The way competition has been playing out in the Asian legal scene lately has been almost comically predictable. One New York firm decides to practice Hong Kong as well as U.S. law; one year later, they all do. One large Australian firm inks a deal with an international partner; a few months later, four of the Big Six Aussie firms are spoken for.
Absolutely no one wants to be left behind. Managing partners have all heard that the axis of the world economy is shifting to the East, that the next century will be the Asian Century, and that the future of the profession is going to be decided in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Mumbai, or maybe Perth.
