Up-and-Coming Asian Employment Lawyers at the IBA (Plus Me)
by Brendon Carr
This morning at the IBA Conference in Singapore the Human Resources Committee (formerly Employment Law Committee, formerly Committee P; I can’t keep track of all the name changes) had its first panel discussion of the season.
Committee officers Mr. Salvador del Rey of Cuatrecasas law firm in Barcelona, and Mr. Bob Mignin of Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago found five truly first-rate, dynamic young partners from law firms in China and India. Plus me. Four of them were speaking for the first time to our committee.
Our morning session, which ran from 0930 to past 12:40 when I had to run out (Salvador, being Spanish, is not altogether perfect at enforcing a timetable even with the rest of us squirming at the time), focused on the general legal framework for employers’ obligations in China and India, as well as trade unionism in these countries.
Our speakers’ preparatory meeting on Sunday was a rollicking, four-and-a-half hour conversation about comparative employment-law and cross-cultural issues—the kind I really enjoy. It helps that those of us in Asia were all coming from a broad-based foreign direct-investment (FDI) background, rather than just employment law; we all were used to being primary counselors to multinationals at all stages of their investment experience in our respective jurisdictions. In my opinion, the Sunday preparatory meeting probably was better than the panel—too bad for our Monday audience, who missed out.
These new young partners will undoubtedly emerge as leaders in the international employment law community. But smart clients will want to get to know these people now:
Ms. Lucy Lu of the King & Wood law firm in Shanghai. King & Wood was until recently China’s largest law firm, and still ranks as one of the largest and most sophisticated domestic firms. Lucy presented us a very clear and cogent overview of China’s new Labor Contracts Act, which will take effect from January 1, 2008. I think she would be an excellent advisory lawyer, based on our Sunday preparatory-meeting discussions. And she’s easy on the eyes.
Mr. Kent Woo of Kingson Law Firm in Guangzhou (Canton). A mid-sized firm, Kingson’s strength is South China-based service to multinationals. Of special interest to would-be clients is Kent’s rich experience as in-house counsel in South China for a European multinational and a US multinational. He presented us a good background on China’s general labor-law environment prior to the enactment of, and still effective around, the Labor Contracts Act. I really liked Kent, found him equally strong as Lucy, and have already recommended him to a contact in the United States who’s specifically looking for counsel for Guangdong Province.
Mr. Dominic Hui of Vivien Chan & Co., a Hong Kong law firm which also has Beijing and Shanghai offices. Dominic is splitting his time between Hong Kong and Shanghai, which is giving him a greater appreciation for Chinese regional differences. (Although he didn’t say it, I’m sure this experience is giving Dominic a greater appreciation for the common-law system of his native Hong Kong.) His presentation on trade-unionism in Mainland China was a real eye opener for me—now I know why all the Korean companies are fleeing to China. It’s not just cost: According to Dominic’s explanation, the unions there are much easier to deal with. Dominic’s partners Vivien Chan and George Ribeiro are both frequent, confident speakers on the conference circuit, but this was Dominic’s first time—although you couldn’t tell.
Mr. Amit Bhasin is a fourth-generation attorney in his family firm Law Offices of Bhasin & Bhasin Associates, an employment-law boutique. Amit spoke to us cogently and forcefully (from the diaphragm, for sure) about trade-unionism in India. Definitely we could all recognize his experience as a litigator, from the persuasive way Amit communicates.
Mr. Manishi Pathak of the New Delhi office of Kochhar & Co., a very large and dominant full-service Indian law firm with offices nationwide (also in Bangalore, Chennai, and Mumbai), had a very detailed presentation on the general legal framework for employment laws in India. Surprisingly, for a lawyer armed with dense PowerPoint slides, Manishi doesn’t bore with the details—yet somehow, he got the details across. I was really impressed with his speaking style. Manishi seems to be pretty well-known already, and is definitely a pro speaker. [A firm like Kochhar doesn’t need me flogging for them, but apparently their local law society rules also don’t allow operation of a website as they don’t seem to have one I can find.]
UPDATE 10/23: It doesn’t take long for these people to emerge as leaders, does it? Belated congratulations to Mr. Manishi Pathak who was elected as an officer of the IBA Human Resources Committee in the committee business meeting last Wednesday, October 17 (I was there, so I don’t know why I didn’t update sooner). The officers are responsible for arranging the panel discussions and events—Manishi, it turns out, was the key man in locating these four fine young partners, who gave us such a rich and enlightening panel discussion. For that, he really does deserve a vote of thanks. I attended many sucky panels later on throughout the conference but was sustained by the warm memories of discovering talents such as these folks.
Comments
Comments Policy: Comments to Korea Law Blog are moderated. This means abusive, or just plain stupid comments will be deleted. So don't be a jerk. It also means there may be some delay from the time you post a comment to the time it shows up here. If your comment wasn't against the policy, it will show up in a little bit.
-
About Korea Law Blog
Korea Law Blog is brought to you by Brendon Carr, an American lawyer working as a foreign legal consultant for more than 10 years in Seoul. (Brendon is not admitted as an attorney in Korea. But you knew that.) -
Contact Details
-
Tel. +82 (0)2 772 2734
Fax +82 (0)2 772 2800
Mobile +82 (0)10 8788 0750 -
Download My FREE Korea Employment Law FAQ
-
Korean Media
-
Blogroll
-