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. Note that below is a ranking of law firms in Hong Kong by number of registered lawyers but not revenue.
See also: List of largest law firms by 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 | 33 | 137 | 61 | 231 | International | ||
| 2 | Deacons | 55 | 129 | 14 | 198 | Domestic | ||
| 3 | Linklaters | 29 | 89 | 50 | 168 | Magic Circle | ||
| 4 | Mayer Brown | 62 | 96 | 10 | 168 | White-shoe firm | ||
| 4 | Baker McKenzie | 43 | 92 | 33 | 168 | International | ||
| 6 | Clifford Chance | 37 | 90 | 35 | 162 | Magic Circle | ||
| 7 | Allen & Overy | 24 | 69 | 17 | 110 | Magic Circle | ||
| 8 | DLA Piper Hong Kong | 28 | 54 | 16 | 98 | International | ||
| 9 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | 25 | 46 | 24 | 95 | Magic Circle | ||
| 10 | Herbert Smith Freehills | 18 | 55 | 17 | 90 | Silver Circle | ||
| 10 | Fangda Partners | 17 | 43 | 30 | 90 | Multinational | ||
| 12 | Latham & Watkins LLP | 16 | 39 | 32 | 87 | U.S. Vault V-5[4] | ||
| 13 | Kirkland & Ellis | 32 | 16 | 37 | 85 | U.S. Vault V-10[5] | ||
| 14 | Sidley Austin | 14 | 39 | 31 | 84 | U.S. White Shoe | ||
| 15 | Li & Partners | 9 | 56 | 14 | 79 | Domestic | ||
| 16 | Woo, Kwan, Lee & Lo | 26 | 50 | 1 | 77 | Domestic | ||
| 17 | Howse Williams | 31 | 43 | 1 | 75 | Domestic | ||
| 18 | Reed Smith Richards Butler LLP | 24 | 42 | 7 | 73 | International | ||
| 19 | 9 | 33 | 26 | 68 | U.S. White Shoe U.S. Vault V-5[6] | |||
| 20 | Ashurst Hong Kong | 19 | 37 | 9 | 65 | Silver Circle | ||
| 20 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 7 | 33 | 25 | 65 | U.S. White Shoe U.S. Vault V-10[7] | ||
| 22 | Slaughter and May | 12 | 39 | 12 | 63 | Magic Circle | ||
| 23 | Norton Rose Fulbright Hong Kong | 15 | 35 | 9 | 59 | International | ||
| 24 | Stephenson Harwood | 21 | 33 | 3 | 57 | International | ||
| 24 | Zhong Lun Law Firm LLP | 15 | 31 | 11 | 57 | Multinational | ||
| 26 | Stevenson, Wong & Co. | 14 | 36 | 6 | 56 | Domestic | ||
| 26 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 12 | 22 | 22 | 56 | International | ||
| 28 | White & Case | 14 | 21 | 20 | 55 | International | ||
| 29 | Holman Fenwick Willan | 16 | 31 | 6 | 53 | International | ||
| 30 | Eversheds Sutherland | 14 | 29 | 9 | 52 | International | ||
| 30 | P.C. Woo & Co. | 12 | 37 | 3 | 52 | Domestic | ||
| 32 | DeHeng Law Offices (Hong Kong) LLP | 14 | 22 | 15 | 51 | Multinational | ||
| 33 | MinterEllison LLP | 22 | 28 | 0 | 50 | International | ||
| 34 | Gallant | 17 | 31 | 1 | 49 | Domestic | ||
| 35 | Jun He Law Offices | 16 | 19 | 12 | 47 | Multinational | ||
| 35 | Bird & Bird | 15 | 26 | 6 | 47 | International | ||
| 35 | Hogan Lovells | 14 | 29 | 4 | 47 | International | ||
| 35 | Simmons & Simmons | 11 | 29 | 7 | 47 | International | ||
| 39 | K. B. Chau & Co. | 6 | 38 | 2 | 46 | Domestic | ||
| 40 | Oldham, Li & Nie | 15 | 23 | 6 | 44 | Domestic | ||
| 40 | Lau, Horton & Wise LLP | 11 | 24 | 9 | 44 | Domestic | ||
| 42 | Haldanes | 21 | 22 | 0 | 43 | Domestic | ||
| 42 | Morrison & Foerster | 6 | 22 | 15 | 43 | International | ||
| 44 | Tanner De Witt | 17 | 24 | 1 | 42 | Domestic | ||
| 44 | ONC Lawyers | 16 | 24 | 2 | 42 | Domestic | ||
| 44 | Hastings & Co. | 14 | 27 | 1 | 42 | Domestic | ||
| 44 | Kennedys | 13 | 29 | 0 | 42 | International | ||
| 44 | Iu, Lai & Li | 13 | 27 | 2 | 42 | Domestic | ||
| 44 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | 12 | 17 | 13 | 42 | International | ||
| 44 | So, Lung & Associates, Solicitors | 6 | 36 | 0 | 42 | Domestic | ||
| 51 | Nixon Peabody CWL | 14 | 22 | 4 | 40 | International | ||
| 51 | Withers | 13 | 19 | 8 | 40 | International | ||
| 51 | Dentons Hong Kong LLP | 9 | 26 | 5 | 40 | Multinational | ||
| 54 | Clyde & Co. | 14 | 24 | 0 | 38 | International | ||
| 54 | Morgan, Lewis & Bockius | 9 | 16 | 13 | 38 | International | ||
| 56 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 9 | 16 | 12 | 37 | International | ||
| 56 | Sullivan & Cromwell (Hong Kong) LLP | 6 | 21 | 10 | 37 | International |