Increasing volumes of work going through mainland China and Singapore leaves partners anticipating double-digit Asia revenue growth over the next 12 months. Emma Sadowski reports

At a time when many City firms cite Asia as their best opportunity for growth, nearly half of partners are predicting double-digit revenue hikes in the region over the next 12 months.

The latest Legal Week Big Question survey found that some 47% of partners believe they will see Asian revenues increase by more than 10% over the coming year, with 32% predicting turnover increases of between 10% and 15% and a further 16% expecting growth of more than 15%.

Thirty four percent of respondents think revenues will increase by between 5% and 10%, with the remainder expecting an increase of up to 5%. Not a single respondent thought revenues in the region would stay static or drop.

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert international operations partner Tim Strong said: "There are expectations that workloads will increase. Asia has come out of the recession quicker and there is a lot of money going out of China and a lot of money coming back in."

Allen & Overy (A&O) global corporate head Richard Cranfield added: "In greater China there continues to be a shift north, while in Southeast Asia we are seeing an increasing amount of work going through Singapore. There is no doubt that it will continue to be an important region."

Mainland China is set to be the most important legal centre in Asia over the next 10 years, with 66% of respondents citing Shanghai and 50% Beijing when asked to name the two Asian locations offering the best prospects for growth. Hong Kong secured votes from 40% of respondents, with Singapore gaining votes from 29% of respondents.

Jakarta, Tokyo and Seoul, where fewer international firms have established offices, were all seen as less important.

The survey found that just over a quarter (27%) of respondents think UK law firms have not been successful at building their practices in Asia, despite in recent years seeing firms increase partner headcount across the region and markets such as Singapore opening up – with Norton Rose, Herbert Smith, A&O and Clifford Chance among six international firms to be awarded a licence to practise local Singapore law last year.

Some 35% of respondents thought UK firms have been effective at building their practices, with marginally more (37%) claiming they have done 'OK'.

Respondents argued UK firms have outdone their US rivals in Asia; however, there was little separating the two, with 40% of respondents giving UK firms the edge and 37% putting US firms in the lead.

Berwin Leighton Paisner Singapore managing partner Paul Supramaniam said: "The English firms were historically more entrenched in legal centres like Hong Kong and Singapore, while the US firms were early entrants into Japan, Korea and China. Now those geographic differences are blurred and English and US firms are well-represented and active players in all the above markets."

Earlier this year top 10 City firm Norton Rose unveiled a merger with Australian firm Deacons to help it develop its Asia practice, but respondents had mixed thoughts about whether such a union would help foreign firms in Asia.

The deal will gift Norton Rose 146 partners across offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth and will boost the firm's headcount in the Asia-Pacific region to 700 fee earners.

However, while almost 29% believe a merger with a major Australian firm would help foreign firms to a considerable extent, a similar percentage believe it would make little difference.

Norton Rose financial services chief James Bateson commented: "It is pretty obvious that Asia is going to be important and there are many successful law firms in [Asia]. We are moving away from the model where Anglo-Saxon firms parachute lawyers in and developing local talent instead, a process we expect to accelerate following our merger with Deacons Australia and other developments."

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