Like any other senior associate in King & Wood, Angie Ng, a member of the firm's anti-trust and competition group, takes part in internal meetings, attends to client matters and handles billable work. 

Judging by her day-to-day practice, it's nearly impossible to tell that she is a foreign lawyer and is seconded from Australian firm Gilbert + Tobin. G+T is King & Wood's only Western strategic alliance, and started the secondment and exchange program two years ago when the alliance was formed. A number of its IT and competition lawyers (including partners) have already completed their secondments, while G+T has played host to several secondees from King & Wood in the areas of IT, real estate and corporate.

The firm's communications partner Peter Waters affirms that the program has been fruitful and both firms will continue to improve the structure. "A big driver of the relationship between the two firms has been the exchange of skills in targeted practice areas, where we see opportunity for expansion in Asia and King & Wood sees new and emerging opportunity in China," he said. "The secondment program is part of the glue which makes our strategic relationship work. It's a means to an end for both firms."

Secondments gain popularity
As China rises to become the world's second-largest economy, many foreign firms, particularly firms without a presence in the country, are keen on building up cooperation with PRC firms. Some have put in place a secondment program as part of the cooperation arrangements. Russian firm Alrud is a case in point. In anticipation of the growing direct investment between China and Russia, the firm plans to strengthen its market connections in China. 

As part of the plan, it will form a secondment program which will offer short-term placements to its lawyers in a couple of Chinese law firms. Maxim Alekseyev, the firm's managing partner, expects the program to commence next year and will help the firm build up its referral network and gain insights into the market practice. "In addition to improving our lawyers' language skills and knowledge about China, the program is aiming to get a better understanding of what problems Russian companies are facing in China and what type of services they may need," he said. "And, at the same time, to develop a better understanding of the mentality on the decision-making and the way Chinese clients choose their legal advisors," said Alekseyev. 

Dacheng, which maintains around 30 strategic alliances overseas, is one of a handful of domestic firms that already has secondment arrangements with foreign firms. Over the past three years, Dacheng has offered placements for more than ten lawyers from its alliance firms in eight countries, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Chile and Israel. Some of its lawyers have also been seconded to firms in Spain, Japan, Korea and the US. The firm's managing partner Wang Zhongde is overseeing the program and regards it as an effective way to strengthen the relationship with its alliances and improve its lawyers' language and legal skills.

More importantly, he sees it as an alternative to establishing a presence in certain countries, where its clients have demand for legal services but the demand is not strong enough to support a business of opening an office. "The seconding lawyers are acting as representatives and cultural liaisons between Dacheng and its foreign strategic alliances. The secondment program also enables us to collaborate with our alliance firms on client matters in a large number of countries and regions. It's a more flexible and cost-effective alternative to developing international practices," said Wang.

Limitations and prospects
While many foreign lawyers have been seconded to firms in China, few have been meaningfully involved in cases and deals like Angie Ng, who has worked on actual billable legal matters and handled many clients' merger filings with MOFCOM. Ng's desirable combination of bilingual language capability and specific technical skills is definitely a contributing factor to her successful secondment, but the two firms' strong efforts to make this arrangement work is also fundamental. 

"There are challenges in secondments. When people are involved in their own busy day-to-day practices, it's often difficult for them to incorporate a secondee in the work. Hosting firms and partners have to put a lot of structures around secondments to make sure they actually do work. They need to understand the objectives of the secondees and deliver on those to ensure it's a rich experience for the secondees. Developing a good secondee program is something that is incremental and it takes a bit of effort," said G+T's Waters.

As secondment of foreign lawyers becomes an increasingly common practice in the legal market, it's likely that more law firms will formalise their secondment mechanisms. Jun He is one of the firms that has set in motion plans for improvement. "China's economy is rapidly internationalising and PRC firms inevitably will have more secondments and exchange programs with their foreign counterparts;" said Jun He's partner Liu Linfei. "It has reached a point where a clearer internal structure for such programs is needed to ensure the real goals and objectives can be achieved."

He recently attended the International Bar Association's 2010 annual conference in Vancouver, where a number of firms from South America and Africa have expressed their interest in arranging secondment with his firm. "The approach of arranging secondments on a ad hoc basis and simply providing a work station for foreign lawyers can no longer make the cut," he said.

Different law firms may attach importance to different aspects of the secondment program, driven by different goals and objectives. However, those firms that run the program as a long-term investment to their lawyers will likely reap the most benefits. "Both firms are doing this to give their lawyers an experience working outside their own culture. These are young lawyers who may one day grow into leaders in each firm. It's a longer-term investment and is not part of a short-term solution to the need of expertise in a specific area," said Waters.

"This is about offering young lawyers the chance to work in a different cultural and legal environment, trying to inspire them about the opportunities for the future, and seeding relationships that will hopefully last many years to come." ALB