Wikborg Rein’s first-ever female global managing partner, Susanne Munch-Thore, has made her first trek to the Asia-Pacific this week. According to Munch-Thore, the firm’s Asian offices constitute some of the fastest growing components of its strategy – and are projected to continue its positive trajectory.
Munch-Thore, the first female managing partner of any of the Big Four law firms in Norway, was nominated for the role after a unanimous partner vote in May 2011. Munch-Thore also made history in 1993 as Wikborg Rein’s first-ever female partner.
Her predecessor Per M Ristvedt, who led the firm for seven years until early 2011, has taken up the role of Southeast Asia partner-in-charge in Singapore, further reinforcing the firm’s commitment to the region.
In an earlier interview, Munch-Thore said the most significant change over the last years is the advent of female lawyers in the legal industry. “From being a male-dominated sector, it is now women who dominate law studies and new hires in the big law firms,” she said. Over half of graduating lawyers in 2010 were women. “We see the same development in other industries and among our clients.”
According to Munch-Thore, the key differentiating advantage in competing with Wikborg Rein’s Anglo-Saxon and U.S. rivals in Asia in certain sectors lay in its expertise in the core sectors of oil & gas/ offshore, shipping, energy and fisheries. “In addition to our Norwegian legal team, we have brought in an English law team based in Asia to advise on the English law aspects in our key areas of expertise. Our firm’s experience with working for or alongside state-owned companies, common in Norway, does well in Asian jurisdictions like China where the presence of SOEs is strong and where governments are heavily involved in business. Additionally, through our EJLV with Pan Asia Law Alliance, we are also able to service the Singapore legal aspects of deals coming through Southeast Asia,” Munch-Thore said.
Although Munch-Thore notes a down cycle for the shipping market, she remains optimistic on the overall performance of the firm for 2011. “The tanker market is now in difficult times but it doesn’t mean that other parts of the market are hurt. The rig and offshore market is on the upswing and since we cover all these markets, we are fairly well-hedged,” Thore said.
Under Ristvedt’s leadership, the firm had doubled revenue and headcount – from $59.5 million (320 million crowns) and 150 employees, to $121.7million (655 million crowns) and over 300 employees. Offices in Shanghai and Singapore have also been established during this time, complementing the office in Kobe established in 1965. “We are all very committed to our Asian strategy – having established an office in Singapore at an early stage has given us the first mover’s advantage and allowed us to be prepared for the upsurge in business currently underway in this part of the world,” Munch-Thore said.
“There is expansion potential in Asia – although Norway didn’t go into recession like the rest of Europe and therefore there is less reliance on offshore revenue – the shift in focus to Asia is something that we should not disregard,” Munch-Thore said.ALB
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