A 2005 study by Laurence Simons [www.laurencesimons.com] draws on compensation data from 9,000 legal professionals and more than 50 multinationals in 16 countries.
The executive search firm published base salary data in U.S. dollars for six Asian countries. The only size category with full data consisted of departments with 1-5 lawyers. Note the astonishing inequality, based on the mid-point of the base salary ranges given.
Hong Kong $255,000
Singapore $187,000
Japan $142,000
Australia $143,000
China $ 89,000
India $ 39,000
If the quality of work has anything close to a match, no wonder the prospects of using low-cost offshore lawyers loom large.