As companies look to cope with a sluggish economy, one of the ways they are cutting legal costs is by moving away from Big Law and turning instead to smaller, nimbler law firms. Luckily for them, China has seen the rise of some quality smaller outfits that are punching well above their work potential in terms of work handled and services delivered.

For this reason, in its January 2016 issue, ALB China is spotlighting the Top 15 Firms To Watch. These are firms that are small but are already making waves, and either challenging (or with the potential to challenge) much larger law firms for their share of the work. We’re not just looking at domestic firms; smaller operations of international outfits will be considered too. Only firms with 10 or less partners across their mainland China offices will be considered.

We will combine our stock of industry knowledge with news reports, the general buzz around some firms and publicly available information to select some of the 15 – firms are still welcome to send in submissions for consideration. To submit, please use the form attached here. The deadline for submissions is Friday, Dec. 4, 2015. Please send submissions to shangjing.li@thomsonreuters.com.

报名开始：ALB 2016年精品律所看点

在疲软的经济下，企业开始寻路消减成本，而消减法律成本的方式之一就是从大型律所转向较小、较灵活的律师事务所。幸运的是，中国涌现了相当一部分拥有优质合伙人的中小型律师事务所，它们所承担的工作和提供的服务质量远远超过自身的工作潜能。

为此，ALB将目光聚焦在2016年值得关注的15个小型律师事务所。这些律所规模较小，但已在业内颇有名气，时刻挑战着大律所的市场份额。中国本土律所和国际律所中国办公室均可参选，参选律所在中国大陆区域需要有10名或小于10名合伙人数。

我们会根据数据报告、新闻报道、业内洞察、以及公开信息选取15个律师事务所，我们鼓励律所提交报名表格，帮助我们更准确地评判。请点击此处下载报名表格。报名截止日期是2015年12月4日（星期五），请将报名表于截止日期之前发送到shangjing.li@thomsonreuters.com