Blog

Today’s job seekers may not be in a position to make the same demands of yesteryear, but CML Recruitment’s Ben Cooper says that there are significant stakes on offer for lawyers in Asia with the right skill sets. Are you in demand?

This month’s tragic events in Japan, triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, have shocked people around the world. The sheer scale of the catastrophe and loss of life cannot fail to have moved even the most hardened of observers, and countless organisations and individuals have been busy raising funds for the relief effort. Japanese officials have estimated it will cost as much as 25 trillion yen (US$309bn) to rebuild the country after the disaster.
As fears of a nuclear fallout from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant spread in the days following the quake, residents and workers fled Tokyo in their thousands, many expatriates returning to the safety of their home countries.
But as many international lawyers were fleeing the Japanese capital, one English barrister was heading into the danger zone on a mission to reach his family and get them out. Matthew Seligman, of London based Steel & Shamash Solicitors, didn’t hesitate to make the daunting journey to Tsunami-hit Sendai – the city closest to the earthquake’s epicentre – to be with his wife, Hiromi, nine year old daughter Daisy, and ‘Shark’ and ‘Dolphin’, their two cats.
Matthew, who is also an internationally acclaimed musician, kept his Facebook friends updated with his progress, and has kindly allowed ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL to share abridged highlights of his courageous journey with the in-house community.

When employers in Japan find themselves in a dispute, in need of vital information, it may be that their former employees hold the key to securing a resolution. A voluntary agreement containing an Assistance in Dispute provision could be helpful in this case. Sayaka Ohashi, Toshishige Fujiwara and Peter Sise of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune take us through the benefits and pitfalls of such a provision.

Anthony Woo and Jenny Zhuang of Kennedys share with us their insights following a momentous judgment in the shipping arena in Hong Kong. For the first time, the meaning of ’control’ in the context of a ship arrest was contemplated by the Hong Kong Courts – paving the way for some much needed clarity for ship owners.