Asia's Top Largest Law Firms
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ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS 32 COVER STORY NOVEMBER 2015 TOP 50 INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS 2015 FROM TOTAL NO. FIRM HEADQUARTERS PARTNERS ASSOCIATES RANK 2014 OF LAWYERS* 1 = Baker & McKenzie U.S. 296 557 931 ASIA'S TOP 2 = Clifford Chance UK 79 228 409 3 = Linklaters UK 55 285 340 4 +3 Mayer Brown U.S. 80 180 260 5 +1 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer UK 37 N/A 250 6 -1 Allen & Overy UK 49 125 234 7 +2 Herbert Smith Freehills UK/Australia 50 167 232 8 -4 DLA Piper UK/U.S. 56 168 224 9 -1 Hogan Lovells UK/U.S. 53 165 218 10 +2 Jones Day U.S. 68 92 191 11 -1 Norton Rose Fulbright UK 62 126 188 12 -1 Morrion & Foerster U.S. 59 79 173 13 = Ashurst UK 35 107 148 14 +1 White & Case U.S. 44 85 139 15 -1 Sidley Austin U.S. 37 80 138 16 = Reed Smith U.S. 41 65 133 17 = Taylor Wessing UK 38 74 119 18 +14 Clyde & Co UK 31 63 119 19 = Pinsent Masons UK 28 89 117 20 +3 Latham & Watkins U.S. 29 76 105 21 -1 K&L Gates U.S. 44 53 101 22 -4 Davis Polk & Wardwell U.S. 12 82 100 23 +5 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom U.S. 20 58 97 LARGEST 24 NEW Morgan Lewis & Bockius U.S. 27 61 94 25 -4 Stephenson Harwood UK 27 62 89 26 +13 Simmons & Simmons UK 29 53 88 27 -2 Bird & Bird UK 27 59 88 LAW FIRMS 28 +2 Watson, Farley & Williams UK 23 63 88 29 -4 Holman Fenwick Willan UK 29 58 87 30 -8 Shearman & Sterling U.S. 23 60 84 OUR RESEARCH 31 = Squire Patton Boggs U.S. 27 47 83 32 -5 Kirkland & Ellis U.S. 33 42 82 • Firms were contacted in September 33 -9 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe U.S. 23 50 78 2015 and asked to provide partner 34 = Ropes & Gray U.S. 25 50 75 and lawyer numbers across their Asian 35 -2 Paul Hastings U.S. 27 31 73 offices as of Sept. 1, 2015. • ‘Total No. of Lawyers’ refers to the 36 +1 Eversheds UK 22 38 65 total number of partners, associates, 37 -2 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett U.S. 15 48 65 counsel, consultants and foreign counsel. 38 +2 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton U.S. 10 50 63 Paralegals, trainees and pupils were not 39 NEW Dentons N/A 12 27 58 included in this figure. • In the instance where a firm did not 40 -4 O'Melveny & Myers U.S. 15 22 57 make a submission, figures were 41 = Slaughter and May UK 13 >40 >53 obtained either from the firm’s website, 42 = Ince & Co UK 16 26 51 an official Law Society resource, or from 43 +3 Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy U.S. 13 35 51 last year’s submission. 44 -6 Duane Morris & Selvam U.S. 18 19 44 • The research did not include Australia and New Zealand. Only lawyers and 45 -1 Berwin Leighton Paisner UK 16 26 42 partners based in Asia were taken into 46 NEW Winston & Strawn U.S. 17 14 39 account for this research. 47 +1 Minter Ellison Australia 14 N/A >37 • In the instance where two firms had the 48 -1 Sullivan & Cromwell U.S. 8 26 37 same number of total lawyers, the firm with the greater number of partners 49 NEW Troutman Sanders U.S. 9 27 36 was ranked higher. 50 -1 Weil, Gotshal & Manges U.S. 10 16 32 NOTE: In the instance where a law firm did not make a submission, figures were obtained either from the firm’s website, an official Law Society resource, or from last year’s submission. WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM : @ALB_Magazine : Connect with Asian Legal Business COVER STORY 33 As the global economy continues its steady TOP 50 ASIAN LAW FIRMS recovery, Asia is fast becoming the epi- 2015 FROM TOTAL NO. centre of growth. Asian companies are FIRM HEADQUARTERS PARTNERS ASSOCIATES RANK 2014 OF LAWYERS* ramping up their outbound activity, and 1 +1 Dacheng Law Offices China 1197 1015 4311 a number of initiatives like the ASEAN 2 -1 Beijing Yingke Law Firm China 1056 2164 3220 Economic Community and the One Belt, 3 = Zhong Yin Law Firm China 222 999 1221 One Road project are in motion, with the 4 +3 Kim & Chang South Korea 120 N/A >1,200 goal of boosting economic cooperation 5 +1 DeHeng Law Offices China 373 485 1182 and connectivity in the region. According 6 +3 AllBright Law Offices China 307 777 1084 to Thomson Reuters data, announced M&A 7 -2 Grandall Law Firm China 280 720 1000 activity with any Asian involvement (ex- 8 = Zhong Lun Law Firm China 220 780 1000 cluding Japan) in the first nine months of 2015 reached an all-time high of $829.7 9 -5 King & Wood Mallesons China/Australia 274 213 696 billion, a whopping 61 percent jump over 10 +8 Guanghe Law Firm China 141 256 645 the $515.2 billion in that period last year. 11 = Long An Law Firm China 202 413 615 Asia’s growth is certainly creating busi- 12 NEW Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas India 90 463 605 ness opportunities and stimulating demand 13 NEW Tian Yuan Law Firm China 78 >500 >578 for legal services in the region. The past 14 -1 Nishimura & Asahi Japan 102 363 522 12 months alone have seen a wave of law 15 = Lee & Ko South Korea 143 367 510 firm mergers and alliances, new office 16 +3 Beijing DHH Law Firm China 70 64 471 openings, and the expansion of existing 17 = Tahota Law Firm China 81 387 468 Asian offices through lateral hires, internal 18 +3 Lee and Li Taiwan 60 384 444 promotions and relocations. These trends 19 +1 Rajah & Tann Singapore 173 257 430 are reflected in our domestic and interna- 20 -4 Bae, Kim & Lee South Korea 170 254 424 tional firm tables featured in this report. 21 NEW Sichuan Mingju Law Firm China 52 369 421 For the second year running, in order to 22 +3 Khaitan & Co India 101 314 415 widen the scope of the research and offer a more comprehensive overview of the 23 +5 Guantao Law Firm China 92 315 414 legal market in Asia, ALB has separated 24 -10 Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm China 207 196 403 Asia’s Top 50 Largest Law Firms list into 25 -3 Shin & Kim South Korea 153 197 391 two tables: “Top 50 International Firms” 26 +7 Anderson Mori & Tomotsune Japan 117 215 380 and “Top 50 Asian Firms”. 27 -4 Yulchon South Korea 132 182 378 28 NEW Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co India 70 289 370 29 -2 Allen & Gledhill Singapore 143 222 367 30 -4 Mori Hamada & Matsumoto Japan 100 263 363 ASIA'S TOP 50 31 +8 Fangda Partners China 63 294 357 32 -20 JunHe China 186 150 353 While the past 12 months have seen some 33 -9 TMI Associates Japan 71 282 353 international firms scale back operations – 34 -2 Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu Japan 93 209 343 and in a few cases, pull out of Asia entirely 35 +12 Jincheng Tongda & Neal China 126 213 339 – the majority of firms continue to invest 36 +7 AZB & Partners India 60 260 320 heavily in their Asian operations. Several 37 -7 Yoon & Yang South Korea 115 165 315 international law firms have strengthened their Asian presence, expanding out of 38 -2 WongPartnership Singapore 103 206 309 the financial centres of Hong Kong and 39 -5 J. Sagar Associates India 75 211 306 Singapore, and into jurisdictions like Japan, 40 NEW King & Capital China 97 58 300 Korea and Indonesia. 41 -4 Jingtian & Gongcheng China 83 208 291 U.S. law firms account for 27 of the 50 42 +2 Hylands Law Firm China 70 200 280 largest international firms in Asia, though 43 -1 Global Law Office China 60 220 280 only three feature in the top ten. Meanwhile, 44 -6 Drew & Napier Singapore 87 122 278 UK firms make up 18 of the 50 largest 45 -16 Luthra & Luthra India 54 220 274 international firms in Asia, with four in 46 -6 ZICOlaw Malaysia 69 200 273 the top ten. Firms with joint headquarters 47 NEW Jointide Law Firm China 121 79 266 like DLA Piper (UK/U.S.), Hogan Lovells 48 NEW Gaopeng & Partners China 65 155 220 (UK/U.S.) and Herbert Smith Freehills (UK/ 49 -8 Deacons Hong Kong 52 148 213 Australia) also feature in the top ten. With 50 NEW Zhongzi Law Office China 41 167 208 931 lawyers, Baker & McKenzie takes the crown for the second year running as the *Total No. of lawyers is the total number of partners and associates, as well as other counsel, consultants and foreign counsel. Paralegals, trainees and pupils ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS 34 COVER STORY NOVEMBER 2015 CHINA DOMESTIC CHINA INTERNATIONAL 2015 FROM TOTAL NO. 2015 FROM TOTAL NO. FIRM PARTNERS ASSOCIATES FIRM PARTNERS ASSOCIATES RANK 2014 OF LAWYERS* RANK 2014 OF LAWYERS* 1 +1 Dacheng Law Offices 1197 1015 4311 1 +3 Clifford Chance 11 36 88 2 -1 Beijing Yingke Law Firm 1053 2150 3203 2 -1 Baker & McKenzie 20 53 82 Freshfields Bruckhaus 3 = Zhong Yin Law Firm 222 999 1221 3 +2 5 N/A >60 Deringer 4 +1 DeHeng Law Offices 373 485 1182 4 -2 Hogan Lovells 13 47 60 5 +3 AllBright Law Offices 306 776 1082 5 +1 Linklaters 9 32 47 6 +1 Zhong Lun Law Firm 220 780 1000 6 -3 DLA Piper 7 40 47 7 -3 Grandall Law Firm 276 718 994 7 = Pinsent Masons 8 37 45 8 +5 Guanghe Law Firm 141 256 645 8 +4 Jones Day 20 17 39 9 = Long An Law Firm 202 413 615 9 = Mayer Brown JSM 8 30 38 10 NEW Tian Yuan Law Firm 78 >500 >578 10 NEW Clyde & Co 7 17 34 11 -5 King & Wood Mallesons 245 138 550 11 NEW Dentons 5 21 31 12 -1 Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm 207 196 403 12 -2 Herbert Smith Freehills 6 23 29 13 +1 Beijing DHH Law Firm 70 64 471 13 NEW Simmons & Simmons 7 14 27 14 -2 Tahota Law Firm 81 383 464 14 = Norton Rose Fulbright 10 16 26 15 NEW Sichuan Mingju Law Firm 52 369 421 15 +7 Reed Smith 6 7 26 16 -1 Guantao Law Firm 87 305 397 16 -5 Allen & Overy 8 14 25 17 -7 JunHe 186 150 353 17 -9 CMS, China 5 20 25 18 +5 Jincheng Tongda & Neal 126 213 339 18 -3 Sidley Austin 7 13 24 19 = Fangda Partners 59 268 327 19 -2 White & Case 4 15 22 20 NEW King & Capital 97 58 300 Orrick, Herrington & 20 NEW 6 9 20 Sutcliffe 21 -3 Jingtian & Gongcheng 82 208 290 21 -5 Taylor Wessing 4 16 20 22 -2 Global Law Office 60 220 280 22 -9 O'Melveny & Myers 7 4 19 23 -2 Hylands Law Firm 68 200 278 23 -3 Gide Loyrette Nouel 4 15 19 24 NEW Jointide Law Firm 121 79 266 24 -1 K&L Gates 7 10 18 25 NEW Gaopeng & Partners 65 155 220 25 NEW Bird & Bird 5 13 18 26 NEW Zhongzi Law Office 41 167 208 27 -5 Tenet & Partners 65 47 178 28 -3 Boss & Young 66 104 170 29 NEW Han Kun Law Offices 34 116 162 30 NEW Watson & Band Law Offices 33 108 159 largest international firm by headcount also features in the table this year at #39, in Asia.