Job opportunities within the legal industry in HK

[AmyKYLeung]

Hello everyone

I was born and raised in the UK and am still currently living in the UK. I am a law graduate and have since gone on to complete the LPC (UK's version of PCLL). The job market in securing a training contract in UK is looking bleak, so I was wondering what the job market is like in HK at the moment.

I successfully completed the LPC in June 2010 and have since been working as a Trainee Paralegal at a law firm in UK. I am inclined to study the PCLL in HK (obviously I have to take a few conversion exams beforehand) but I don't want to take the PCLL if the job market in HK is the same as the UK. Are there more opportunities to secure a Training Contract in HK rather than in UK?

All advice welcome.

Thanks for your time!

Amy

[Football16]

I am not a lawyer but I do that you be trying also to contact law firms that are both in the UK and HK to find out what their hiring for HK requirements are.

[Beanieskis]

Do you speak Chinese? That would help I'm sure.

[randy1]

Most legal stuff in HK is done in English.

[Beanieskis]

Maybe, however the lawyers I know working here say there are very few non- Chinese speakers at lower levels within firms (other than those on 6 mth secondments), and that as they (my lawyer friends) don't speak Chines they are excluded from certain instructions.

[pin]

Its pretty hard to get a job in the legal market in HK now unless you speak Chinese. Only if you are a big swinging dick partner will you have a chance without language skills.

[Beanieskis]

If you don't speak Chinese, I think your best option is to qualify and get a few years' experience in the UK with a firm that has an HK office, then try to move. A friend of mine did this, but it was not easy - her firm only agreed to move her here once she explained that if they didn't she would be resigning as her fiance was moving here for work.

[AmyKYLeung]

Hello

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to comment.

I do indeed speak Cantonese as my parents are from Hong Kong. However, I cannot read or write. I found that language was not a barrier for me when I undertook a legal internship at a law firm in Hong Kong last summer. Problem is that I cannot read or write in Chinese. I recognise easy words but would not say I was able to read or write.

It sounds like the legal market for Trainee Solicitors in HK is the same as UK? Are many training contracts being offered in HK at the moment? The legal market in the UK is tough at the moment...

Thanks, Amy

[Zenon]

I am not as pessimistic as the other posters. I do not have Chinese language skills and I am not a big swinging dick partner lol. It can be done. It comes down to a lot of factors. For example it will be a lot easier if you practice litigation vs corporate, where written Chinese is essential obviously on on most deals for juniors who will be doing all the DD.

You have 2 options really. Come out here and study in the hope of getting a contract or do your two year training contract and sit the overseas qualification exam. Both are difficult and not certain but as one gweilo who has done it I know it can be done. Best of luck!

[luckycat]

Reading and writing for a junior is very important. The vast majority of what a corporate lawyer does is verification, and drafting simple documents. Big swinging d!ck partners will rely on you not for your expertise but for your language skills.

That having been said, I came out just short of a year ago and I don't speak either canto or mando and I managed to get myself a very decent job. I wasn't NQ or looking for a TC though so I had something to bring to the table. It really is a case of networking though.

My advice would be to work your ass off to get TC in the UK. Spend that two years learning to read and write Canto (and if you can hack it, Mandarin) then look to come over. You will be in very high demand.

Good luck.