For some time now, Asia – and Hong Kong in particular – has been seen as the land of hope and opportunity by international law firms. Its relative resilience against the worst of the downturn has meant firms have continued to plough money into the market, despite tightening purse strings elsewhere.

But on the ground, as both our lead feature on life as an expat in Hong Kong and our front page story this week demonstrate, it's now a very different market to what it was a few years ago.

For starters, it's no longer enough for firms to simply move their star partners and armies of associates eager for the expat experience over to Hong Kong and expect local clients to be impressed.