Meet The Team

Each of our experienced recruitment professionals boasts decades of experience within their respective sectors and will take the time to understand your needs accurately.

Our Staff

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.

Vivian

VIVIAN CHEN

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 2315 9503.

Dominic Thurmott

DOMINIC THURMOTT

DIRECTOR (SINGAPORE)

Dominic has over a decade of executive search experience in Asia, where he specialises across the placement of mid-senior Risk Management, Internal Audit and Compliance professionals for leading banks and financial institutions. 

From the UK originally, Dominic moved to Hong Kong in 2012 where he joined a global recruitment firm, before relocating to Singapore in 2017 where he has gone on to build an established network of both clients and governance professionals. Hired in 2023 to launch the Ashford Benjamin Singapore office, Dominic will continue the development of the brand as the leading Corporate Governance search firm in Asia.

Dominic can be reached at dthurmott@ashford-benjamin.com or on +65 6992 8195.

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 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 2315 9505.

Timothy

Timothy Xu

Consultant

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 2315 9512

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-benjmain.com or on +852 2315 9506.

Zoey

Zoey Chung

Consultant

Zoey specialises in business support functions for the Legal and Professional Services industries with particular expertise in Business Development, Knowledge Management, Translation, and Client Servicing roles.

She has an excellent track record in placing the right candidates from all levels for top-tier law firms in HK and globally.

Zoey can be reached at zchung@ashford-benjamin.com or +852 2315 9510

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 career in finance at a large global financial derivatives broker and has extensive hands-on experience with regulations, compliance and knowledge of the financial industry, prior to her transition into headhunting. She specialises in legal search, and provides a personalised and catered approach for all her candidates and clients.

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

Testimonials

Throughout the recruitment process we do all we can to promote and maintain a good working relationship with each of our partners, read a selection of recent testimonials and feedback from both candidates and clients.
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
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