Tough times for Hong Kong’s legal sector but future looking brighter, outgoing Law Society chief says
- Complicated geopolitics and a slow economic recovery have hit the legal sector hard, says outgoing Law Society president Chan Chak-ming
- He says competition for talent and business from cities such as Singapore is also a challenge for local law firms
Hong Kong’s legal sector has been hit hard amid complicated geopolitics and a slow economic recovery, the outgoing head of the city’s largest lawyers’ group has said, with statistics showing a 21 per cent drop in registered foreign law firms in four years.
Chan Chak-ming, who steps down as Law Society president next Tuesday, said competition for talent and business from cities such as Singapore was also a challenge for local law firms.
He also urged fellow practitioners not to only focus on serving mainland Chinese companies to maintain the “very important link” between Hong Kong and other common law systems in the world.
Lay-offs and closures in the past year have caused gloom in Hong Kong’s legal sector.
US law firm Winston & Strawn closed its office in the city in February after a 15-year presence, while Mayer Brown announced last month that its Hong Kong operations would be split to form a separate partner firm.
In an interview with the Post, Chan acknowledged that his three-year tenure as president was marked by challenges ranging from pandemic-related travel restrictions to a sluggish economic recovery, which led to a drought in mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings last year.
