"How do I get into ALB's Hot 100?" was a common question posed by readers towards the latter stages of last year, following publication of our inaugural list of 'Hot' lawyers from around the region.

On closer examination, however, it could be considered a blessing if you found yourself omitted from the list of practitioners.

You see, the extent of how 'Hot' you are - as judged by ALB - is the extent to which you warranted coverage in the magazine over the preceding 12 months.

We most certainly cover the good: one thinks of rainmakers this year such as MoFo's Steven Toronto, Paul Weiss' Jeanette Chan, Simpson Thacher's David Sneider and Latham's Michael Sturrock, to name a few.

But we also cover the bad and the ugly (and this year we HAVE been churlish enough to apportion lawyer to category). ALB's 'Hot 100' list of lawyers covers all manner of sins. And we have of course tried to be representative with jurisdictions - which is where ALB's sister publications, ALB China and Australasian Legal Business, have proved a most valuable source.

You will agree with the inclusion of some of your fellow practitioners, and you will no doubt disagree with our selection of others. You may eve n feel that you warrant a place in the list yourself - and if that is the case we would be more than happy to hear from you.

But while the corporate communications people harp on about the importance of a firm's branding, culture and critical mass, the business of law at the end of the day is run by individuals. And individuals are what we care about here.

We hope, the refore, that you .nd the following pages of interest, and of course entertaining. Think of it as a review of the year just gone! ALB

THE SHINING LIGHTS

Name: Stephen Bennett
Title: Partner Firm/company: Coudert Brothers
Location: Thailand
Why hot: A shining light in the crumbling Coudert empire, and an ex-Freshfields man, Bennett acted on the SICCO securitisation deal, which was the largest deal to be concluded under Thailand's Emergency Decree on Special Purpose Juristic Persons for Securitisation (SPV Act).

Name: Michael Bradley
Title: Sydney managing partner
Firm/company: Gadens
Location: Australia
Why hot: So many column inches, so little time. Bradley made the gossip columns of just about every paper in Australia when he made a A$400 gift to Gadens staff with the instructions to spend it on one pair of shoes only. Did anyone dare ask him if he had a shoe fetish?

Name: David Krasnostein
Title: Chief general counsel
Firm/company: National Australia Bank
Location: Australia
Why hot: For his staying power. As those around him lost their heads, Krasnostein has stayed calm through two choppy years at the Big Four bank. The year 2004 was an annus horribilis for NAB when it was riven by public board disputes and rocked by a A$360m foreign exchange scandal. Krasnostein has weathered the storm and says that corporate governance at the bank is now stronger than ever.

Name: Mark Liebler
Title: Senior partner
Firm/company: Arnold Bloch Liebler
Location: Australia
Why hot: The highly influential Liebler was rewarded with the Companion to the Order of Australia on this year's honours list for his services to business, the law, the Jewish community and the promotion of understanding between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia.

Name: Richard Meeran
Title: Counsel
Firm/company: Slater & Gordon
Location: Australia
Why hot: Meeran is representing three villagers from Kilwa in the Democratic Republic of Congo who are suing Australian mining company Anvil for its alleged role in a massacre in October last year. Blake Dawson Waldron is representing Anvil, which has admitted letting the Congolese army use its vehicles to quell a resistance movement in Kilwa.

Name: Owen Nee
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Coudert Brothers
Location: China
Why hot: Winner of ALB's Legal Personality of the Year this year, Nee has been an important pioneer in the development of the country's legal industry since 1979. His many 'firsts' in China include his handling of the first major equity joint venture.

Name: Anthony Qiao
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Zhong Lun Law Office
Location: China
Why hot: Starting off his judicial encounter humbly as a stenographer at Shanghai High Court, Qiao's legal ambition was definitely not limited to typing and recording. Only a decade later, he metamorphosised into managing partner of one of the leading law firms in China.

Name: Teoh Teh Seow
Title: Asia managing counsel
Firm/company: Agilent Technologies
Location: Singapore
Why hot: TT is responsible for managing a team of non-intellectual property counsel in Asia at Agilent. Has built a reputation for being a shrewd negotiator - when at university, he started an anarchist club in order to tap into funds to finance parties.

Name: Jingzhou Tao
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Coudert Brothers
Location: China
Why hot: The first lawyer from an international law firm that has knocked the door of CIETAC open. Tao was elected as a member of the Expert Consulting Committee of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Committee (CIETAC).

Name: Mary Wicks
Title: Human resources
Firm/company: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: For her tsunami aid contributions we could not ignore Freshfields' regional HR head Wicks. Wicks chaired and was the driving force behind the organising committee for the Hong Kong legal community's sports day fundraiser on 12 March.

Name: John Wilson Junior
Title: Name partner
Firm/company: John Wilson Partners
Location: Sri Lanka
Why hot: A story of survival. Wilson, a partner at the prestigious firm his father founded in 1920, was holidaying in the Beruwela district of Sri Lanka when the tsunami hit. His wife and children were also holidaying further up the coast. They all survived.

Name: Ning Yu
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Beijing Shi Dai Hua Di Law Firm
Location: China
Why hot: Replacing Zongze Gao to become the president of All China Lawyers Association, Yu is looking forward to the challenge of leading a 110,000-member network.

Name: Paul Supramaniam
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Latham & Watkins
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Alth ough there are many that deserve mention for their tsunami aid contributions we have decided to highlight Supramaniam's sterling work as head of legal to the Singapore Armed Forces' aid efforts in devastated Aceh in early January.

Name: Jian Bin Zhang
Title: In-house counsel
Firm/company: China Telecom
Location: China
Why hot: Leading a team of some 200 lawyers, Zhang has worked in tandem with external counsel to complete a significant number of high profile deals, including the split from the parent company last June.

Name: Li Guo Zhao
Title: In-house counsel
Firm/company: CNOOC
Location: China
Why hot: Joining CNOOC more than 20 years ago Zhao now leads a team of 24
lawyers (it has grown from 16 in the last year alone). He has increased CNOOCs legal spend 15% in the last year and has of course recently been preoccupied on the ultimately doomed bid for Unocal.

THE CHALLENGED

Name: Tony D'Aloisio
Title: Chief executive officer
Firm/company: Australian Stock Exchange
Location: Australia
Why hot: The chief executive and managing director of the ASX stepped out of the cover of Mallesons last year to take on one of the most high pro.le positions in corporate Australia, and it hasn't all been plain sailing. He's cut costs and produced record results for shareholders but created some disgruntled employees.

Name: Michael Lintern-Smith
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Robertsons
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: Following the elections on 30 May, outgoing president of the Hong Kong Law Society Lintern-Smith refuted suggestions he did not seek a second term because of friction with the government and reiterated to ALB his stance that the position should be salaried.

Name: Hotman Paris Hutapea
Title: Name partner
Firm/company: Hotman Paris & Partners
Location: Indonesia
Why hot: Indonesia's most recognised lawyer, with more bling than a gangsta rappa. In addition to acting on the Schappelle Corby case, he is a renowned litigator and is the name partner of his own pratice.Clients include APP and Tri Polyta.

Name: Roderick Murray
Title: Barrister
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: Just missing entry in last year's Hot 100, Hong Kong barrister Roderick Murray entered the halls of infamy last August when he appeared i n a Hong Kong court "as drunk as a monkey". Needless to say, Murray wa s suspended by the Department of Justice and reprimanded.

Name: Udom Praemvatana
Title: Salaried assistant
Firm/company: Clifford Chance
Location: Thailand
Why hot: Praemvatana, a salaried assistant, filed a US$12.9m claim for libel and unfair dismissal in April this year. He subsequently withdrew the defamation claim and reduced the unfair dismissal claim to US$645,000. He finally settled out of court for significantly less - and about half of what CC offered him in the first place.

Name: Lo Siu-lang / Philip Dykes SC
Title: Pensioner / counsel
Firm/company: NOT the Hong Kong government
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: A double entry here, no review of persons making the legal headlines over the last year would be complete without this dynamic duo. Although ultimately unsuccessful , for eight months this 67-year-old pensioner and her counsel held up an attempt by Hong Kong's government to raise billions of dollars in the world's largest ever privatisation of public property. The names of Lo and Dykes will forever haunt the Hong Kong government, half a million investors and some of the world's top financial firms.

Name: Chang Xin Ke / Chang You Hu
Title: Vice presidents
Firm/company: Wuhan Intermediate Peoples' Court
Location: China
Why hot: Judges breaking the law - 13 judges of the Wuhan City Intermediate People's Court, including two vice-presidents Chang Xin Ke and Chang You Hu and some deputy presiding judges, were found to have taken more than 4 million yuan (US$480,000) of bribes early last year. Ke and Hu were sentenced to imprisonment.

Name: Tom Poulton
Title: Managing partner
Firm / company : Allens Arthur Robinson
Location: Australia
Why hot: Ouch! Talk about scoring an own goal. The experienced managing partner at AAR managed to take some great PR - winning a prestigious client service award - and turn it into a PR nightmare with some choice comments about lawyers having to work hard and clients being gods.

THE MOVERS

Name: Carmen Chang
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Location: China
Why hot: Chang has returned to Wilson Sonsini as a securities partner from Shearman & Sterling - for whom she left Wilson Sonsini two years ago. With her strong US and Asian client base, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Goldman Sachs Asia, she is expected to give Wilson Sonsini's China practice a strong nudge in the right direction.

Name: Minh Dang
Title: Partner
Firm/company: DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Poached from White & Case in the middle of the year, Dang brings extensive project finance expertise to the transatlantic firm. A known Vietnam expert, Dang led the White & Case team that arranged the lease financing for Vietnam Airlines to purchase three Airbus 321 with precedent setting support from European ECAs in July last year.

Name: Nand Singh Gandhi
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Allen & Gledhill
Location: Singapore
Why hot: A&G brought this known tax practitioner over from his own firm at the start of the year. Gandhi has extensive knowledge in the local market, cutting his teeth at the Inland Revenue Service and Drew & Napier in the 1970s and 80s and also acting as a consultant with Australian firm Freehills.

Name: Steven Goodman
Title: Surfer dude
Firm/company: Pacific Media
Location: Surfer's Paradise
Why hot: If ever a lawyer jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire it's Goodman. Having made a timely exit from Denton Wilde Sapte in 2003, M&A partner Goodman spent a year and a half at Jones Day before opting to take on those ultraviolet rays of Queensland's Gold Coast. Can now be found at Jones Day client Pacific Media & not a million miles from Surfer's Paradise.

Name: Michael Hancock
Title: Director of legal and compliance
Firm/company: HSBC
Location: Japan
Why hot: In his position as chair of the European Business Council's legal services committee, Hancock has been one of the strongest proponents of change over the regulation of foreign lawyers in Japan. Retired from the Lovells partnership at the end of April this year for a new life as director of legal and compliance at HSBC.

Name: Frank Koerner
Title: Name partner
Firm/company: Koerner & Associates Ltd
Location: Thailand
Why hot: A new kid on the block, but going places. He is ex-Freshfields, but has stuck around Bangkok and has picked up some of their clients, including EnBW.

Name: David Kreider
Title: General counsel
Firm/company: Vodafone New Zealand
Location: New Zealand
Why hot: Kreider left his high-profile role as in-house at China Mobile to start afresh in New Zealand earlier this year. It's early days still in his new role but one of the things Kreider has noted is the increasing number of boutique firms on the local scene. It remains to be seen how much use he makes of them.

Name: Paul Kruger
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Linklaters
Location: Japan
Why hot: Linklaters took from rival firm CC the best structured finance and securitisation team in the region with the hires of Kruger, Matson et al.

Name: David Liu
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Jun He Law Offices
Location: China Why hot: A man very much on the move, Liu left Pu Dong to join Jun He only 10 months after moving across from Llinks. Enjoys an unrivalled reputation for his banking and finance practice and with the market so fiercely fighting for experts don't be surprised to see this significant figure on the move again.

Name: Tan Poh Meng
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Raslan Loong
Location: Malaysia
Why hot: Hired when he was the managing partner of rival Malaysian firm PM Tan Chan Partners. Together with associate Caroline George, Meng joined Raslan Loong on 1 February. A specialist in all areas of banking, capital markets, corporate finance, and corporate and commercial law, Tan spent 13 years as a litigator before entering corporate practice.

Name: John Moore
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Herbert Smith
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: Herbert Smith is hoping it will be able to develop further its relationships with the investment banking community in Asia following its hire of executive director and senior counsel John Moore from Goldman Sachs. Advising the underwriters on a reverse takeover of Sinochem Hong Kong Holdings Ltd was a good start.

Name: Nick Norris
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: After 13 years at Simmons in Hong Kong, corporate partner Nick Norris sought a new challenge at Skadden rolling out a HK/UK law practice at the US firm. Norris goes head-to-head with ALB in issue 5.10.

Name: Timothy J O'Brien
Title: Senior foreign legal counsel
Firm/company: Shin & Kim
Location: Korea
Why hot: After 25 years with Coudert in New York and Hong Kong partner Timothy J O'Brien recently sought a new challenge at Shin & Kim in Seoul.

Name: Kowit Somwaiya
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Law Plus
Location: Thailand
Why hot: Burgeoning practice, especially in IP. Used to be in an alliance with Herbert Smith (Somwaiya is ex-Herbies), but that will come to an end in October. He knows where he wants to take the firm and is part of the next generation of local Thai lawyers challenging the foreign big boys.

Name: Bonnie Dixon
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Atsumi & Partners
Location: Japan
Why hot: Dixon was made the first, and remains the only, non-Japanese partner of a Japanese law
rm following the 1 April regulation changes. Creating a new competitive force in the Tokyo legal market, her hiring  and the many similar ones expected to follow  opens the way for a new partner track career option for non-Japanese associates looking for employment in Japan.

THE SHAKERS

Name: Paul Cargill
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Mallesons Stephen Jaques
Location: Australia
Why hot: No lawyer was involved for a longer time period than Cargill on the US$1.5bn Nam Theun 2 hydropower project in Laos (10 years). A key factor in Mallesons' number one ranking in project finance for the first half of 2005 in Asia and Australia.

Name: Jeanette Chan
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: Chan has become a household name in the legal market. Splitting her time between the firm's Hong Kong and Beijing office, she led a number of major deals last year including General Atlantic Group's US$350m equity financing to fund Lenovo's acquisition of IBM.

Name: Vivien Chan
Title: Name partner
Firm/company: Vivien Chan & Co Location: Hong Kong Why hot: No stranger to the pages of ALB, Chan received additional recognition earlier this year as one of three recipients of the 2005 Hong Kong Women Professional and Entrepreneurs Association award. With her firm celebrating its 20th birthday in September - and she celebrating her 50th this year - Chan is a worthy entrant in the Hot 100.

Name: Khun Chainoi
Title: Chief financial officer
Firm/company: Thai Oil
Location: Thailand
Why hot: Chainoi handles the bulk of the legal negotiations on the side of the Thai oil conglomerate. The company's IPO last year was a massive deal in the region, and was named as the ALB cross border equity deal of 2004.

Name: Emily Chin
Title: In-house counsel
Firm/company: Raffles
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Chin negotiated the US$900m divestment of the Raffles hotel chain, which comprised 40 hotels in 33 countries.

Name: Bonnie Dixon
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Atsumi & Partners
Location: Japan
Why hot: Dixon was made the first, and remains the only, non-Japanese partner of a Japanese law firm following the 1 April regulation changes. Creating a new competitive force in the Tokyo legal market, her hiring - and the many similar ones expected to follow - opens the way for a new partner track career option for non-Japanese associates looking for employment in Japan.

Name: Chinnavat Chinsangaram
Title: Partner
Firm/company: White & Case
Location: Thailand
Why hot: Enormous experience. Acted on the Thai Oil IPO and is well respected in the trade as a softly spoken lawyer with a fierce intellect. Deals he has acted on include representing Westbrook Asia LLC in the acquisition of up to 40% of the shares in Amarin Plaza Public Co. Ltd.

Name: Paul Fitzgerald
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Stamford Law Corporation
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Straight talking Kiwi is also a highly regarded corporate specialist. He was involved in the takeover offer for NOL, the restructuring of the PSA Group, the Comfort-DelGro merger, acting for the Sogo Group of Companies in its petition for judicial management, and acting for the US Securities Exchange Commission in an insider trading inquiry.

Name: David Friedlander
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Mallesons Stephen Jaques
Location: Australia
Why hot: Too many big deals to mention, but of real note was winning Australasia Dealmaker of the Year at the ALB Deals of the Year Awards this year. A few of the high profile transactions he led included advising British Airways on the sale of its 18.25% stake in Qantas and advising Insurance Australia Group on its highly complex Reset Exchangeable Securities.

Name: Reynaldo Geronimo
Title: Partner
Firm / company : Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles Location: Philippines
Why hot: Geronimo is the joint head of finance with this leading Philippines firm, which is known as one of the top firms for capital market deals. His client list includes Deutsche bank, Citicorp Capital Philippines and the ING Bank. His presence is a major reason for RMBSA winning ALB Philippines Firm of the Year for 2005.

Name: Penny Grau / Charles Rosedale
Title: Partners
Firm/company: Clayton Utz
Location: Australia
Why hot: For working on Tattersall's recent A$2.17bn IPO - the largest IPO of the year so far in Australia. Grau and Rosedale beat other firms to the work on tender and also relied on their own in-house case-management style system to track the 14-month deal.

Name: Xiao Jing Han
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Commerce & Finance Law Offices
Location: China
Why hot: Specialising in banking and corporate finance work, Han has signi.cantly contributed to the firm's reputation as 'the IPO law firm'. The firm has advised on 10 IPOs on the Main Board in Hong Kong in the past 12 months, rendering it third on the list with a total amount raised US$5.23bn.

Name: Peter Hinton
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Simpson Grierson
Location: New Zealand
Why hot: The highly respected Peter Hinton took the top honours in New Zealand at the ALB Deals of the Year Awards when he won New Zealand Dealmaker of the Year for his involvement in the IPOs of Gullivers Travel and Pumpkin Patch, as well as Origin Energy's bid for Contact Energy.

Name: John Huang
Title: Partner Firm / company: AllBright Law Offices
Location: China
Why hot: Huang is widely known for his excellence in IT. Claiming to have a "special passion for IT", he has recently completed the first stage of the most complex software development project in China up to date - the US$25m New Generation Trading System for the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the overhaul of its trading system.

Name: Stanley Jia
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Baker & McKenzie
Location: China
Why hot: Stanley Jia is a partner of Baker & McKenzie's Beijing office. Jia attributes his success to his being truly bilingual and truly bicultural which has allowed him to understand what the clients want and need. In the past year, he led the 'west to east pipeline project' for Petrochina Company Limited, the project value of which exceeded US$10bn.

Name: Tawee Khositjiranum
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Siam Premier
Location: Thailand
Why hot: One of Thailand's leading tax lawyers and legal intellectuals, Khositjiranun acted for the steering committee of creditors in the debt restructuring of Pranda Jewelry PLC, Thailand's biggest jewelry exporter. Has also acted on the Sahaviriya Group, MEC and COCO restructurings.

Name: Chang Hyeon Ko
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Kim & Chang
Location: Korea
Why hot: Chang was lead partner on the Korean firm's team advising LG Electronics on its June offering, which was one of the first signi.cant corporate debt offerings by an Asian issuer following the credit rating downgrades of GM and Ford in May.

Name: Adam Li Title:
Partner Firm/company: Jun He Law Offices
Location: China
Why hot: Li continues to shine this year. Advised on a couple of major deals, including BoCom's listing on the HKSE earlier in June and China Construction Bank's RMB2.8bn term loan facility for Bayer Polymers (Shanghai) Company Limited.

Name: Preeti Mehta
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Kanga & Company
Location: India
Why hot: Led this Mumbai based practice in negotiating on behalf of United Breweries Limited with Scottish & Newcastle plc increasing its stake in the Indian brewing company. The deal was valued at US$216m and was one of the largest Indian cross border transactions in the last 12 months. This deal made S&N the fifth largest brewer in the world.

Name: Lim Mei
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Allen & Gledhill
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Mei is a partner in the famed A&G equity capital markets team, the number one player in Singapore. She has acted on some of the largest deals on the domestic market, including the Raf.es Hotel divestment and the STX Pan Ocean IPO, the first time a Korean company has listed on the SGX.

Name: Hidetaka Mihara
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
Location: Japan
Why hot: Winner of ALB Japanese Dealmaker of the Year. Deals in 2004 include Japan Airlines System Corporation convertible bond offering; Bank of Yokohama secondary share offering by the government of Japan.

Name: Suong Dao Nguyen
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Johnson Stokes & Master
Location: Vietnam
Why hot: One of the leading local lawyers in Vietnam, Nguyen has built an impressive reputation as a quality negotiator and infrastructure specialist. Key deals she has worked on include the Saigon Sports City project, the American Indochina Resort on China Beach and acting for the Ministry of Industry of Vietnam and Electricity of Vietnam on the 715MW Phu My 2-2 Project.

Name: John Richards
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Allen & Overy
Location: Singapore
Why hot: A member of the renowned A&O global loans and restructuring group, Richards has acted on a number of the major deals in the region. These include advising the underwriters on the US$1bn Arado leverage buyout in Indonesia.

Name: Bernard Fleming
Title: Vice president of contracts
Firm/company: Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation Location: Taiwan
Why hot: In October this year, this 51- year old lawyer from New Zealand will see the fruits of no less than eight years' labour when Taiwan's US$14bn highspeed railway opens for business. As vice president of contracts in THSRC's construction management division, Fleming has assumed responsibility for all project pr ocurement and the attendant contracts as well as leading a team of 38.

Name: Raj Pande
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker
Location: Japan
Why hot: Former White & Case stalwart Pande joined Paul Hastings mid-way through 2004. With Pande involved in the first LNG terminals in both China and India, Paul Hastings has been able to push itself into the top tier for project finance mandates.

Name: Sandor Schick
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Shearman & Sterling
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Played a major role in the Asia Pulp & Paper restructuring, the largest ever such deal in SE Asia involving approximately US$5.7bn in debt. Schick led the Shearman team that advised a steering committee of approximately 20 creditors, including ABN Amro and HVB.

Name: David Sneider
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Location: Japan
Why hot: Winner of ALB International Dealmaker of the Year. Deals in 2004 include INPEX privatisation; Japan Telecom sale to Softbank Corp; Shinsei Bank IPO; Elpida Memory Inc IPO.

Name: Michael Sturrock
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Latham & Watkins
Location: Singapore
Why hot: An increasingly influential player in the capital markets. Leading Lathams' assault in this area, particularly in India where it has acted on half a number of major deals over the last year.

Name: Kirk Tong
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Jun He Law Offices
Location: China
Why hot: Focusing on international securities, M&A, venture capital investment and general corporate, Tong has been involved with a number of major M&A deals including Samsung's acquisition of SEG Samsung. More recently, he advised Dubai Ports International on the US$1.15bn acquisition of the US-based CSX Corporation.

Name: Steven Toronto
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Morrison & Foerster
Location: China
Why hot: Silicon Valley lawyer Toronto specialises in structuring the financing for telco and tech companies, such as the acquisition of Amazon.com and Sinotrans Air Transportation.

Name:Richard Willcock
Title: Group secretary and general counsel
Firm/company: Westpac
Location: Australia
Why hot: For scaring all those Sydney firms by musing on the potential for shifting work from the CBD to offshore. Proved to be a storm in a tea cup however, as Sydney firms referred disdainfully to the type of work that could go offshore as 'handleturning work'.

Name: Lynette Yeow
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Zaid Ibrahim & Co
Location: Malaysia
Why hot: Yeow is building a name for herself in the capital markets team at Malaysia's number one capital markets specialists. She led the Zaid Ibrahim team involved in the listing of the first ever REIT on the Bursa Malaysian main board, handling all aspects of the transaction.

Name: Benita Yu
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Slaughter and May
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: Highlights for Yu over the last year include advising Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation on its US$1.9bn global offering and dual Hong Kong/New York listing, as well as Morgan Stanley and other underwriters on the US$330m global offering and Hong Kong listing of China Resources Power.

Name: David Yu
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Llinks Law Office
Location: China
Why hot: With a wealth of experience in corporate, restructure and M&A, Yu regularly acts for multinationals such as COSCO Pacific, Cytec, and Dover Corporation. Led Llinks advising Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation on its US$500m acquisition of 48.92% of SsangYong Motor Company, the fourth largest motor manufacturer in Korea and on a US$640m multi-currency re
nancing to the motor company.

Name: Kevin Wong
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Linklaters
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Wong is building an increasingly unrivalled reputation as the 'go to man' for the underwriters on capital markets transactions. He acted for the banks on the US$234m Temasek Holdings acquisition of 264.09 million units in Capita Commercial Trust, and for the underwriters on the US$150m STATS ChipPac senior notes offering.

Name: Jonathan Zhou
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Fangda Partners
Location: China
Why hot: One of the founding partners of Fangda. Advised CICC on the follow-on offering of Baosteel and New Bright Capital, which was the
rst landmark acquisition of a domestically listed bank by a foreign company. Described by peers as a "very promising lawyer".

THE LEADERSHIP MAKERS

Name: CV Chen
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Lee and Li
Location: Taiwan
Why hot: As head of the island nation's largest firm, Chen has enjoyed some comfortable times up until recently. But the Taiwanese economy is changing rapidly and so too the demand for legal services. Chasing low manufacturing wages, MNCs have loans and restructuring group, Richards has acted on a number of the major deals in the region. These include advising the underwriters on the US$1bn Arado leverage buyout in Indonesia.
shifted their focus to the other side of the Taiwan Strait. Chen's challenge now is to maintain market share despite the loss of international clients.

Name: James Harris
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Lovells Lee & Lee
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Led the Lovells Lee & Lee team that acted on Asia's first sizable merchant plant project .nancing since the 1997 financial crisis, and one of the largest greenfield power projects to take place in the region this year.

Name: Ronachai Krisalodaorn
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Bangkok International Associates
Location: Thailand
Why hot: The consummate professional, no one has a better knowledge of what is going on in the market than the 35-year Thai veteran formerly known as Ron Crystal. Bangkok Clifford Chance partner Andrew Matthews says: "A lot of the new players do not know who he is, but those who have been here for a decade or more know what sort of influence he has."

Name: Handel Lee
Title: Partner
Firm/company: King & Wood
Location: China
Why hot: Lee joined King & Wood from Vinson & Elkins in 2004 as chairman of its management committee. King & Wood has since opened in Tokyo and recently announced its Hong Kong launch.

Name: Robert Lewis
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Lovells
Location: China
Why hot: Lewis was behind the launch of 'ACLA-Lovells Template Contracts and Legal Memoranda Series'. The project is aimed at elevating the overall standard of practice of FDI work among Chinese lawyers. FDI in China has actually dropped in 2005, but Lewis says he is not to blame.

Name: Yong Xiang Li
Title: Chief in-house counsel
Firm/company: Bank of Communications
Location: China
Why hot: Li recently left the bench after 18 years of service at the Shanghai Higher People's Court and joined Bank of Communications as its chief in-house counsel shortly after the bank was listed in June. Replaced predecessor Ke Peng Zhu.

Name: Gary McDiarmid
Title: Chief executive
Firm/company: Russell McVeagh
Location: New Zealand
Why hot: Only an accountant such as McDiarmid could go where lawyers fear to tread, into the land of high leverage. Since he's taken over the stewardship of the firm, Russell McVeagh has pushed forward to have one of the highest leverage ratios in Australasia (5:1).

Name: Mahnaz Malik
Title: Associate
Firm/company: Simmons & Simmons
Location: UK
Why hot: Pakistani national Malik followed up her efforts earlier last year - when she set up the British Pakistan Law Council - by organising a conference in London to discuss the implications of the US-Pakistan Bilateral Investment Treaty.

Name: Hiroo Atsumi
Title: Name partner
Firm/company: Atsumi & Partners
Location: Japan
Why hot: While most commentators assumed it would be the international firms that would utilise the 1 April regulation changes in order to expand the number of Japanese partners and associates in their offices, it is easy to underestimate the boldness shown by Atsumi and his partners in hiring Dixon as the first non- Japanese partner of a Japanese law firm. They are well on their way to creating the first truly international domestic Japanese law firm.

Name: Robert Milliner
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Mallesons Stephen Jaques
Location: Australia
Why hot: Milliner stepped into some big shoes last year, taking over from golden boy Tony D'Aloisio as the head honcho at what is arguably Australia's leading firm. And he appears to have .lled them with the firm's Asian practice bearing fruits (the firm advised the Laos Government on the high-pro.le Nan Theun power deal).

Name: Leena Pinsler
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Rajah & Tann
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Head of the newly created Southeast Asia desk. This shows great foresight on behalf of R&T. The recent Singapore - India free trade agreement means her knowledge of the Indian business market is highly sought after in the Singapore commercial sector.

Name: Zulhifly Rafique
Title: Name partner
Firm/company: Zulhifly Rafique & Partners
Location: Malaysia
Why hot: This increasingly influential Malaysian firm was recognised this year by ALB, winning Malaysian Firm of the Year. Rafique himself has impeccable connections in both the legal and political sphere, and was instrumental in bringing Solpiee Sahmat, the in-house counsel at Petronas for 16 years, to his firm.

Name: Nick Seddon
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: A magic circle firm or Wall Street behemoth it isn't, but ignore DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary at your peril. Now the third largest firm in the world by lawyer headcount, DLA Piper's Asia head Seddon has overseen dramatic growth in the region while retaining impressive profit levels.

Name: Zili Shao
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Linklaters
Location: China
Why hot: As rare as hen's teeth, Zili Shao is the only Chinese lawyer that has taken up the position of Greater China managing partner of a foreign firm. Heads up a team of more than 130 lawyers, across Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Recently represented Bank of Communications on its US$1.9bn listing on the HKSE.

Name: Guy Templeton
Title: Chief executive
Firm/company: Minter Ellison
Location: Australia
Why hot: Into the lion's den comes Guy Templeton, one of the few non-lawyers to dare to run a top tier law firm. In the past some non-lawyer leaders have come to a sticky end but the firm's made some touch decisions in the last year losing a horde of equity partners in order to boost its equity partner pay outs.

Name: Yasuhiro Umeda
Title: In-house counsel
Firm/company: NHK
Location: Japan
Why hot: Entering the in-house side of the profession in Japan at the tender age of 31, Umeda hoped to share his experiences with a group of like-minded individuals. But there were none. So he decided to set up the Japan's first in-house association of lawyers, the In-house Lawyer's Network. Four years on, and membership is rising dramatically.

Name: Mark Verbiest
Title: Group general counsel
Firm/company: Telecom New Zealand
Location: New Zealand
Why hot: Verbiest, the straight-talking general counsel at Telecom New Zealand, has struck fear into the heart of the local law firms by recruiting enough in-house lawyers to run a small law firm. There are currently 36 lawyers on his team and he's looking for another 10.

Name: Jing Wang
Title: Name partner
Firm/company: Wang Jing & Co Law
Firm Location: China
Why hot: Wang founded the firm 11 years ago as a boutique admiralty practice but it has since diversi.ed into foreign direct investment and intellectual property. Although the firm maintains a humble size, with six partners around the country, it managed to take home the trophy for Guangzhou Law Firm of the Year.

Name: Lun Wang
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Xinjiang Tianyang Law Firm
Location: China
Why hot: The 'Marco Polo' from Xinjiang led the charge to enter Beijing. The first law firm from Xinjiang to have an of.ce in the capital, Xinjiang Tianyang was named last year as the most professional and trustworthy of all non-local firms who have entered the Beijing market from other parts of the country.

Name: Rohan Weerasinghe
Title: Senior partner
Firm/company: Shearman & Sterling
Location: US
Why hot: Was appointed as the senior partner of this leading global US firm in July. The Sri Lankan born Weerasinghe is a corporate and securities specialist, and is a 28-year veteran at Shearman.

Name: Michael Wong
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Baker & McKenzie
Location: Taiwan
Why hot: Taipei office head Wong has overseen steady growth of 3-4% a year for Bakers. The Chicago-based firm was the main bene.ciary of the Taiwan's US$14bn highspeed railway project, advising THSRC on its initial concession agreement with the government as well as supplying full-time secondees.

Name: Christina Yang
Title: Co-managing partner
Firm/company: Preston Gates & Ellis Taiwan Commercial Law Offices
Location: Taiwan
Why hot: Yang led Taiwanese firm Taiwan Commercial Law Offices into a merger with its larger US counterpart on 1 January this year. Alongside comanaging partner James JY Chen, Yang is navigating her colleagues through all those pesky cultural issues, in a jurisdiction that has not witnessed many such unions.

Name: Greg Terry
Title: General counsel
Firm/company: Morgan Stanley
Location: Hong Kong
Why hot: Filling the shoes of someone of the pro.le of David Graham is no small task, but Terry has managed this with some aplomb. Has justified his tag within the investment banking world as "the obvious candidate" to replace Graham.

Name: Zhang Yi
Title: Partner
Firm/company: King & Wood
Location: China
Why hot: Remarkably young and promising, Zhang has a record of pioneering milestone deals in China - such as the establishment of Pacific Aetna, the first Sino-US joint venture insurance company in 1999, the first telecommunication service joint venture in 2000 (advising AT&T) and the first joint venture in public utility network industry (advising Veolia).

Name: David Zemans
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy
Location: Singapore
Why hot: Zemans is known as a significant dealmaker throughout the region, particularly on the underwriter side. This year he acted for the lenders on the first ever Green.eld power plant in Singapore and represented the banks on the US$325m PT Gajah Tunggal bond issue in Indonesia.

Name: Hai Bin Zeng
Title: Partner
Firm/company: Trust Law Firm
Location: China
Why hot: Trust law firm is one of those local firms that is regarded as up-and-coming - with Zeng and his two co-managing partners determined to take it to new heights. The firm recently advised on a loan facility for Esquel Textile, working shoulder to shoulder with international firms.

Name: Winston Zhao
Title: Managing partner
Firm/company: Jones Day
Location: China
Why hot: Former comanaging partner of Clifford Chance, now managing Jones Day Shanghai, Zhao, last year continued to impress our readers by working on Dong Feng's US$2bn joint venture with Nissan, which is the largest direct investment project in the auto industry in China to date.