The Asia-Pacific Posse List and Working in Asia

We have launched the Asia-Pacific Posse List which will include our Asia job listserv (to get on the Asian-Pacific job list click here) and this page.   Our focus will be the legal markets in Australia, China, Hong Kong,  Japan and Singapore but we will include other Asian locations as they develop.

This page is sponsored by our strategic partner in Asia, CCH Workflow Solutions.  You can learn more about CCH Workflow Solutions in some articles we have linked at the top of this column as well as by clicking their logo in the upper right hand corner of this page.

We hope this page will be a storehouse of information on Asian-Pacific e-discovery, legal news affecting the contract attorney market, and other items of interest to this area.

As we have indicated in previous posts (click here) e-discovery work, computer forensics and contract attorney work is growing significantly in Asia, along the same lines as we have seen in Europe (click here).

A few basics on projects in the Asia-Pacific area:

1. There is a small but growing contract attorney community in Asia in several countries and we have been placing Posse List members on projects in Australia (the Rio Tinto/BHP merger project for instance), China (mostly IP work) and Japan (a mix of work)
2. Projects can be for U.S., European or Asian entities, both law firms and corporations.
3. A law degree will be required in almost all cases.  However, normally there is no restriction on where the degree is from (U.S., Europe, Asia) and in most cases bar admission is not a requirement.
4. But there is also a growing need for expert translators who need not have legal training.
5. Every project will require fluency in at least one Asian language and a good knowledge of English.
6. In many cases these are not your normal document reviews so pay rates vary.  One imminent project (within the next 2 weeks) will be based in China and they will need contract patent attorneys with contract drafting skills in Chinese and a conversational level of English.   Another project, in Singapore, will also be an IP project but with multi-tasks such as document review, drafting, interpretation, etc.   A third project, in Japan, will be closer to a straight document review for a U.S. law firm.
7. As many U.S. and EU EDD vendors move into the Asia-Pacific area, there is a growing need for
8. In some cases the client will want Asian-Pacific based attorneys, and in others cases there will be the opportunity to go to Asia, work there for awhile, and then finish the project in Europe or the U.S.
9. Per diems and travel expenses will vary per project depending on demand and need, and whether locally based attorneys are required.

If Asian projects are of interest, register on the Asia list (click here) and if you have friends/colleagues in Asia who might want to know about this work, please forward a link to this page and have them register and spread the word.

If you have any questions, please email us at: manager@theposselist.com