Opportunities arise amid the geopolitical turbulence

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The mood among law firm leaders in the Asia-Pacific region is sombre. Top of their concerns is the dilemma posed by Donald Trump to their counterparts in the US.

Executive orders from President Trump after taking office in January in effect curbed corporate law firms’ ability to operate by, for example, suspending lawyers’ security clearances or calling for reviews of government contracts. Law firm leaders faced the choice of doing deals, such as agreeing to pro bono work on causes championed by Trump — or to try to resist. For many in the Apac region, a US government onslaught on commercial private practice law firms — a sector usually treated as politically neutral — is shocking.

Sam Nickless, chief executive of Australian law firm Gilbert + Tobin, recently attended a gathering of law firm managing partners in the region. Attendees felt the targeting of US law firms could be construed as an attack on the rule of law, he says.

Apac law firm leaders are also focused on the escalation in trade wars, particularly between the US and China, and the impact on clients. On this, law firm leaders have mixed views.

Nickless observes no “chilling” so far in flows of global capital to Australia. In Japan, Ryutaro Nakayama, managing partner at Nishimura & Asahi, points to the need to foster closer relations with neighbouring countries. “Disruption also creates opportunities. There are corridors of trade and interaction outside of the US,” says Ng Kim Beng, managing partner of Rajah & Tann Singapore. But he adds a caveat: “There are concerns that clients will be more cautious about investments, [foreign direct investment] will taper and cross-border flows will be more measured.”

Nevertheless, international law firms that have focused on Asia over the past five years, despite the geopolitical ructions, are reaping benefits. US law firm Latham & Watkins says regional revenues rose without an increase in headcount over the past five years, thanks to its OneAsia strategy. The firm has integrated each of its country offices into a single profit and loss centre, enabling it to overcome jurisdictional differences to create a team defined by legal practice areas with a regional perspective. Its strategy of remaining committed to Apac is notable given that many other US law firms have shrunk their presence in the region because of disappointing profitability.

Disruption also creates opportunities. There are corridors of trade and interaction outside of the US

Similarly, UK-US law firm Eversheds Sutherland undertook an exclusive deal with Australian-Chinese firm King & Wood Mallesons. The set-up enables both firms to bid for higher-value work globally by combining KWM’s strength in China with the global reach of Eversheds to help KWM’s Chinese clients. Since the deal was signed in July 2023, the firms report approximately 700 cross-referrals over 80 jurisdictions.

Given current tariff and trade volatility, do these international law firms regret their Asia investments?

“You have to put things in certain boxes,” says Stephen Kitts, chair of Eversheds Sutherland’s Asia business. “The geopolitical box has lots of tension, angst and rhetoric, but business is carrying on. Globalisation is evolving — it’s not going away, but it will be different.” However, while there will be trading and investment challenges, he stresses the need for a long-term perspective and for close client relationships.

For the Asia team at Latham & Watkins, the increased market volatility represents an opportunity to advise clients using its integrated OneAsia platform combined with its knowledge of the US regulatory environment. “When the market is really challenged, clients look to their trusted advisers,” says Posit Laohaphan, the firm’s Asia managing partner. “They’re not just looking for lawyers . . . they’re looking for people who can give them more.”

Geopolitical concerns aside, law firms in the region continue to embrace generative artificial intelligence, a technology that is both transformative and a threat because of its potential to replace humans in producing complex legal answers to problems.

Ashurst, the international law firm, and winner of the 2025 FT Innovative Lawyers award for most innovative firm headquartered outside the region, says around 60 per cent of its workforce now use generative AI regularly. “We rolled it out over our 31 offices in a couple of months and now everyone has access to it,” says Paul Jenkins, chief executive, describing the effect as “transformative”.

Nickless at Gilbert & Tobin, winner of the award for firms headquartered in Asia-Pacific, has rolled out the Harvey legal-AI tool to all fee-earners. Practical applications for the tech are emerging, he says, and the firm’s own version of Open AI’s large language model is used to enhance all support work.

Nickless is also interested in the potential of agentic AI, which operates autonomously with little human oversight. He has even created his own custom GPT [generative pre-trained transformer], in which he uploaded the firm’s business frameworks, strategy documents, his own writing style and 360-degree feedback reports. This GPT now comments on and edits papers from his team of 10.

He created the custom GPT for his own use but has shared it with some colleagues. They can liaise with it directly, resulting in Nickless receiving work more attuned to what he wants, faster. Now he can “scale his leadership” with more people in the firm, he says.

For legal leaders facing challenges of geopolitics, economic uncertainty and transformative tech, a custom-built GPT could be another weapon for fighting those battles.

The writer is executive director, RSGI