About

The April 2013 Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) annual meeting in Seoul provided the inspiration for the founding of the Asia Law Portal. Conference attendees were told by Alan Hodgart that the Asia-Pacific legal market will double in size by 2017 — making it the second-largest legal market in the world, behind the United States. In subsequent research for the book: A Comprehensive Guide to the Asia-Pacific Legal Markets, Dr. George Beaton predicted the market may double by as late as 2022.

The Asia-Pacific legal market is both immense and diverse. Geographically, it reaches from South Korea to India across South East Asia to the Pacific Islands. As Yun Kriegler outlined in The Lawyer: “As Asia-Pacific becomes a critical part of the global legal services industry, and its key economies and jurisdictions become more closely interlinked, the need for a holistic view of the legal landscape has never been greater. People who have spent some time in Asia will know the markets there are still in their early years and public information on the legal industry is scarce.”

Modeled after the blog and social media platforms of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Asia Law Portal publishes articles primarily about innovation in Asia’s legal services market – from lawyers practicing in-house, in private practice, legal services sector professionals, innovators, and law students. Notably, Dr. George Beaton called Asia Law Portal: “The only independent source of information and insights on the practice of law in the vast Asian region.”