Asia Law

AFR: Top law firms eye big growth in South-East Asia strategy

Having spent more than a decade of my working life in South East Asia as a lawyer (at least for the most part), and with lots and lots of good friends still there, I found this article in the AFR today interesting.

It is my sincere hope that Australian law firms give it a real go, but track record suggests (see this blog post of mine from 2014!) the journey will not be an easy one.

And if you are a law firm looking to move into South East Asia, feel free to give me a call – after all, I was there pre Linklaters, Clifford Chance (both of whom I worked with), A&O, NRF, DLA and all the others (apart from Bakers who were there, oddly under an Australian Managing Partner 😂).

As always, get in touch if you want to talk through any of the above.

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Launched today – The Asian Business Law Institute

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Today, 21 January 2016, the Asian Business Law Institute (ABLI) was formerly launched in Singapore.

According to the ABLI’s website, the:

“…Institute based in Singapore that initiates, conducts and facilitates research and produces authoritative texts with a view to providing practical guidance in the field of Asian legal development and promoting the convergence of Asian business laws.

Among ABLI’s core tasks are:

  • to evaluate and stimulate the development of Asian law, legal policy, and practice, and in particular make proposals for the further convergence of business law among Asian Countries;
  • to study Asian approaches regarding business laws and practice in drafting legal instruments, restatements of law or model rules;
  • to conduct and facilitate pan-Asian research, in particular to draft, evaluate or improve principles and rules which are common to the Asian legal systems; and
  • to provide a forum, for discussion and cooperation, between the business community and the legal fraternity including, inter alia judges, lawyers, academics and other legal professionals, who take an active interest in Asian business law development.”

With the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in December 2015 and the formal launch of the  Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) this month, there can be little doubt that it’s exciting times with plenty of potential for the legal industry in Asia at the moment so an initiative like ABLI should be warmly applauded.

If you’re on Twitter, the ABLI handle is @ABLIasia. Should be worth a follow.