HSF launches new alternative legal services centre in China
New legal services hub is the firm's seventh worldwide and is thought to be the first of its kind for an international firm in China
August 31, 2016 at 06:59 PM
3 minute read
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has launched an alternative legal services centre in Shanghai, extending its lower cost support offering to a seventh office worldwide.
The new hub, which the firm says is the first of its kind in China, already has 13 lawyers and legal analysts bilingual in English and Mandarin working in it, following a soft launch in August.
The team, which comprises five PRC lawyers and eight legal analysts, will offer legal skills, process efficiency and technology solutions to clients, making it cheaper and more efficient to process high volume or document-intensive work.
According to HSF, the team is already handling corporate and disputes mandates for both Chinese and international clients.
The centre forms part of the firm's global legal services offering but will focus on servicing Greater China across all practice areas.
Global head of alternative legal services Libby Jackson said: "A complex transaction or dispute can involve the review of millions of Chinese-language documents that often must remain in China."
"By equipping this new team with the technology and processes proven at our existing legal hubs in Belfast and Perth, we can offer clients a cost-effective way of tackling the document-intensive elements of these projects on the ground in China."
Greater China head Julian Copeman said the firm chose Shanghai over Beijing primarily due to office space; the team is situated within the firm's existing building in the city.
"China is a competitive market and it allows us to offer these services at a rate that others aren't able to offer," Copeman told Legal Week. "It does give us an edge."
HSF opened its first centre in Belfast in 2011 with 19 fee earners. The office now has 240 lawyers, legal assistants and tech staff working as part of a wider team of more than 350 across the global alternative services team.
Last year, the Anglo-Australian firm launched a 'pop-up' center in Perth and is currently assessing whether there is demand for a permanent offering in the city. In addition to Shanghai, Belfast and Perth, HSF's alternative legal services team operates in London, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
The China launch comes after HSF unveiled a new four-year strategy earlier this year that focuses in part on flexibility of offering and service delivery.
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