For many newly promoted partners in Asia, the hardest shift isn’t technical — it’s commercial. The leap from doing work to winning work is where the real differentiation happens.
Next-gen partners also have to deal with a disruptive and fast-changing environment: Clients are more discerning (they do their own research on law firms); pricing pressure continues relentlessly (partners must know how to navigate such conversations); the pervasiveness of technology (lawyers who use them will be more successful that those who do not).
7 Practical steps to win work
Here are 7 practical steps to win more work as a next-gen partner in Asia:
1. Define your specialty (Position narrowly and be relevant)
In a crowded market, lawyers need to know who they are targeting and why. It pays to be relevant to your clients. GCs buy specific competence for a specific situation.
2. Build a relationship ecosystem (It’s got to work like clockwork)
Asian business is relationship-first and sometimes hierarchical. Referrals still play very strong part. Invest time to nurture these relationships. Buyers need a strategic partner for their business and will ask if you can protect their reputation, their company, in a timely manner.
3. Maximise the value of your content (It’s not just visibility)
Legal knowledge must be relevant, timely, available on the right platform and reach your target audience. Use social media channels, email marketing, and targeted knowledge seminars to offer practical in-depth legal updates. Maximise the value of your content. Buyers use content to assess competence and worldview.
4. Master the Pricing Conversation
Know your value. Dealing with pricing doesn’t always mean giving discounts. There are alternative fee arrangements, eg, capped fees, retainers, value-based fees. Do this respectfully. Most buyers don’t choose cheap – they choose reliability and track record.
5. Collaborate Internally Before Selling Externally
Cross-sell is the fastest BD accelerator globally. Let your colleagues know your what you offer and they may recommend clients to you. Collaboration leverages collective expertise, delivers better results and improves client retention.
6. Expand Beyond Peer Networks
Most young partners’ networks in Asia are too young to buy. Partner up with a senior lawyer whom you can learn from. Buyers prefer seniority-matched counterparts.
7. Commit to the Time Horizons of BD
GCs and founders rarely switch counsel quickly. Understand the cycle – it starts with a small matter before progressing to a gradual deepening of the relationship. BD takes time and effort.
Bottom Line
Winning work as a young partner in Asia is part skill, part market fluency, part cultural literacy. Boutiques don’t have the brand, legacy, or platform advantages of global firms — which means next-gen partners aren’t just fee earners, they are the growth engine.
How Elevare Asia can help
Elevare Asia provides bespoke business development and marketing (BDM) advisory services specifically tailored for boutique and mid-sized law firms and professional services practices in Asia. We help next-gen partners bridge the gap between technical legal expertise and commercial acumen through personalized professional coaching and commercial awareness workshops.
Our team supports the entire client acquisition cycle – from building strategic roadmaps and identifying high-value targets to drafting world-class proposals and capability statements. Furthermore, we enhance your market reputation by managing legal directory submissions for rankings like Chambers and Legal 500, and by executing targeted digital communication strategies across platforms such as LinkedIn and WeChat to ensure your expertise reaches the right audience at the right time.
A cornerstone of our support is our 1-on-1 Partner Business Development Coaching Programme. Delivered with bilingual and bicultural fluency in English and Chinese, this bespoke program is specifically designed to help partners navigate the critical transition from technical “do-er” to consistent “work-finder.” Through a “Full Spectrum” approach, we provide hands-on tools such as “Pre-Meeting Intelligence Briefs,” digital profile audits, and cross-border client mapping. By bridging the gap between technical expertise and commercial acumen, we empower partners to build a sustainable relationship ecosystem that drives long-term growth.
