According to The Legal 500, Hong Kong’s legal market has undergone profound change over the last decade. Firms have experienced structural and cultural changes, with the value of China-facing lawyers growing considerably. Firms looking to tap into the dynamic Chinese economy and its further potential have identified language skills and a cultural affinity with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a pre-requisite.[1]
In Hong Kong, a healthy flow of M&A, IPO and other transactional work is creating more work for the legal industry, causing many firms to beef up their corporate and capital markets practices.[2]
With a fully functional Competition Law just around the corner, some firms have started to form new or bolster existing antitrust practices through partner relocations and lateral hires.
This article contains a list of 57 largest domestic and international law firms which own at least one office situated in Hong Kong.[3] There are approximately 2875 qualified lawyers, comprising 766 partners and 1848 associates, working across these top 30 domestic and international law firms in Hong Kong.[3] Note that below is a ranking of law firms in Hong Kong by number of registered lawyers but not revenue.
| Rank | Name | Headquarter(s) | Number of Partners | Number of Consultants & Associates | Number of Registered Foreign Lawyers | Number of Registered Lawyers | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | King & Wood Mallesons |  Hong Kong China Australia
|
33 | 137 | 61 | 231 | International |
| 2 | Deacons | Hong Kong
|
55 | 129 | 14 | 198 | Domestic |
| 3 | Linklaters |  United Kingdom
|
29 | 89 | 50 | 168 | Magic Circle |
| 4 | Mayer Brown |  United States
|
62 | 96 | 10 | 168 | White-shoe firm |
| 4 | Baker McKenzie | United States
|
43 | 92 | 33 | 168 | International |
| 6 | Clifford Chance | United Kingdom
|
37 | 90 | 35 | 162 | Magic Circle |
| 7 | Allen & Overy | United Kingdom
|
24 | 69 | 17 | 110 | Magic Circle |
| 8 | DLA Piper | United Kingdom United States
|
28 | 54 | 16 | 98 | International |
| 9 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | United Kingdom
|
25 | 46 | 24 | 95 | Magic Circle |
| 10 | Herbert Smith Freehills | United Kingdom Australia
|
18 | 55 | 17 | 90 | Silver Circle |
| 10 | Fangda Partners | China
|
17 | 43 | 30 | 90 | Multinational |
| 12 | Latham & Watkins | United States
|
16 | 39 | 32 | 87 | U.S. Vault V-5[4] |
| 13 | Kirkland & Ellis | United States
|
32 | 16 | 37 | 85 | U.S. Vault V-10[5] |
| 14 | Sidley Austin | United States
|
14 | 39 | 31 | 84 | U.S. White Shoe |
| 15 | Li & Partners | Hong Kong
|
9 | 56 | 14 | 79 | Domestic |
| 16 | Woo, Kwan, Lee & Lo | Hong Kong
|
26 | 50 | 1 | 77 | Domestic |
| 17 | Howse Williams | Hong Kong China
|
31 | 43 | 1 | 75 | Domestic |
| 18 | Reed Smith Richards Butler | United States
|
24 | 42 | 7 | 73 | International |
| 19 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom | United States
|
9 | 33 | 26 | 68 | U.S. White Shoe U.S. Vault V-5[6] |
| 20 | Ashurst | United Kingdom
|
19 | 37 | 9 | 65 | Silver Circle |
| 20 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | United States
|
7 | 33 | 25 | 65 | U.S. White Shoe U.S. Vault V-10[7] |
| 22 | Slaughter & May | United Kingdom
|
12 | 39 | 12 | 63 | Magic Circle |
| 23 | Norton Rose Fulbright | United Kingdom United States
|
15 | 35 | 9 | 59 | International |
| 24 | Stephenson Harwood | United Kingdom
|
21 | 33 | 3 | 57 | International |
| 24 | Zhong Lun | China
|
15 | 31 | 11 | 57 | Multinational |
| 26 | Stevenson, Wong & Co | Hong Kong
|
14 | 36 | 6 | 56 | Domestic |
| 26 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | United States
|
12 | 22 | 22 | 56 | International |
| 28 | White & Case | United States
|
14 | 21 | 20 | 55 | International |
| 29 | Holman Fenwick Willan | United Kingdom
|
16 | 31 | 6 | 53 | International |
| 30 | Eversheds Sutherland | United Kingdom
|
14 | 29 | 9 | 52 | International |
| 30 | PC Woo & Co | Hong Kong
|
12 | 37 | 3 | 52 | Domestic |
| 32 | DeHeng Law Offices | China
|
14 | 22 | 15 | 51 | Multinational |
| 33 | MinterEllison | Australia
|
22 | 28 | 0 | 50 | International |
| 34 | Gallant | Hong Kong
|
17 | 31 | 1 | 49 | Domestic |
| 35 | Jun He Law Offices | China
|
16 | 19 | 12 | 47 | Multinational |
| 35 | Bird & Bird | United Kingdom
|
15 | 26 | 6 | 47 | International |
| 35 | Hogan Lovells | United Kingdom United States
|
14 | 29 | 4 | 47 | International |
| 35 | Simmons & Simmons | United Kingdom
|
11 | 29 | 7 | 47 | International |
| 39 | KB Chau & Co | Hong Kong
|
6 | 38 | 2 | 46 | Domestic |
| 40 | Oldham, Li & Nie | Hong Kong China
|
15 | 23 | 6 | 44 | Domestic |
| 40 | Lau, Horton & Wise | Hong Kong Germany
|
11 | 24 | 9 | 44 | Domestic |
| 42 | Haldanes | Hong Kong
|
21 | 22 | 0 | 43 | Domestic |
| 42 | Morrison & Foerster | United States
|
6 | 22 | 15 | 43 | International |
| 44 | Tanner De Witt | Hong Kong
|
17 | 24 | 1 | 42 | Domestic |
| 44 | ONC Lawyers | Hong Kong
|
16 | 24 | 2 | 42 | Domestic |
| 44 | Hastings & Co | Hong Kong
|
14 | 27 | 1 | 42 | Domestic |
| 44 | Kennedys | United Kingdom
|
13 | 29 | 0 | 42 | International |
| 44 | Iu, Lai & Li | Hong Kong
|
13 | 27 | 2 | 42 | Domestic |
| 44 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | United States
|
12 | 17 | 13 | 42 | International |
| 44 | So, Lung & Associates, Solicitors | Hong Kong
|
6 | 36 | 0 | 42 | Domestic |
| 51 | Nixon Peabody | United States China
|
14 | 22 | 4 | 40 | International |
| 51 | Withers | United Kingdom
|
13 | 19 | 8 | 40 | International |
| 51 | Dentons | China United States
|
9 | 26 | 5 | 40 | Multinational |
| 54 | Clyde & Co | United Kingdom
|
14 | 24 | 0 | 38 | International |
| 54 | Morgan, Lewis & Bockius | United States
|
9 | 16 | 13 | 38 | International |
| 56 | Loeb & Loeb | United States
|
9 | 16 | 12 | 37 | International |
| 56 | Sullivan & Cromwell | United States
|
6 | 21 | 10 | 37 | International |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "The Legal 500". © 2016 www.legal500.com.
- ^ "Asian Legal Business Report 2015". Asian Legal Business. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ a b "ALB Asia Top 50 2018: Another Year of Growth and Expansion". Dec 12, 2018.
- ^ "Top Law Firm Rankings|Vault.com". Vault. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
- ^ "Top Law Firm Rankings|Vault.com". Vault. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
- ^ "Top Law Firm Rankings|Vault.com". Vault. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
- ^ "Top Law Firm Rankings|Vault.com". Vault. Retrieved 2019-08-04.