Buzz

Clifford Chance boosted its Asia litigation team with the hire of a partner from Mayer Brown JSM . Brian Gilchrist joins CC's Hong Kong office. Gilchrist specializes in banking and insurance disputes, directors' duties and minority shareholders' rights issues, as well as tax-related matters.

Lovells moved to boost its corporate practice with the hire of White & Case Beijing partner Fred Chang . Chang joins Lovells' Beijing office as a partner. Chang, who focuses on structured credit work for investment banks, previously worked with King & Wood. He also previously worked in-house with Goldman Sachs and was general counsel at Deutsche Bank Asia for five years.

Allen & Overy advised Chinese property developer Gemdale Corporation , relating to a joint venture with UBS AG Hong Kong Branch to establish an offshore investment platform focusing on residential developments in major and second-tier PRC cities, with expected total capital up to US$300 million. Gemdale Corporation is a Shenzhen-based property developer listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

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Voice

Legal salaries "spring up" again
PRC firms lead

Spring is in the air early this year, blooms soon on the trees. This time of year we keenly scrutinize last year's competition to recruit—and retain, the best and brightest of legal talent in China .

The 2007 salary data has been collected, crunched, analyzed. The data confirms it. Salaries for legal professionals continued to inflate. The big story…..PRC firms take the lead.

For the second year in a row PRC firms raised salaries more than foreign firms. The top tier domestic firm group jumped an a vera ge 19% year-on-year (y-o-y) from 2006. This is extraordinary considering that the a vera ge y-o-y increase for all group/all data was about 10%.

The 2007 data indicates that top tier domestic firms are in many cases paying comparable compensation to that offered by some foreign firms, especially the China offices of regional foreign firms (from Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Europe).

The big US and UK firms continue to attract top legal talent by paying the highest. 2007 salaries in these global giants continued inflating—almost as much as salaries in top tier domestic firms.

The second big story in 2007 results from these two trends. The smaller regional foreign firms appear to be losing competitiveness in attracting legal talent in this tight market. These firms are being squeezed between the big global foreign firms paying much more and the top tier domestic firms catching up.

Many global firms are dramatically expanding their teams/office platforms. Many new firms are entering the market (especially from the US ). These firms are bidding up the salaries for top talent. Regional foreign firms are not following. The compensation gap between the global and regional foreign firms appears to be widening. As top tier domestic firms increase compensation levels, the gap with regional foreign firms is closing.

For readers wishing to learn more result from the 2007 survey, please click HERE to learn how to obtain a copy.

We express our thanks to readers who participated in the 2007 survey by sharing their personal data on-line. In appreciation we are sending you the survey data for your individual group/category. We expect to complete the mailing to all of you by the end of March.

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Fun

Lawyer's fee

A new client came to see a famous lawyer in his office.

"Can you tell me how much you charge?" said the client.

"Of course", the lawyer replied, "I charge US$ 250 to answer three questions."

"Well that's a bit expensive, isn't it?"

"Yes it is", said the lawyer, "And what's your third question?"

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Vacancies

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:

Legal Policy Manager – Beijing – Ref: LPC02905
This is a US Fortune 500 Company.  It pioneered the semiconductor memory products, which has developed technology enabling the computer and Internet revolution. Based in Beijing and report to the Managing Director of the company's China , the successful candidate will work with China 's Corporate Affairs and Legal teams.

Corporate Lawyer – Beijing/Shanghai – Ref: LPF04213
This is a “ Magic Circle ” firm. The firm operates as one team for China projects, engaging lawyer in its Beijing , Shanghai and Hong Kong offices in projects. The firm is currently looking for Corporate Lawyers (3+ PQE) to join its Beijing and Shanghai offices.

Senior Counsel (Asia Pacific) – Shanghai – Ref: LPC01606
It is one of world's largest chemical manufacturers. The company has annual sales of $46 billion and employs 42,000 people worldwide. Its legal department (Asia Pacific) is seeking Senior Counsel (6+ PQE), based in Shanghai .

Senior Associate (Real Estate) – Shanghai – Ref: LPF02815
This is a reputable international law firm. The firm operates more than sixty offices across Asia, Europe and the US in 25 countries. The firm's Shanghai office is looking for Real Estate Lawyer (4-6 PQE) to join its real estate group.

HR Manager – Shanghai – Ref: LPF02522
This is a top tier US law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers around the world. Currently, the firm is seeking HR Manager (5+ years of relevant experience), based in Shanghai office.

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

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