BIZCHINA / Overseas Investment
London lawyers to raise mainland bid
Updated: 2006-08-25 15:57
Clifford Chance LLP, the world's biggest law firm by revenue, said it
wants to double the number of lawyers for its offices on the Chinese
mainland to 90 by 2010 to boost business.
"You've got to be ambitious and bold," said Jim Baird, Asia managing
partner for the London-based firm. "The Chinese mainland economy will
stay strong, more and more sophisticated products will be required, and
there will be increasing appetite to invest in the mainland," he said in
an interview with Bloomberg News.
Rivals including Los Angeles-based Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP
and London-based Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are expanding in the
mainland to advise companies on takeovers and securities sales, which
have surged in the country. Mergers and acquisitions involving mainland
companies have risen four-fifths to US$67.7 billion in the first seven
months of this year from a year ago, according to Bloomberg data.
Baird, a partner at Clifford Chance since 1989, forecast at least 10
percent revenue growth from mainland-related work this fiscal year
starting May 1. China's mainland contributed two-thirds of its Asian
income last year, according to Baird.
Revenue at the firm rose 13 percent to 1.03 billion pounds (US$1.9
billion) for the financial year ended on April 30. Asia accounted for 7
percent of that, Baird said.
Clifford Chance was the fourth-ranked legal adviser on mainland mergers
and acquisitions in the first seven months of this year, according to
Bloomberg data. Its nine announced deals worth US$6 billion compare with
20 valued at US$6.4 billion for the whole of 2005, when it ranked 10th.
"The biggest problem is finding the right quality people," Baird said.
"It is not a lack of willingness to expand."
Clifford Chance plans to increase the number of trainees as part of its
expansion plan, Baird said. The firm takes six to eight trainees each
year. It may also move lawyers from other offices to the mainland, he
said.
It would also like to set up ventures with Chinese mainland law firms as
soon as the government allows.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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