Ever since Ince & Co and Gordon Dadds merged almost a year ago, partners around the world have been leaving the firm. But there is one bright spot: Greater China.

At Ince's three China offices – located in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong – no partners have left the firm since the merger. In fact, Ince is expecting to grow across all three offices. 

"Ince China is projecting revenue growth of over 70% this financial year," said Paul Ho, a Shanghai-based partner and Greater China head, who was appointed to the regional role in July.

In Germany, Greece, Monaco, Singapore and the U.K., partners have been jumping ship ever since Gordon Dadds started talking with Ince & Co about a merger. The two firms officially merged on New Year's Eve 2018 in a pre-pack takeover. In France, the entire team of legacy Ince & Co declined to join the combination.

To be sure, the combination has not been all smooth sailing in Hong Kong, where both legacy Ince & Co and Gordon Dadds had an office. The integration of the two offices was unsuccessful and legacy Gordon Dadds' two-lawyer Hong Kong office closed less than a year after it opened in 2018.

But in Greater China, the revenue growth has been boosted by recent lateral hires in Hong Kong, Ho said. Earlier this year, corporate lawyer Eric Lui and construction disputes specialist Ian Lo joined Ince's Hong Kong office as partners from local firm ONC Lawyers, with a team of more than 10 fee-earners. The team was the first – and still one of the few – hires since the Ince Gordon Dadds combination.

It was also a rare team hire for Ince in Hong Kong. During the past three years, legacy Ince only hired two partners in the Asian financial centre: Janice Lee in 2018 and Balbir Bindra in 2016, who both specialise in finance matters. Bindra left Ince in late 2018 for reasons unrelated to the Gordon Dadds combination.

The Hong Kong office now has about 40 lawyers, and Ho said he plans to further expand the office.

"It's a very good start post-merger, but I'm nowhere near satisfied. I want more," he said. "To me, it's a very exciting new era."

Ho is also looking to expand in mainland China, where Ince currently has two partners in Shanghai and one in Beijing. But in Ho's view, that's not enough.

"No international firm would want any office to be a one-partner office," said Ho. "Ideally, we [would] have one or two more partners in Beijing."

The sole Beijing partner is Wai Yue Loh, who focuses on disputes in shipping, international trade and insurance.

Paul Ho Paul Ho

In Shanghai, Ho, who also serves as chief office representative, said he is looking for a few more partners, including a corporate lawyer. The other two Shanghai partners are Shirley Li, who specialises in shipping, international trade and insurance; and Eileen Tang, who focuses on transactions in shipping. Ho also advises on shipping and international trade as well as finance and corporate matters.

In addition to lateral hires, Ho is looking to form associations with Chinese firms, including in the increasingly popular Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Currently, six international firms have formed joint operations with Chinese firms under the Shanghai FTZ scheme, which was created in 2014 and gives foreign firms access to a Chinese law practice.

But Ho said any Chinese partner firm that Ince takes on will need to have similar values. "It has to be someone you know," he added. "It's hard to persuade strangers."

Herbert Smith Freehills, the latest international firm to form an association in the FTZ, went with Kewei Law Firm, and two of Kewei's three partners previously practised at HSF. The Chinese partner firm of Linklaters, another recent entrant, is staffed and led by lawyers who previously worked at the Magic Circle firm.

The plan to grow in Greater China is driven by the need to diversify offerings, Ho said. Legacy Ince was one of a handful of firms that specialised in shipping. But after combining with Gordon Dadds – one of the few law firms listed on the London Stock Exchange – Ince wants to be more of a full-service firm. The Hong Kong hires are examples of that effort: Lui and Lo launched new offerings for the Hong Kong office – an initial public offerings practice and a construction practice.

"It's the start of diversification," Ho said, adding that he is open to expanding into other areas. "It depends on what opportunities come along."

Other specialist firms have also been diversifying in Hong Kong. Ince's shipping peers Holman Fenwick Willan and Hill Dickinson both launched their own Hong Kong IPO practices this year. Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, which specialises in insurance, also started an IPO practice in 2017.

"All law firms that had relatively narrow or specialised areas want to diversify," said Ho. "It's comparatively easier to sell more services to existing clients, [as they] already recognise you."

While diversification has been Ince's goal for some time, external factors have made it more urgent. The ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China has put a damper on trade work, one of Ince's specialty areas, noted Ho. The U.S.-China trade war also dragged down the amount of shipping-related work, which has been in decline for most of the past decade.

"Having more diversification… is a hedge," Ho said. "If certain areas are slowing down, you have to find opportunities in other areas."

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