11 Asian Legal Business | December 2024 Brought to you by Worthington Legal Alternative Careers for Lawyers in Private Practice Many lawyers in private practice reach a point where they reassess their pursuit of partnership, finding the traditional role of fee earner less appealing. While in-house legal positions are a common alternative, they aren’t suitable for everyone. Fortunately, law firms offer various roles that provide fresh perspectives, growth opportunities, and a break from the conventional demands of time recording and billing. These roles often come with improved work-life balance, stable hours, and more flexible arrangements, including part-time options and remote work. Knowledge Lawyer/Professional Support Lawyer (PSL) Knowledge management has gained greater prominence in law firms in recent years. PSLs now help drive efficiency, enhance workflows, and non-qualified professionals, often part of global teams working across various jurisdictions. In Asia we have seen many firms favour individuals that can cover a broader role which often covers data privacy, employment law, conflicts as well as SRA and Law society regulations. Strong communication skills are essential for collaborating with partners and managing compliance obligations effectively. Legal Technology The use of legal technology is growing in importance as firms seek to enhance efficiency, lower costs and improve service delivery for clients. Lawyers transitioning into legal tech roles need a keen interest in technology and may require additional training. You will play a key role in the application of new technologies and the managing of external suppliers. Attorney Development and Learning With a focus on professional development, law firms are recognizing the benefits of having experienced lawyers in attorney development roles. Responsibilities include associate guidance and training, coaching and performance management. These professionals work to enhance the skills and career trajectories of lawyers, ensuring robust training and mentoring programs are in place. and support fee earners, evolving beyond their traditional specialised technical legal roles. In larger firms, multi-tiered knowledge teams exist, offering genuine career advancement opportunities. Responsibilities may include legal research, training, mentoring, delivering client seminars and business development. Initially prevalent in magic circle firms in Asia, the trend is expanding, with many firms recognizing the value of PSLs in supporting local teams. Legal Project Management Legal project management applies project management principles to legal service delivery, allowing lawyers to focus on substantive legal work. Project managers handle planning, cost management, and document oversight. As legal projects grow increasingly complex, skills in document management and legal technology become crucial. Emotional intelligence is vital for building relationships among stakeholders, and the demand for legal project managers is expected to rise across Asia. Risk and Compliance The primary role is to ensure compliance with professional standards, regulations and legislation and to mitigate risks for the firm. Compliance teams in law firms typically consist of qualified Camilla Worthington Founder/Managing Director camilla@worthingtonlegal.com Worthington Legal www.worthingtonlegal.com Sizzling valuations are no bar for Asia data centre deals as AI growth beckons (Reuters) Global investors are queueing up to invest in data centre operators in the Asia-Pacific either by buying stakes directly or via public offerings, unfazed by their rich valuations that are driven by demand for artificial intelligence-based services. Many industry executives say the regional data centres will continue to command high valuations due to the nascent nature of the industry and its growth outlook. Some, though, say a lack of robust infrastructure could cast a cloud on their outlook. Data centres house computer servers and equipment that companies use to process and store data. A valuation benchmark for the sector was set in September when a consortium led by alternative asset manager Blackstone agreed to buy Australian data centre group AirTrunk for an implied enterprise value of over A$24 billion ($15.58 billion), or over 20 times the target’s forward core earnings. The process to sell a minority stake in Indonesian data centre NeutraDC, for example, has attracted interest from Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) and BDx Data Centers. A sale of a roughly 20 to 30 percent stake in the data centre arm of Indonesian state-owned communication company Telkom, which kicked off in October, could value the business at more than $1 billion, sources have said. Brokerage BRI Danareksa Sekuritas’ analyst Niko Margaronis said NeutraDC could be valued at more than 20 times core earnings, helped by factors including a capacity expansion plan to reach 500 megawatts by 2028 to 2030, from around 60 MW by end-2024. In another example, Australia’s HMC Capital said that strong interest from investors had led the company to upsize the IPO of its data centres business DigiCo REIT to A$2.75 billion. The new valuation benchmark for data centre deals compares with average market-wide multiple of around 16 times core earnings in the broader private infrastructure deals globally, according to asset intelligence company Realfin. The AirTrunk deal has propelled Asia Pacific to the top of the M&A league table in the global data centre market this year, with deal value totalling $17.03 billion, more than half of the global transactions, LSEG data showed.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA0NzE4Mw==