Welcome to the first edition of The Asia Desk, a new quarterly newsletter powered by Nishlis, built around a simple idea: the most interesting intelligence on Asia’s legal and business landscape doesn’t sit in law firm client alerts or press releases. It sits with the General Counsel actually in the room when the deal gets done, the regulator calls, or the board asks the hard question.
This publication exists to put that intelligence in front of the people who need it, international private practice lawyers and prospective clients across Europe and the US who want to understand what’s genuinely moving in Asia’s boardrooms and deal rooms, not the sanitised version.
In this debut issue, we had the pleasure of speaking with two leading figures in the region’s corporate counsel community. Nathalia Lossovska, Head of Legal at Willis Towers Watson and newly appointed President of the ACC’s Singapore Chapter, shared the two priorities driving her term: promoting wellness for lawyers in high-pressure roles and building genuine cross-border collaboration across the ACC’s global network. We also spoke with Visitsak Arunsuratpakdee, Head of Litigation and Regulations at True Corporation Plc and President of the Thai Corporate Counsel Association, who discussed his “Three Cs” agenda of community, collaboration and CSR, and why greater international cooperation between corporate counsel associations could transform the profession.
Alongside these conversations, we take a market-by-market look at what’s shaping legal practice on the ground across six jurisdictions. Singapore’s legal market continues to renew its position as the region’s leading hub through a layered, competitive local bar operating alongside major international platforms. Thailand is evolving from a manufacturing base into a platform for higher-value industries, even as scrutiny of nominee structures reshapes how foreign investors approach the market. Indonesia’s sheer scale, resources and ongoing regulatory formalisation make strong local insight essential for navigating projects and market entry. The Philippines’ domestic legal market shows real resilience, built on relationship-driven advisory work and a small group of elite full-service firms. Malaysia’s legal sector is internationalising quickly while remaining structurally distinct from its neighbours, with modest firm sizes despite the scale of its economy. And Vietnam continues to cement its role as Southeast Asia’s growth engine, with infrastructure, data centres and capital markets development driving demand for more sophisticated legal advice.
This newsletter is only as good as the access and honesty they’ve given us, and we don’t take that lightly. That access is largely thanks to Joe and Isaac, who’s on the ground across the region building even closer relationships and networks that make conversations like these possible. Getting GCs and private practice lawyers to speak candidly takes trust built over time, market by market, and our work doing exactly that is what will let this newsletter grow and bring Asian legal markets to global decision makers.
We look forward to building more with you.
