In the midst of the present global economic uncertainty, it is hard for any profession or industry to be completely unaffected. Accordingly, whether or not a legal team here in Asia, be it in-house or in private practice, is currently busy, it is impossible for management to ignore the much publicized woes related to the so-called "credit crunch" and the rapidly rising costs of key commodities, most notably oil. Even though the greatest problems appear to be focused in the Western financial markets, in this era of globalization, no business anywhere can consider itself completely immune from the fallout. It is a reality that is starting to have an effect upon the legal recruitment markets in both South East Asia and the Middle East.

In Singapore, recruitment for general in-house roles remains reasonably strong, although the same cannot necessarily be said with respect to jobs in banks and with financial services companies, amongst which the current approach to recruitment can be best described as patchy. Some banks are pressing ahead with planned recruitment drives, notably in areas they consider to be growth businesses and/or markets, but the majority are extremely cautious about increasing headcounts at this time. A few banks even have headcount freezes in place at present.

Perhaps unsurprisingly in such an environment, salaries for lawyers working in banks have leveled out. Large increments that were sometimes previously offered for certain strategic or hard-to-fill roles are now very much a thing of the past.

Generally, for in-house roles, demand is currently strongest for lawyers with quality experience in the areas of funds management, natural resources, IT&T and structured products.

In private practice, while firms are undoubtedly bracing themselves for a slow-down, for the time being most practices remain very busy. In particular there appears to be a lot of work around in the areas of M&A and Energy/Projects, although it is also fair to say that Banking and Capital Markets teams are generally a little quieter than they would like. On the recruitment side, we are currently seeing increased interest in Asian roles from good quality candidates in key Western markets, such as London and the US, who are looking overseas as their home markets slow. One consequence of this is that it is becoming harder for local Singaporean lawyers to make the move to an international firm. The slowing London market also means it is extremely difficult for Singaporean lawyers to find jobs in the English capital at the moment.

In terms of salaries, those lawyers whose packages are calculated in either US Dollars or UK Pounds are currently suffering as a result of the Singaporean Dollar’s strength relative to those currencies. This has caused some to push for pay increases, which is starting to cause upward pressure on salaries within those firms that base their expatriate staff salaries on their home currencies.

The main international firms in Singapore are currently competing for the first five Qualifying Foreign Law Firm Licenses, which will entitle the successful applicants to employ limited numbers of Singaporean lawyers to advise upon Singaporean law. Once licenses are awarded, it promises to have a big impact upon the local recruitment market as the successful international firms will likely seek to recruit some of the best local talent.

Regionally, there is significant recruitment activity in Bangkok right now, with a strong focus on corporate specialists. Regular instructions continue to be received from Vietnam and Indonesia, although the markets could not be described as especially busy.

Over in the Middle East, the recruitment market is continuing to perform solidly, although there is an increasing focus upon individuals with local experience and/or local language skills, alternatively upon applicants from top tier firms in London, the US and Australia. The practice areas with the greatest recruitment activity at the moment tend to be Projects, Construction, Corporate and, to a slightly lesser extent, Real Estate, while it is also fair to say there is presently far greater interest in mid to senior level candidates than in their more junior counterparts.

Increasingly firms are expanding regionally, with Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh becoming significantly busier. At the heart of this expansion is a sense that in order to win big ticket government related work a firm needs to have a broad presence throughout the region and thus needs to maintain offices in several of the most important states.