For lawyers considering a move to Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore are often the two markets that immediately come to mind. Both are major international legal and financial centres. Both are home to leading global law firms. Both offer the opportunity to build a genuinely cross-border legal career.
From a lateral hiring perspective, however, they are not at all interchangeable.
The practices in demand, the experience firms value and the profiles that translate most readily can differ significantly between the two markets. Recent lateral activity reinforces that distinction: both Hong Kong and Singapore have continued to see partner investment in 2026, but firms are building different capabilities and responding to different sources of client demand.
For a lawyer considering Asia, the better question may therefore be less “Would I rather live in Hong Kong or Singapore?” and more: “Where does my experience fit?”
Hong Kong: A Broader Mix of Opportunities
Of the two markets, Hong Kong is currently where our Asia team is seeing the broader spread of associate opportunities.
Hiring remains selective, but demand has extended across areas including Corporate M&A, Capital Markets, Banking & Finance, Structured Finance, Litigation and Competition/Antitrust. This breadth reflects Hong Kong's position within the regional legal market.
Capital Markets is an obvious example. Hong Kong's IPO market returned strongly in 2025, when 119 new listings raised HK$285.8 billion, and activity has continued into 2026. For lawyers with equity capital markets and related corporate experience, that creates a very different backdrop from many other international markets.
Recent lateral investment also points to firms strengthening transactional, capital markets, disputes and regulatory capabilities in Hong Kong.
For lawyers coming from London, New York, Australia or another major legal centre, this can create opportunities to bring sophisticated international experience into a market where cross-border work is fundamental to many practices.
Nevertheless, practice area alone isn't enough.
For instance, Language requirements can be particularly important in Hong Kong and vary significantly between firms and roles. Qualification, client exposure, the type of matters you have worked on and your existing connection to the region can all influence how transferable your experience is.
Singapore: Selective, but Strategically Important
Singapore presents an entirely different hiring landscape.
The market continues to attract investment from international law firms, but associate hiring can be highly targeted. Rather than assuming that firm growth translates into hiring across every practice, lawyers need to look at where individual teams are actually investing.
From the opportunities we're currently seeing, transactional practices and Projects/Project Finance are particularly relevant areas.
There is evidence of that investment at partner level too. Firms have continued to strengthen Singapore-based Projects, Energy, Infrastructure and Finance capabilities during 2026, including senior lateral investment specifically in Project Finance.
Corporate and M&A opportunities also arise, particularly where lawyers bring experience that aligns with a firm's regional client base or a particular market.
Our team is currently, for example, working on opportunities for Korean-speaking M&A lawyers in Singapore. That illustrates an important feature of the market: sometimes the opportunity isn't simply about your practice. It is the combination of practice, language capability, firm background and regional experience that makes a profile particularly valuable.
Singapore can therefore be an attractive destination for international lawyers, but it is rarely a market where a broad “I'm a corporate lawyer and I'd like to move to Asia” approach is enough.
Where Does Your Practice Fit?
There isn't a perfect practice-by-practice formula, particularly because hiring requirements can change quickly. Broadly, however, the current picture we're seeing looks something like this:
This shouldn't be read as a definitive hiring scorecard. A market described as more selective can still be the better destination for an individual lawyer if their experience happens to match exactly what a particular team needs. This is why looking beyond the practice label matters.
Your Practice Is Only Part of the Equation
Two lawyers with the same PQE and the same practice on their CV can have very different prospects in Asia. Firms may also consider:
Qualification: Where are you admitted, and does that align with the work the team handles?
Firm background: Have you trained and worked in an environment comparable to the firms you're targeting?
Matter experience: The substance of your work often matters more than the practice name alone.
Language skills: For some opportunities these are helpful; for others they can be fundamental to the role.
Cross-border exposure: Experience working across jurisdictions, coordinating international teams or advising multinational clients can strengthen an international move.
Regional connection: Previous experience in Asia can help, but it isn't necessarily a prerequisite for every opportunity.
The strongest candidate for Hong Kong or Singapore is therefore not simply someone who wants to move there. It is someone who can demonstrate why their experience makes sense for that particular market and team.
Hong Kong or Singapore? Start With Your Experience, Not the City
It is natural to approach an international move by choosing the destination first. Although, for lawyers considering Hong Kong and Singapore, reversing that process can be useful.
Start with your practice. Look at your matters, clients, qualification, language capabilities and level of seniority. Then consider where that combination is currently most valuable.
You may find that the market offering the strongest career opportunity isn't necessarily the one you initially had in mind. Moreover, you don't need to have decided on an international move before starting that conversation.
Speaking to someone who understands both markets can help you establish where your experience is likely to translate, which firms may be interested in your background and whether now is the right time to explore your options.
