Meet The Team
Our Staff
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 3511 6222.
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 3511 6221.
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 3511 6223.
VIVIAN CHEN
associate director
Vivian began her career in Human Resources for a top tier global financial institution, where she gained a thorough knowledge of the Financial Services industry. She decided to utilise this knowledge by moving into executive search, specialising in risk and compliance.
Vivian is highly recommended by both clients and candidates as a valuable and trustworthy partner. She has placed over 100 risk and compliance professionals into roles within financial institutions in Hong Kong, and joined Ashford Benjamin to cement its position as Hong Kong’s premier corporate governance search firm.
Vivian can be reached at vchen@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 3511 6077.
TEAGAN JONES
Head of Business Support Search
Teagan specialises in placing Marketing / Communications, HR, and Business Development professionals, across a broad range of professional services, commercial, and financial sectors.
Teagan is an experienced search consultant who blends leadership, business development and client relationship management with an unsurpassed network of candidates in the areas in which she specialises. Friendly and approachable, Teagan’s depth of sector knowledge results in an impressive track record of placing business support staff throughout the APAC region.
Teagan graduated with an LLB (Hons) in Law from The University of Warwick and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Law from The University of Hong Kong. Having grown up in Canada, Teagan studied in Switzerland, England and Beijing before settling in Hong Kong nearly 10 years ago to begin her recruitment career.
Teagan can be reached at tjones@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 3511 6093
Sup Iyer
Principal Consultant
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 3511 6078.
Suki Wong
Principal Consultant
Suki began her career in executive search in 2014, specialising in private practice (International and HK independent law firms). She has successfully headhunted and placed lawyers across different PQE and practice areas such as: corporate, litigation, finance, asset finance, employment, funds and intellectual property. She also has experience in assisting lawyers from local law firms stepping up to an international law firm, as well as advising a number of private practice lawyers on their first in-house move. Suki has built a reputation for listening closely to her candidates’ needs and giving them objective career advice, which means many of her candidates work with her exclusively.
Suki grew up in Hong Kong and moved to UK for education when she was 12. She completed her Bachelor and Masters degrees at Bangor University and Glasgow Caledonia University.
Suki can be reached at swong@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 3511 6075.
Mimi cheung
Consultant
Mimi has successfully headhunted and placed a large number of lawyers into top tier international law firms and financial institutions. Mimi takes a long-term view when giving career advice to candidates, which is invaluable when helping them to achieve their career goals. She is regarded as a genuine expert in the Hong Kong legal recruitment market, and represents highly sought-after candidates from a range of legal disciplines, in their search for private practice, and in-house opportunities.
Mimi was born and raised in Hong Kong and attended The University of Hong Kong.
Mimi can be reached at mcheung@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 3511 6092.
Louis feighan
Consultant
Louis was born in Scotland and relocated to Hong Kong in 2018.
He specialises in placing lawyers In-House and in Private Practice with a focus on Structured Products and Derivatives. Recent placements have also included Litigation, Debt Capital Markets and transactional M&A lawyers with top international law firms, global investment banks and fintech firms.
Louis has built up a strong network of candidates across the APAC region and regularly works with candidates overseas who are looking to return to Asia.
Louis can be reached at lfeighan@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 3511 6079.
Timothy Xu
Associate
Timothy was brought up and educated in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ballarat and Melbourne, returning to Hong Kong in 2018 upon completing his bachelor’s degree at Deakin University. He comes from a family of lawyers and is pursuing a part-time LLB.
Timothy focuses on completing search mandates for lawyers at all levels in Hong Kong and selected Asian jurisdictions. He prides himself on offering expert career advice, and working pro-actively on behalf of clients and candidates.
Prior to joining Ashford Benjamin, Timothy was a consultant at a global search firm, placing mid-senior professionals into a range of disciplines across Asia-Pacific.
Timothy can be reached at txu@ashford-benjamin.com or on +852 3511 6074
Testimonials
Ben is an outstanding recruitment professional par excellence. He has great experience of the region and knows the right people and the right talent for the right role. Certainly, a stand-out in the Hong Kong recruitment industry!
General Counsel
Global Asset Management Firm
Ashford Benjamin have filled a number of legal roles in our organisation in recent years, including three Executive Director level hires. They have consistently produced comprehensive shortlists for all the searches on which we have instructed them, and have succeeded in filling roles in specialist areas that are notoriously hard to fill. They are responsive, knowledgeable, and we feel confident that we have hired the best possible lawyers in the market for our team.
Managing Director
Top Tier Global Financial Institution
AB are incredibly proactive. They called me within a week of me starting my new role to find out what the hiring needs were for the team. They were the only search firm to do so. They are also consistently the firm who comes up with the best longlist of potential candidates, even for a niche area. Really recommend them.
Financial Regulatory Partner
Top Tier Global Law Firm
