lun law firm. Some are new joiners and others were promoted. Pu Linchen , Jiang Zhe and Julia Kong joined the firm as equity partners, and Xiao Fei, Wei Zhong, Lei Song, Chen Yao and  Fan Xiaojuan became salary partners.

Beiten Burkhardt advised Siemens , German hospital operator Asklepios Kliniken and Tongji University on a JV to construct and operate a hospital in Shanghai . The JV partners are investing more than 100 million euros in the project to be set up in the Shanghai International Medical Zone. The first construction phase of the Chinese-German friendship hospital will be completed in 2009. The aim is to open the hospital before the World Expo in 2010 with an initial capacity of 250 beds, to be extended to 500 beds. Tongji University holds 46%, Siemens Project Ventures 40% and Asklepios Kliniken 14% of the shares.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced its plans to open an office in Hong Kong in October 2007.
The Hong Kong office will broaden the firm's reach in Asia from its office in Shanghai . The firm is also in the process of applying for a license to open an office in Beijing in the near future.
Weil Gotshal announced its initial strategy to staff the new Hong Kong office with experienced transactional attorneys from the New York headquarters and from Shanghai.

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Voice

Overseas legal study —
-------------------------...for me?
--------------------------------...NOT for me?

Increasing numbers of Chinese lawyers are taking time from their careers and spending big sums of money to study in an overseas LLM program.Now, there is a new choice catching the attention of many.

A coveted LLM from the prestigious New York University School of Law can now be earned without traveling to America.This year NYU began its “NYU at NSU” LLM program.Courses are taught by NYU faculty at the NationalSingaporeUniversity.The inaugural class began in May 2007 with students from 23 countries.

Perhaps this will be start of a trend with more overseas LLM programs being offered in Asia.But, it will certainly not stop many Chinese lawyers leaving for foreign law schools.The reasons Chinese lawyers covet an overseas LLM are well documented.

First, probably, is the much higher compensation earned on their return to China.Exactly how much higher, we discussed in our September Edition.Gaining a foreign bar means even higher compensation compared to similarly experienced lawyers.Second, living in a foreign country provides an exceptional opportunity for personal growth, development of cultural understanding and language skills.It’s no surprise that most Chinese lawyers choose LLM programs in the USA—for the English language plus ease of taking a bar exam.Most choose the New York bar.

An overseas LLM comes at a high cost.There are the extraordinary financial costs of tuition—often above US$30,000, and living costs—adding another US$20,000.Then there are the opportunity costs—lost income and, more importantly, a lost year of building legal skills.Legal education adds legal knowledge.It does not build legal skills.These are grown by legal practice, doing projects and learning from senior lawyers.

How then should a Chinese lawyer analyze the choice to pursue overseas study?

The value of the overseas study may be viewed through two frames:financial value (return on investment) and improvement in quality of life.The beginning questions are: can I finance the required costs, and if the answer is “yes,” will the LLM (and perhaps foreign bar qualification) be worth it to me?The “worth it to me” question is the hard one.There is no “right” answer.Each person’s answer will depend on personal spending priorities and how much value each perceives the advanced education will add to his or her “quality of life.”

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Fun

First Client

After successfully passing the bar exam, a young lawyer started up his own practice. He was sitting idle at his desk when his secretary announced that a Mr. Jones had arrived to see him.

"Show him right in!" our lawyer replied.

As Mr. Jones was being ushered in, our lawyer had an idea. He was very anxious to impress potential clients, so he immediately picked up his phone and spoke into it," I am sorry, but my workload is so tremendous that I am not going to be able to look into your problem for at least a month. I shall have to get back to you then." He then turned to the man who had just walked in, and said, "Now, what can I do for you?"

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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:

Senior Attorney – Beijing/Shanghai – Ref: LPC02906
Our client is a US Fortune 500 Company.  It pioneered the semiconductor memory products, which has developed technology enabling the computer and Internet revolution. The ideal candidate is expected to have 9+ years experience in an in-house legal department of a MNC and/or a reputable law firm.

Legal Consultant – Beijing/Shanghai – Ref: LPF01906
Our client is a top three Australian law firm with the largest presence in China . The firm has a full service corporate group with broad experience in greater China . Firm lawyers have extensive experience in M&A, FDI, commercial, real estate, and financing. They are looking for Legal Consultant (2 - 4 years PQE) to join their Beijing or Shanghai office.

PRC Legal Counsel – Beijing – Ref: LPC06301
Headquartered in Hong Kong , our client is a global e-business solution, on-line game and mobile application services company listed on NASDAQ. This position is head of PRC legal team of 12 + legal professionals and will also focus extensively on the company M&A deals in mainland China .

China Legal Manager – Shanghai – Ref: LPC06201
This position is an excellent opportunity for a lawyer to join one of world's leading and largest retailers. It currently operates over 100 Hypermarkets in China . It ranks on Fortune Global 500 list. 6+ years PQE and solid law firm experience is preferred.

Associate (M&A) – Shanghai – Ref: LPF04004
Our client is a leading PRC law firm.The firm’s Corporate team has extensive experience in M&A, corporate restructuring and reorganization, foreign direct investment and re-investment.
3 - 6 years M&A practice experience with solid firm(s) is desired

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. The ideal candidate will be HK qualified, 3+ years PQE.

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