While this has created opportunities for HD lawyers in the PRC, there seems to be a strong reluctance to take advantage of these new opportunities offered. While the PRC, Macau and Hong Kong are now strategically linked, they have very different legal systems. While our local relationships predict a growing need for collaboration and cooperation in these three legal markets, there are still many obstacles. The Covid-19 pandemic brought a multitude of challenges and uncertainties in the legal sector in 2020, which had a continuous impact until 2021 and all signs also point to 2022. While the landscape is constantly changing and changing, it is undeniably shaking up the status quo. We continue to see that many law firms are doing better than ever, others are struggling and trying to turn around, and unfortunately, many law firms have not been able to survive this period and gain market share. Times of uncertainty and change are always a time to innovate and look for opportunities. However, we found that most companies reintroduced compensation plans before the pandemic, with many increasing their salaries more than in 2019-2021. Growth tended to be between 1 and 5 per cent, with a slight increase of just under 1.5 per cent overall. The results provide valuable insights into hiring trends and salary fluctuations in the private law firm market in Hong Kong.

In the face of a pandemic, social unrest and political changes, Hong Kong has experienced both global and uniquely personal narrative changes that have had many implications for the legal industry, from compensation decisions to recovering corporate revenue by generating a wider customer base and much more. Finally, we have seen a strong movement in the HD legal market. We`ve recently seen many international law firms (including Osborne Clarke, Orrick, Vinson & Elkins, and Locke Lord, to name a few). However, we also see a number of international companies that seem to be strengthening their presence in Asia over the same period. Static compensation policies with high base salaries and small commission components have emerged. More performance- and results-oriented compensation strategies eclipsed more traditional structures in 2020. As we enter a post-COVID zone, it is more likely than ever that we will see a rapid shift from outdated salary scales to a more holistic performance-based compensation model based on billing, use of technology, training and brand ambassadors, etc. The two major trends for the HD legal market in 2022 will focus on the growing relevance of the already large ledger. Law firms looking to attract new partners have faced and, in some cases, questions about the firm`s performance, future growth and development. Indeed, many partners in their current law firms have a clearer view of their current finances and plans, they may also have closely followed other practices and strategies, as well as how these firms have behaved during the difficulties and uncertainties of 2020 and 2021. Law firms have also been quick to focus on finding other ways to generate more business by strengthening relationships with current clients, reviewing hires and strategic partnerships, prioritizing specific business areas, and restructuring the firm and its resources.

Percentile wages tell us how much a certain percentage of a total sample is in a particular geographic area or industry or field. In other words, percentiles indicate the percentage of wages that fall below a certain value. Percentiles are useful for understanding salary ranges because they tell you where a salary compares to other salaries. Our comprehensive report includes salary scales for domestic and international companies and covers all business areas such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, compliance, litigation and more. This allows our clients and candidates to locate salary data accurately and with certainty and to be confident that it is supported by data shared with us through our unique client relationships, as well as current placement data and salary survey questionnaire. I`ve made some bold predictions, and some may not be popular and some people may disagree, but I believe they are accurate and we at GRM Search are preparing to approach the legal talent market accordingly. Subscribe to our member portal for innovative research and information on African legal markets, including white papers, articles, podcasts, video interviews, webinars and infographics. Get unparalleled access to real market conditions and information that will provide a tangible return on investment in Africa. Many companies have restructured and will restructure the company and its activities to continue their activities and become more profitable. Larger or more capitalized/profitable companies may have delayed or withheld wage cuts.

In some cases, some companies have delayed various promotions and salary increases. GRM Intelligence also seeks to collect payroll data by specific salary figures rather than domains where possible, thereby improving the reliability of our research results. If a data range was specified by the participant or client, the average of the data range was calculated and used in the final survey results or otherwise deleted. We suspect that alliances of lawyers, joint ventures and other strategic relationships with law firms will emerge in the coming year. We expect the policy to follow in the longer term, but of course the private sector will react much more quickly when it comes to establishing business relationships. It appears that lawyers in all three regions believe they could currently benefit from perceived legal certainty, but tensions remain high. Since the majority of private law firms pay bonuses at this time of year and salary increases are advertised, we provide you with the most up-to-date salary guide for your benefit, whether you want to move or compare yourself to your peers. As always, there are individual outliers, and our team is very happy to discuss your position and wishes, whether or not a move is unlikely in the short term. We will present an internal salary guide next month and a final guide to the new salary scales for private practices once the new ranges are all fully confirmed and announced. Law firms continue to hire and we are currently tasked with a variety of research assignments at the partner, attorney and partner level. Many companies now pay very attractive bonuses, and we typically choose to work on partner/advisor roles in companies that offer a clear path to partnership in the future.

Below is a selection of current vacancies. Alternatively, you can check out our latest job openings in Hong Kong. Follow a rigorous, objective and systematic process to explore a country`s legal landscape and describe what is happening on the ground We find that many of these “bookless” lawyers struggle to find new job opportunities, and many of them are transferred to pure wage agreements or a step further and are only offered commissions. In this example, you earn more than 80% of the sample and less than 20% of the sample, and therefore your salary would be in the 80th percentile. To retain talent in these uncertain times, we`ve seen companies choose to move associates to partners, presumably prematurely with little or no raise or other forms of compensation. Often, it`s more about paying employees with prestige because there is a lack of money or security to accept pay raises. Of course, we have also seen that partners in some law firms have made careers in a more profitable law firm as senior partners, but despite promoting the title, receive a higher salary and more benefits. For the purposes of this report, we have not distinguished between starting salaries and the salaries of individuals who have worked in a particular company for some time. Generally, we find that benefit calculations in calculating salary increases weigh much more heavily than years of service.

As mentioned in GRM`s previous salary surveys, there is a growing demand for Chinese language skills due to the increase in Chinese investment, especially from blue-chip and high-growth companies. This includes data collected from candidates (job seekers and candidates) and clients (job descriptions and actual successful placements from GRM). Data was also collected as part of our annual survey of salaries in private practice. Last year, we saw a 305% increase in readership of our compensation commentary compared to 2019/20 figures. The demand for the best paid and lawyers with a business book has never been greater. Even young lawyers are expected to become more involved in generating new clients. This is increasingly reflected in performance indicators. In addition, we consider legal technology expertise, the ability to manage a practice remotely, and willingness to join as key factors in hiring. Lawyers who earn well or have a large client portfolio should be protected from lost wages and delayed promotions during this period.

Despite the initial negative impact of uncertainty on revenue, lawyers and law firms can recover quickly and even charge more than before the pandemic. Law firms with a wide range of clients (in terms of size, practice, industry and needs) were better positioned during this period. However, law firms that specialize primarily in one or a few areas of law or that rely exclusively on a particular clientele may have more difficulty adapting to various changes and developments.