From Private Practice to In-house - Making the Transition

Alice Chan, General Counsel, Pacific Century Premium Developments

Most people think that being in private practice is much more demanding or difficult than being in-house. In many ways this is true, such as routine working hours, complexity of advice given and the need to do business development and administrative work on top of billable work. Some lawyers would say that the absence of billable targets and time sheets alone makes in-house an appealing job. Having turned in-house myself four years ago, I am inclined to say that being in-house has its own set of challenges some of which may not be less demanding than in private practice. Below are some of my observations and thoughts.

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Hong Kong Management Property September 2008 Vol. 2, No. 5, Autumn 2008

Alice Chan

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Alice Chan joined Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited (PCPD) as their first General Counsel in 2004. Ms. Chan is also PCPD’s company secretary. Prior to joining PCPD Ms. Chan had been a partner of Clifford Chance, specializing in cross-border corporate finance and capital markets work, and had taught law at the University of Hong Kong. She had worked for Slaughter and May before joining Clifford Chance. Ms. Chan had been based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok and regularly acted for financial institutions and multinational companies.

Pacific Century Premium Developments

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PCPD is a property developer listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (www.pcpd.com) and currently has luxury development projects in Japan, Thailand, PRC and Hong Kong. It is principally engaged in the development of premium property and infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hong Kong Management Property September 2008 Vol. 2, No. 5, Autumn 2008