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often for people who have partnership potential but aren’t quite ready. However, in principle, senior associates are still able to move straight into the partnership. “As practice evolves, it’s normal for lawyers to come through to counsel. From a client’s perspective, it suggests a level of seniority and it’s a good thing to deal with someone more senior. It’s also good for the individual lawyer who wants to feel his achievement being recognised,” said Jamie Barr, Lovells’ head of corporate in Asia. Barr also sees the counsel position as a good intermediate step for top talent who are on track for partnership. “A partner’s job is very different from that of an associate. It involves more management, business development and client management. Bringing top-flight lawyers through to this intermediate step makes it easier for them to undertake business development, helps them gain the confidence of their clients, and prepares them for the next step,” said Barr. At Lovells, counsel and consultants are involved not only in front-line transactional advisory work but also with certain department and client responsibilities. Currently, the firm has 14 counsel and consultants in Greater China (nine in Hong Kong, four in Shanghai and one in Beijing). Barr said a number of candidates for the upcoming round of partner promotions in Asia were in counsel and consultant positions. At other firms, counsel can be a title for lawyers who want more flexibility with work schedules than partnership offers; associates that are not interested in the partner track; or senior lawyers coming to a firm from public service or corporations who have no business.
Economic realities
It’s debatable whether one designation is better than another, but promotions need to be justified by the business environment as firms become savvier about profitability. The contributions of senior non-partners are increasingly recognised as critical to a firm’s financial well-being. As long as the role makes sense in financial terms, counsel will have strength and prestige in the firm hierarchy. “When the pressure for business origination is high, firms will want to have more people actively involved in business development. The counsel role www.legalbusinessonline.com
allows more senior lawyers to build a book of business,” said Frazer Xia, the founder and managing director of leading legal recruitment firm China Legal Career. “Profit per partner (PEP) is also an essential concern when it comes to partner promotion. If a firm expands its partnership too quickly, its PPP may be diluted. So when firms are not so comfortable about promoting someone to the partnership immediately, they can appoint the lawyer to counsel first,” Xia said. Having the role of ‘counsel’ can clearly have a favourable impact on a firm’s bottom line: charge-out-rates for counsel are generally higher than those of senior associates and in some cases can approach that of junior partners. A former counsel at a Magic Circle firm’s Shanghai office who is now a partner of a PRC firm provided a case in point. The source told ALB China that when he was counsel his hourly rate was up to US$200 higher than some of the senior associates. “Counsels are more like partners than associates; they could have their own clients, manage their own cases and participate in certain management tasks. They contribute considerably to firms’ revenues without having a share in the profits,” he said.
According to another leading international legal recruitment firm, the remuneration packages for counsel in different firms vary vastly. The salary range for counsel who are on track to partnership in US Top 50 firms can be anywhere from US$250k to US$400k. However, in some cases a permanent counsel who doesn’t want to become partner and doesn’t do business development can earn up to US$600k due to his important role and seniority in a firm. Nevertheless, these figures are significantly lower than from what senior partners can earn. The source also witnessed the trend towards a widening use of counsel roles in the Asia offices of some international firms. “A few years ago, international firms tended to promote senior associates directly to partners in Asia. But using the counsel role as a transition to partnership seems the obvious route now,” he said. As the prospects for 2010 brighten it’s reasonable to expect that the count of counsel in international firms will grow in line with that of associates and partners. In some cases this will be a good thing for lawyer, firm and client alike; in others, it will not. ALB
►► Recently promoted counsel Firm Clifford Chance Davis Polk DLA Piper Latham & Watkins Vinson & Elkins
Name David Lam Gerhard Radtke Jenny Liu Karen Yan Nicholas Song
Location Shanghai Hong Kong Beijing Shanghai Beijing
Practice area Banking and finance Capital markets Corporate finance Corporate Dispute resolution
晋升“顾问”：律师、律所或客户谁能获益？
在
2010年，如果说通过横向招聘和合伙人调动 是跨国律所巩固业务实力的趋势之一，那么日 渐普遍的‘顾问’晋升则是另一趋势。仅在今年1月， 诸多跨国律所已扩大他们的‘顾问’级律师团队。他们 或将高级律师晋升为顾问律师，或通过横向招聘吸 引新顾问律师加入。 高纬绅、达维、欧华、瑞生和文森•艾尔斯等律师 事务所均将部分律师晋升为顾问律师。顾问律师是 介于高级律师和合伙人之间的职位，律所将律师晋 升为顾问律师的动机十分明显：表彰律师的卓越业 绩和对律所的贡献。 文森•艾尔斯管理委员会成员兼律所亚洲业务主管 Jay Cuclis 表示：“对文森•艾尔斯而言，部分律师在 特定业务领域表现突出，展示卓越的法律服务能力， 晋升顾问律师是管理委员会对其的嘉许。这是对律师 专业能力的表彰。”文森•艾尔斯于2006年全面引入 顾问律师晋升计划，在全球范围内将40位高级律师 晋升为顾问律师。 今年1月，该律所宣布，将北京高级律师 Nicholas Song 晋升为顾问律师，使其成为中国办事处的首位
顾问律师。Song 于2000年进入文森•艾尔斯，重点业 务领域包括国际仲裁和纠纷调解事务。Cuclis 表示：“ 顾问律师的职责在于，协助管理客户的法律事务，监 督并辅导初级律师。我们会定期考虑是否将特定律师 晋升为顾问律师。”
中转站还是目的地？
不同律所对顾问律师的职业前景和职责的定义各不相 同，有时律师也会对该职位的意义产生疑问 – 这到底 是继续升职的踏板，还是合伙人职位的替代品？ 根据文森•艾尔斯的制度，任何顾问律师都可能在 任何时候被晋升为合伙人，同样，部分律师也有机 会直接成为合伙人。Cuclis 表示：“顾问律师并不一 定是成为合伙人的中转站，主要是帮助特定律师充 分发挥个人能力的职位。” 路伟则将该职位用作晋升阶梯的一部分，通常向具 备合伙人潜质但尚未做好准备的律师提供该职位。不 过高级律师原则上仍能直接成为合伙人。路伟亚洲公 司业务主管 Jamie Barr 表示：“随着业务不断发展，律 师通过担任顾问律师一职后再成为合伙人十分正常。
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