Law firms seek exposure to markets across Asia

HAVING recently moved into the Western Australian market after its merger with Q Legal, Brisbane-based HopgoodGanim has announced a cooperation agreement with two major Chinese law firms.

The agreement will include reciprocal referrals, secondments, and the exchange of information between HopgoodGanim and Dacheng Law Offices and Zhejiang T&C Law Firm.

Beijing-based Dacheng has 39 domestic offices in China, as well as offices in France, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. According to HopgoodGanim managing director Bruce Humphrys, many of Decheng’s clients in China are state-owned enterprises.

He said his firm started searching for suitable firms to cooperate with late last year.

“We employed a Chinese-speaking lawyer with an Australian law degree and it was her suggestion that we get in touch with Dacheng,” he said.

“Since that time we’ve met with them twice in China, and just recently we hosted seven of their partners in Australia.”

Mr Humphrys said his firm already had exposure to China through a number of Chinese clients as well as parties on the opposite side of their clients’ transactions.

While still early days for the agreement, Mr Humphrys said one of the benefits for all the firms would be the opportunity to experience new legal and cultural environments.

“One of the main purposes of this agreement is to get a better understanding of each other’s jurisdictions, and the way you do that is to exchange information,” he said.

“That’s more likely to occur [in the course of legal work], but in the meantime it’s our intention to be corresponding and passing on information at least on a monthly basis.”

The number of Australian law firms forming bonds with international players has increased during the past three years, and particularly the past 12 months.

Early this month, national firm Middletons announced it would merge with US firm K&L Gates. From January next year, Middletons will adopt the American firm’s name, combining its offices in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney with K&L’s 46 offices around the world.

Middletons has stated that better exposure to the Asia Pacific region was one of the big drawcards for the merger.

Other moves on the Australian legal landscape in 2012 have led to the formation of King & Wood Mallesons and Herbert Smith Freehills.

However, mergers with Chinese firms – such as the one between Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Chinese firm King & Wood PRC Lawyers in March – require special arrangements, because Chinese law prevents the sharing of profits.

Mr Humphrys said he was happy with the cooperation agreement, and that the move was not a precursor to a merger.