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52EMPLOYER OF CHOICEASIAN LEGAL BUSINESSJUNE 2012Ropes & Gray, Hong Kongsized office prides itself in having a platformthat offers its lawyers exposure to a variety ofwork, rather than keeping associates lockeddown in one practice area. “Associates areencouraged to be members of more than onepractice group, and to get involved in differenttypes of transactions,” says Paul Boltz, apartner at the Hong Kong office. Another keydifference resounding from the survey washow active the partners were in working with,and developing younger lawyers. Boltz says:“Our firm has a lower ratio of partners to associates,and we are a group of young, active,hands-on partners who get involved in ourdeals and with the associates together. ThereIs a real commitment to on-the-job trainingand hands-on approach to handling things.”A market survey found that in a highly competitivelegal space like Hong Kong, Ropes &Gray is placed at the high end of the marketwith its compensation package. “We do wantthe best people,” says Hong Kong-basedpartner Brian Schwarzwalder. “It is our statedgoal to be competitive so we can attract andretain top talent. It so easy to find bodies, butto find really good, switched-on people whoare multicultural and multilingual – that is anarrow group and really competitive.”Mayer Brown JSM, meanwhile, landscomfortably into second place, moving uptwo spots from last year. Its collegial workenvironment and training initiatives havebeen lauded by respondents. “My colleaguesare friendly and professional, and we havemany resources available to us,” says one.Finally, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamiltoncracks into the top three with favourablecomments about easy-to-work-with partnersand the “respect the firm shows us,” says onerespondent.IndiaTrilegal“Trust is the key value that Trilegal upholdsand that comes through in the employer-employeerelationship. It is a very good employer,”says a survey respondent about first placeIndia winner, Trilegal, which climbed up fourspots to dethrone Amarchand & Mangaldasfrom its two-year long perch at the top. The12-year old firm has experienced tremendousgrowth in recent years, and it values its staffhighly. Sridhar Gorthi, Trilegal’s managingpartner, tells ALB how the firm focuses ongrowing talent internally, and that it workshard on retaining its talent through in-housetraining and grooming. “We have a differentstructure and approach,” he says, about thefirm’s vision. “We are a complete meritocracy,and the transparency and flat meritocracypermeates through the firm and is visible toevery lawyer. There is a very clear path to increasingthe ownership stake in the firm.”The reputation of the firm is very clearfor new recruits fresh from law school: It is a“cool” place to work with high-quality work,rigorous and varied training, a collegial envi-ronment and “approachable partners.” “I dolike working at Trilegal,” says one commenteron the survey. “Being a corporate law firm,it is really hard to please people working foryou. But I would say that my firm is doing apretty decent job. I have knowledge of otherlaw firms in India, and I would really preferto be at Trilegal over any of those.” Gorthi isrefreshingly forthcoming about challengesin attrition the firm experiences from timeto time. But he highlights how seriouslyfirm management considers the issue. “Weare doing a lot of things to address this, likestepping up recruitment, monitoring time,monitoring weekends to make sure peopleare getting proper balance. It is an ongoingprocess. I w ill not say we have cracked it, butwe are very aware of it and determined to dosomething about it.” One of the solutions isthe installation of a workload tracker and inone office, a concierge service has been im-“Trust is the keyvalue that Trilegalupholds and thatcomes through in theemployer-employeerelationship. It is a verygood employer.”- survey respondent on trilegal
WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM: @ALB_Magazine : Connect with Asian Legal BusinessEMPLOYER OF CHOICE 53plemented. Rubeena Mander, the firm’s seniorHR manager explains: “If associates needto make personal travel bookings or pay utilitiesbills among other things, they can have itdone through the concierge. We are trying tohelp the lawyers achieve a balance.”Another bonus is that the firm’s evaluationprocesses are more robust, with morestructured and detailed feedback offered toassociates to gauge their development andwork. Human resources is also more involvedthan at some other Indian firms. There isextensive training offered to staff, and lawyershave access to Allen & Overy’s trainingand secondment programmes (thanksto Trilegal’s affiliation with the Magic Circlefirm). “We are constantly finding new waysof improving programmes, and making themmore fruitful for people,” says Mander. Tosum up why Trilegal is ALB’s winning Employerof Choice for 2012, Gorthi remarks:“We work hard, party hard, and pay well.”Meanwhile, jumping up one spot fromlast year, J. Sagar Associates lands in sec-ond place this year, scoringhighly for quality of workand work-life balance. Lall& Sethi makes its first everappearance on our list andclaims third place, withstrong comments fromparticipants about feelingvalued and supported bymanagement. One respondenthas very kind words forthe firm’s founder: “As anemployee, I like the environmentof my firm and thekind of relationships thatemployees have with eachother. The absolute bestthing about the company isMr. Lall, who is a very nicehuman being and very caringof his employees.”IndonesiaHadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners“At the end of the day, the assets we haveare the lawyers we have,” says HadiputrantoHadinoto & Partners’ (HHP) recruitmentpartner, Nadia Nasoetion. This year, the Indonesiafirm unseats Melli Darsa & Co asthe country’s top Employer of Choice in oursurvey. Competition is quite fierce for talentin Indonesia, particularly for quality associatesat the mid-level rank. This has helpedHadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners
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