Wanted: creative local lawyers

CURRENCY woes may have been singled out earlier this year as the key culprit behind international law firm Hogan Lovells' modest growth for its financial year 2015, but in Singapore, it faces a more fundamental problem: talent.

Industry players agree that attracting a good team of lawyers - the DNA makeup of a firm - defines, to a large extent, how well the practice performs.

Currently, Singapore has an employer's market in the legal sector, thanks to an oversupply of young lawyers, that has resulted in lower starting pay and fiercer competition among peers.