Barristers from London are often instructed from local firms in Asia’s key markets, reinforcing already elite level firms with additional common law advocacy, as well as providing a talented pool of arbitrators. Many barristers have found considerable success over the years, where they have continued to grow their practice and their clientele through the help of the London chambers they are a part of and the clerking/marketing teams that get involved on the business development front by going out across Asia; in addition some individuals operate as sole practitioners in Asia with the support of a London chambers, which may or may not have an annexe in Singapore or another regional hub.

Covid 19 was a major hurdle throughout 2020-2021, with many Asian jurisdictions opening up, with many barristers being invited back to these represented regions to conduct cases in person. That said, there are still a few key jurisdictions such Mainland China, which continues to operate the sort of COVID-19 measures much of the rest of the world largely abandoned in 2021, and Hong Kong, which only abolished its system of hotel quarantine in Q3 2022, making any sort of possibility of face to face case work or meeting with clients in these regions extremely difficult. This, in turn has led to a knock on effect whereby a few companies have tried to dismiss some cases on the basis of the delay causing either severe damage or making the actual issues irrelevant. For some barristers, this was seen as a blessing as instructions have increased exponentially with many going to trial within the next year due to the backlog that needs to be cleared. Broader global issues have also been a recent point of contention, with decaying US-China relations (both in the trade and broader geopolitical contexts), as well as global energy ructions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also are themes arising in disputes as well.