IN DETAIL: LEGAL PROFESSION
A Force Majeure for Hong Kong Lawyers It’s been a tumultuous year for almost every industry. Already hit by the effects of 2019’s political unrest, Hong Kong’s legal profession is now dealing with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. – By Ben Cooper
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he effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the legal sector have been varied, with some firms and areas of practice finding the year very tough, and others thriving.
dropped slightly by 1 per cent, against an increase of 3.5 per cent last year, while admissions as Hong Kong solicitors via the overseas lawyers’ qualification route fell by a third.
The criminal law sector has been particularly hard-hit. The courts were suspended entirely for almost two months at the start of the year; this was followed by a long period of reduced hearings and it took until September for normal caseloads to resume.
Many firms have been forced to reorganise their structure, there have been some redundancies and the intake of newly qualified staff has been cut.
The Bar Association said: “The legal sector is affected severely by the pandemic, resulting in a sharp decline of income for solicitors and barristers.”
In terms of legal recruitment, the overall picture has not been great – in the first two quarters the market shrank over 80 per cent year-on-year. But in some areas there has actually been strong demand for legal professionals.
According to statistics from the Law Society of Hong Kong, in the first half of this year the number of registered foreign lawyers here fell by 5.8 per cent, compared to a rise of 1.9 per cent in the same period in 2019. The number of registered foreign law firms
One example is the growth in credit funds, driven by banks’ reticence to lend. In Asia, the rise in trade finance, special situations, and private credit funds has attracted lawyers who might normally have gone to the banks.
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