Asia BigLaw Hiring in the Time of a Coronavirus Pandemic
We are now just seeing the same panic (and understanding) happen en masse in the US and in other parts of the world.
All of this is very much secondary to the tragic fact that people all over the world are becoming critically ill and dying of the novel Coronavirus, especially our beloved elderly.
Alejandro has been “on the ground” in his home of Hong Kong since the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic that has put the world – and, initially Asia – in its crosshairs. His wife is the head of DCM for a major investment bank, and many of his friends and former colleagues (and our clients) are partners or senior attorneys in Asia BigLaw.
We have a new recruiter/partner joining our Hong Kong-based office this month and he has also remained in Hong Kong with his wife and children, whose schools are closed until April.
What does the Coronavirus pandemic mean for Asia BigLaw hiring?
The good news is that Asia BigLaw’s response has (so far) been free of the full-scale panic and long-term hiring freezes that accompanied the blood-letting in 2008-2009.
Procedurally, not much has changed. US-to-Asia hiring has always taken place primarily via videoconference and phone. Asia BigLaw firms rarely, if ever, request or require in-person meetings or Asia travel prior to making an offer.
Because of this temporary diaspora of hiring partners and other key personnel, the Coronavirus has slowed down many aspects of legal hiring in Asia, both administratively / procedurally and substantively.
Many firms are continuing to make associate offers to candidates, but, since law firm offices in Asia have either shut down or encouraged their employees (including key hiring personnel) to work from home, the actual process has slowed as a result. Hiring should resume at a “normal” pace as partners and key HR execs return to their offices – though many have decided not to return until as late as April or even May.
A number of firms have put active associate candidates on hold, even if they have completed multiple rounds of interviews and were on the verge of an offer. For senior strategic hires (such as partner hires), most law firms’ global management has been more cautious about committing to hiring lateral partners in Asia until the Coronavirus situation has stabilized or achieved a predictable “new normal” – thus stalling the process with many of our partner-level candidates, too.
On the other hand, a smaller (but still material) number of our BigLaw client firms remain in aggressive expansion mode in Asia. They have continued, without interruption, their partner-level recruiting and hiring. The same can be said for a few of our major Asia based tech company clients, regarding senior in-house hires (in both Asia and the US).
In terms of post-offer slowdowns, work visas took approximately 2 weeks longer to process, thus delaying start dates. On March 1, Hong Kong’s government employees returned to the office after a month of working from home in self-quarantine, so we do not expect this to be a factor going forward.
