COVER STORY: BEST BOUTIQUES

With the legal industry seeing sluggish growth and other headwinds, boutique firms, which specialise in niche practice areas, are expected to weather the storm better than a lot of the full-service corporate/commercial firms. The inaugural ALB Best Boutiques list will highlight firms that are achieving success in their chosen specialism – be it labour law or litigation, technology or tax.

FEATURE: OFFSHORE

China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative, has been in the news recently, and for good reason, as it aims to increase trade and investment across a number of countries in Asia and beyond. We look at the role that offshore centres are playing in this initiative.

REPORT: INDONESIA

Earlier this month, Standard & Poor's provided a long-awaited upgrade of the country's credit rating to investment grade, matching the rating provided by peers Fitch and Moody’s. With political stability returning and the country’s economic growth back on track, we look at some of the dealmaking activity happening, and how lawyers in the country are benefiting.

PLUS: We look at how Google’s tax deal with Indonesia will affect other tech companies doing business in the country.

FEATURE: CAPITAL MARKETS

Our roundup of capital market developments around the region include looking more closely at a recent agreement signed by the Singapore Exchange and Singapore’s main ICT and media industry regulator to ease the path to IPO for local and foreign tech companies in the country; what the Lotte Chemical IPO means for listings in Malaysia and the ASEAN region generally, and how Asia's healthcare IPOs are bucking the global downtrend.

REPORT: MALAYSIA

Malaysia’s banking sector is seeing a lot of merger talk, with discussions ongoing between RHB Bank and AMMB Holdings, coupled with Bank Negara’s push for the institutionalization of the industry. However, the country generally is expected to see heightened M&A activity on the back of a weaker ringgit, PE transactions and restructuring of government-linked companies. We speak to lawyers about the trends they are seeing.

FEATURE: IP

According to a geographical analysis of patenting from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo), the Tokyo-Yokohama is the biggest filer of patents in the world. As we spotlight the region, we look at some of the key trends and areas of activity, and also highlight some of the top IP law firms that are assisting in this innovation boom.

FEATURE: LEGAL TECH

Artificial intelligence (AI) is just beginning to come into its own in terms of its use by lawyers and within the legal industry, and law firms are beginning to take it very seriously. We look at the the impact of this technology on the legal profession, and why the next few years will see a complete revolution in the practice of law led by AI.

PLUS: We look at how in-house teams in Asia are embracing digital skills to go with their legal skills.

REPORT: HONG KONG

Hong Kong is a legal market in flux with a consolidation underway as a few firms begin to retreat, while others struggle to hold on to their positions in the face of increasing competition for work and fee pressures from clients. We look at what it would take to survive in this market.

FULL COVERAGE: JAPAN LAW AWARDS 2017

The full list of winners at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2017, including photos, interviews with some awardees and much more.

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