Hannah Ha was appointed chair of Mayer Brown's Asia Board in June, taking the reins of the U.S. firm's operations in markets including China, Singapore, Japan and Vietnam. She tells ALB about her priorities in the new role, her plans for the firm's Asia and global development, and the impact she aspires to have as a female law firm leader.
ALB: Tell us about your new role and strategic priorities for the first year or two. What are some immediate challenges you're looking to tackle?
Hannah Ha: Mayer Brown is unique as a truly integrated global law firm with a long-established and significant presence in the Americas, EMEA and Asia. Combined with our recent investments in key global markets, the positive challenge we face is to optimise the benefits of our global platform for our clients in the PRC, Southeast Asia, Japan and other global clients who have presence in Asia. This will be my focus as the Asia Chair and a member of the global Management Committee.
ALB: What will be some of the areas that your firm will bolster investment in during your tenure? In October last year, you entered into a JLV in Singapore. Are there other jurisdictions you are eyeing?
Ha: Globally, the firm has invested in key markets relevant to our product and sector focus, such as New York, Salt Lake City, the Middle East and, obviously, Singapore. We will continue to focus on our growth in these markets while consolidating our established position in offices such as Hong Kong, where we see vast potential locally and globally through the development of the Greater Bay Area.
While we don't envisage opening new offices in the region, we will focus on developing our three regional hubs in Asia - Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo – to optimise our existing platform across the region in important markets such as the PRC and throughout Southeast Asia.
ALB: What are some of the trends you are predicting in the Asian legal market, and how are you positioning your firm to rise to some of the challenges presented by the macroeconomic headwinds in the global economy?
Ha: The Asian legal market has developed to become much more intra-regional, particularly with the expansion of PRC and Japanese law firms into the global financial centres of Hong Kong and Singapore. I think this is a positive trend reflective of the market's growing maturity, and also the opportunities it presents and will likely continue despite current global economic uncertainty.
ALB: As a female leader in the profession, what steps will you be taking to enhance diversity and inclusion in the legal industry in Hong Kong and Asia more broadly?
Ha: At Mayer Brown, we are rightly proud of our record of enhancing diversity and inclusion. Earlier this year, we launched a report in conjunction with Women in Law Hong Kong (WILHK) called the Everyday Behaviour Project, which highlighted the behaviours women in the Hong Kong legal industry have to deal with, including gender biases and micro-aggressions. The response from the legal community has been overwhelming, and I hope it helps drive continued change as we explore undertaking similar reports or projects in other jurisdictions across Asia.
