[FiC]

Dear all,

I found this forum a week or so ago and it has some really useful information about life in general in Hong Kong so thank you to everyone who has contributed to it - I feel a lot more prepared after reading.

Anyway, down to the purpose of my post. I am a 1.5 year qualified commercial litigation lawyer. I am working for a city firm in London at the moment and my boyfriend who I live with has been offered a transfer to Hong Kong with his company.

I have lived in Japan and Bangkok before and really love Asia so am definitely up for the move but I need to find a job.

I have contacted 3 recruitment agencies and they are putting my CV forward for some jobs with English law firms over there, and my boyfriend's boss is also going to forward my CV to the law firms that his company uses there.

Does anyone know what the market in general is like for commercial litigation lawyers? I have a feeling that it will be quite difficult for me to get a job as I don't speak Chinese and am not Hong Kong qualified. However, on the plus side the kind of work I do does seem to be pretty much exactly the same as the work some of the bigger Hong Kong firms do.

I would be really grateful for any advice/ opinions.

Thanks!

[pin]

Out of curiosity which agencies are you using?

If you PM me I'll provide details of the agency that placed me.

[hknt]

It will be difficult (but not impossible) if you are not hong kong qualified. The ideal candidate is

a) hong kong qualified
b) can read and write mandarin
c) can speak cantonese
d) does not need work permit

The less you have, the lesser your chances. I waited for four months and got nothing.

[nicolejoy]

My husband was Australia qualified, hardly any experience, but had his Hong Kong permanent ID card - he found agencies useless, but with a work contact, found a job within one week and a couple of interviews!!

[Pekkerhead]

try the law alliance. they got my wife a job in two days.

[pin]

Originally Posted by Pekkerhead

try the law alliance. they got my wife a job in two days.

Was actually very disspointed by Law Alliance. They seemed to talk the talk, looked very slick, etc but when it came down to execution they were poor. Sent my CV off to law firms (or so they claimed), but they never came back to me with responses (be it positive or negative).

[FiC]

Thanks a million for the advice,

I have sent my CV to a few places so will have to see what they come back with. One thing I have been surprised about is the difference in responses of the different recruitment consultants. A few of them have taken my CV no questions asked and just sent it off (with my permission) to various firms, whilst others have had me into their London office for a proper interview, given me advice on what they think I should change on my CV, and really tried to get an idea of what kind of place I want to work (or that's how it feels anyway).

Hopefully I will get something. It just looks like there isn't that much of a market out there for litigation/ arbitration work at the moment and I am really worried about just resigning in London and then being stuck with nothing in Hong Kong.

Thanks for the advice about Law Alliance. Am in two minds about contacting them after reading both your posts though to be honest!

[hknt]

Originally Posted by pin

Was actually very disspointed by Law Alliance. They seemed to talk the talk, looked very slick, etc but when it came down to execution they were poor. Sent my CV off to law firms (or so they claimed), but they never came back to me with responses (be it positive or negative).

I had the same experience and they really wasted my time. I got the impression they don't have your interests at heart.

[pin]

Originally Posted by hknt

I had the same experience and they really wasted my time. I got the impression they don't have your interests at heart.

Name me one agency that has your interest at heart, they are only concerned about their commission

[hknt]

Legal Futures, Laurence Simons, ALS Recruit, Legal Labs have had good reviews.