Legal Recruitment

Our experienced legal recruitment team work on behalf of notable law firms, financial institutions, and other commercial entities to find the highest calibre lawyers for key senior vacancies. However, unlike many of our peers, we also devote our time to offering in-depth advice and guidance to individuals on their legal careers.

Meet Our Experienced Legal Recruiters

Ben Cooper - Managing Director

Ben Cooper

Managing Partner

Ben is a Barrister of England & Wales (Middle Temple) and previously practised employment law in London, before moving into executive search. He has over a decade of experience completing search mandates for lawyers and compliance professionals on a global basis.

He has been awarded Best Recruitment Consultant in Asia-Pacific by Global Recruiter and awarded Best Legal & Compliance Headhunter in Asia-Pacific by AsiaMoney.

He moved to Hong Kong in January, 2010, and has been highly successful in the legal recruitment market since then, placing lawyers and compliance professionals from mid to senior level. He founded Ashford Benjamin Ltd, with the firm belief that the legal market in Hong Kong deserved a better, new kind of search firm.

Ben is a regular contributor to legal journals and is actively involved with furthering the legal profession in Hong Kong; being regularly invited to sit on industry discussion panels and regularly attending Hong Kong Law Society functions.

Aside from legal recruitment, Ben sits on the fund-raising committee of Liberty Asia – an anti-slavery charity, and has advised students on legal careers at Hong Kong University’s Law School.

Ben can be reached at ben.cooper@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 2315 9501.

Mohit Savalani - Partner

Mohit Savalani

Partner

Mohit has been working in the legal industry since 2010. He is renowned in the market in Asia for his in-depth knowledge of the legal sector and his thorough understanding of both his clients’ and candidates’ needs. He has successfully completed search assignments for mid-senior lawyers, including Partner and General Counsel appointments with top-tier international law firms, MNCs, fund houses, insurance companies and bulge bracket investment banks. His previous role before joining Ashford Benjamin was as the Head of Legal Search for a boutique search firm in Hong Kong.

During his tenure, his team were awarded Best Legal Recruitment Team in Hong Kong by the Recruitment International Awards in 2015 and 2016. Additionally, at the Global Recruiter Awards in 2015, Mohit was commended as a finalist for Best Recruitment Consultant in the APAC region.

Mohit was born and raised in Hong Kong and attended The University of Manchester for his further education. He has grown to be one of Hong Kong’s leading legal recruiters due to his excellent delivery and service.

Mohit can be reached at msavalani@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 2315 9507.

Michael Allen - Partner

Michael Allen

Partner

Michael specialises in the placement of legal professionals into in-house positions in banking and financial services across Asia. He has established a strong client and candidate base and has successfully placed a large number of lawyers into banks, asset management and private equity firms from Vice President to Chief Legal Officer level. Michael’s excellent relationships with the majority of senior in-house lawyers in Hong Kong, plus his personal network of top tier financial services lawyers, means the majority of his search mandates are exclusively retained.

Michael has a degree in Business, and experience working in both London and Hong Kong. He started his career in 2010 in London at a global recruitment firm across banking and alternative investments, before joining an international search firm in 2014 and moving to Hong Kong.

Michael can be reached at mallen@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 2315 9502.

Sup Iyer - Senior Consultant

Sup Iyer

Associate Director

Sup is an experienced legal search consultant in the APAC region. His in-depth understanding of the in-house and the private practice sectors has allowed him to successfully cater to the needs of clients and candidates, over a number of years in the industry.

He has successfully headhunted and placed lawyers at all levels to top-tier international law firms, financial institutions and MNCs across the APAC Region. Prior to joining Ashford Benjamin, he was a consultant at a boutique legal search firm in Hong Kong, where he was part of the team that was awarded the Best Legal Recruitment Team in Hong Kong by the Recruitment International Awards in 2015 and 2016.

Sup grew up in Hong Kong and attended Ryerson University in Canada. Since returning to Hong Kong he has gained significant knowledge and understanding of the Asian legal market, allowing him to provide excellent service and consultation to both clients and candidates.

Sup can be reached at either sup.iyer@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 2315 9511.

Louis

Louis feighan

Senior Consultant

Louis was brought up in Scotland, and has developed a strong network of lawyers across Hong Kong and Singapore, since relocating to Hong Kong. He has helped a number of these to secure roles in both Private Practice and In-House across Asia. Recent examples have been successfully placing junior to mid-level lawyers In-House with investment banks, fintech and asset managers, as well as placements into international Private Practice law firms. He specialises in the placement of Banking, Corporate, Global Markets, and Investment Funds lawyers across the APAC region.

Louis can be reached at lfeighan@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 2315 9505.

Celine He

Adrian Li

Consultant

Adrian graduated from the University of Kent in 2007 and returned to Hong Kong to start his career.

Before starting as a Legal Recruiter he held account management positions and has worked with an NGO to further animal conservation.

He works on Private Practice search mandates for lawyers across a range of PQE levels and a variety of law firms, both international and local. he listens and works hard to find a role that suits a candidate’s requirements.

Adrian can be reached at either ali@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 2315 9506.

Celine He

Celine He

Associate

Celine grew up and studied in China, the United States, Australia, and most recently Hong Kong SAR. She has been a resident of Hong Kong since she completed her Masters program in 2018.

Celine started her recruitment career at Ashford Benjamin, placing mid-level lawyers and corporate governance professionals into top tier law firms and financial institutions.

Celine focuses on search mandates for lawyers at all experience levels from multiple practice areas and jurisdictions. She provides a personalised and catered approach for all her candidates and clients based on their present and long-term needs and aspirations.

 

Celine can be reached at che@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 2315 9509.

Ashford Benjamin Ltd

Room 501, 5/F Printing House,

6 Duddell Street,

Central, Hong Kong

Email: info@ashford-benjamin.com

Office: +852 2315 9500

Ashford Benjamin

Ashford Benjamin Pte Ltd

16 Raffles Quay,
#09-01
Hong Leong Building,
Singapore 048581

Email: info@ashford-benjamin.com

Office: +65 6277 8530

Ashford Benjamin