Indonesia > Legal market overview
Interest in Indonesia has heated up over the past few years, with investors and law firms alike attracted by multibillion-dollar projects in the mining, natural resources and oil and gas sectors. This interest has increased in the wake of the new mining law, which came into effect in early 2010 allowing foreign investors to own stakes in local mines.
International firms are still not officially allowed to open offices in Indonesia, but relationships with local alliances are frequently very close, with international lawyers often spending many years on long-term secondment to their local alliance partner. The last two years has seen a spate of Indonesian lawyers leaving more established local firms to set up on their own, and announcing alliances with international firms. In 2011 Norton Rose Australia announced an alliance with the newly formed Susandarini & Partners; In 2010 Allen & Overy teamed up with Ginting & Reksodiputro to form Ginting & Reksodiputro in association with Allen & Overy; and Blake Dawson allied with Oentoeng Suria & Partners.
Despite Indonesia’s increasingly dynamic economy, the country remains a difficult jurisdiction to do business in, with clients frequently complaining about a lack of legal precedent and of local firms delivering poor response times.
Most lawyers in Indonesia are generalists, practising across areas including corporate, capital markets, real estate and projects. The exception is dispute resolution, where the market is dominated by a few big-name litigators and boutique firms. Lateral hires are unusual, with ambitious young partners more likely to start up their own firm than join a rival.
There are still only a handful of top-notch local firms able to handle cross-border work. The most notable is Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners (which is part of Baker & McKenzie’s international network), the largest firm in the country with over 100 lawyers.