Largest Law Firms December 2012 Top Largest Law Firms by Seher Hussain and Kanishk Verghese
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MYANMAR INVESTMENT: NEW LAW RAISES HOPES BUT QUESTIONS LINGER DECEMBER2012 NORTH ASIA EDITION TOP LARGEST50 LAW FIRMS CLEARING THE FRESHFIELDS Q&A ASIA CALLING INSIDE CLOUDS Key insight from Inside the booming Taiwan and China sign Freshfields’ managing telecom industry in Asia n THE BIG STORY 04 investor protection deal partner n DEALS SPOTLIGHT 06 n LEAGUE TABLES 12 n SUNDRIES 59 PAGE 32 PAGE 40 PAGE 46 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS 16 ALB TOP 50 larGEST laW FIRMS december 2012 TOP LARGEST LAW FIRMS By Seher Hussain and Kanishk Verghese Total Fee- ALB MethODOLOgy Rank Firm Headquarters Partners Associates earners^ 1 Dacheng Law Offices China 749 1428 2676 TOP 50 research EXplained: 50— 2 Beijing Yingke Law Firm China 567 1053 1820 - Firms were contacted in July 2012, 3 King & Wood Mallesons China 226 955 1181 and asked to supply numbers of 4 Grandall Law Firm China 215 580 1112 partners and lawyers across their 5 DeHeng Law Offices China 187 763 1106 operations in Asia. 6 Baker & McKenzie U.S. 247 639 1100 7 Zhong Yin Law Firm China 117 584 960 - Total fee-earners equals the universal subset of all timekeepers, 8 AllBright Law Offices China 184 671 940 including associates, partners, 9 Kim & Chang South Korea 120 N/A 800 counsel, foreign counsel (including 10 Zhong Lun Law Firm China 203 560 747 lawyers on secondment from alliance Amarchand & Mangaldas & 11 India 68 467 533 firms) and consultants. Trainees or Suresh A Shroff & Co pupils were not counted among fee- 12 Jun He Law Offices China 149 299 482 earners. 13 Nishimura & Asahi Japan 95 321 474 14 Guanghe Law Firm China 112 348 455 - In the case of international law firms, 15 Lee & Ko South Korea 128 225 436 only Asia-based partners, associates, 16 Zhonglun W&D Law Firm China 98 320 418 and fee-earners were counted. 17 Lee and Li Taiwan 53 327 380 - Where two firms have the same 18 Clifford Chance* UK 58 186 359 headcount figure, the firm with the 19 Allen & Gledhill Singapore 136 184 357 higher number of partners was ranked 20 Shin & Kim South Korea 118 159 356 higher. 21 Rajah & Tann Singapore 117 172 355 22 Linklaters UK 53 215 352 - Australia and New Zealand firms 23 Guangdong Sun Law Firm China 35 234 350 and headcounts were excluded from 24 Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu Japan 82 227 340 this ranking. 25 Anderson Mori & Tomotsune Japan 84 207 325 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM : @ALB_Magazine : Connect with Asian Legal Business ALB TOP 50 laRGEST laW FIRMS 17 hile the global economy remains stagnant, Asia con- firms in Asia. Six South Korean firms are top 50 contenders, while tinues to be the standard bearer of growth. Sure, the Japanese and Indian firms claim five spots each. Singaporean firms rumblings of an unsettled European economy and a nab four places, with one firm from both Hong Kong and Taiwan fea- flagging U.S. market have taken its toll in the East. Yet, turing in the table. International firms – mostly from the UK – account WAsia’s number of wealthy is fast increasing, its middle class is bur- for nine of the largest 50 firms in Asia. geoning, and its companies are expanding abroad. The legal market Taking a closer look, Asia’s top 50 features five Indian firms - two is capitalising on these opportunities. The past year has seen many fewer than last year - but still indicates consolidated growth as international law firms set up new offices in the region, the creation of Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co moves up one place several domestic firms, a host of mergers, and the consistent growth as the 11th largest firm in Asia with 533 fee-earners. Fox Mandal finds of existing Asian practices through lateral hires, internal promotions, itself out of the table, given its recent demerger with Little & Co, while and relocations. While many recently established Asian offices may stalwarts J Sagar Associates, Luthra & Luthra, Khaitan & Co, and AZB not boast the headcount to ensure a place in ALB’s largest law firm & Partners continue to make a strong showing. Market sources point to LARGEST tables, the message is clear that the Asian legal market is a highly corporate outsourcing as another driver of growth in the Asian market; competitive one. as multinational corporations outsource more legal work, demand for The top three largest law firms by headcount in Asia who retain legal services in low-cost locations is also spiralling upwards. Our India their spots from last year are: Chinese firms Dacheng Law Offices and table has expanded to 20 firms to match this trend. LAW Beijing Yingke Law Firm, and recently merged King & Wood Mallesons. Moving further southeast, the race to be the largest firm in Dacheng Law Offices claims pole position with 2,676 fee-earners, Singapore heats up considerably as Allen & Gledhill reclaims first boasting 800 fee-earners more than that of second-placed Beijing place from Rajah & Tann by a mere two lawyers. This year we feature a Yingke Law Firm. King & Wood Mallesons remains the third-largest separate table for international firms based in Singapore, highlighting firm in Asia, and has grown considerably following the merger be- the growing importance of the city-state to the Asian legal market. FIRMS tweenRank King & WoodFirm and Australian firmHeadquarters Mallesons StephenPartners JaquesAssociates Large internationalTotal Fee- firms continue to hungrily enter Singapore in an earners^ in March this year. attempt to expand their footprint, and align themselves with Asia’s Partly1 Dachengdue to the Law size Offices of its domesticChina market, Chinese firms749 domi- 1428high growth2676 economies. This burst of firm openings as well as a sig- nate2 the tableBeijing again Yingke this Law year, Firm representingChina 19 out of the 50567 largest 1053nificant number1820 of partner relocations for already-established teams 3 King & Wood Mallesons China 226 955 1181 has propelled explosive growth, warranting an international firms table that is hotly com- 26 TMI Associates* Japan 66 215 311 petitive, with Ashurst and Watson, Farley & 27 Mori Hamada & Matsumoto* Japan 95 189 307 Williams tied with 42 fee-earners each. 28 Yulchon South Korea 90 170 307 Finally, the highest placed international 29 Zhongcheng Renhe Law Firm China 78 275 307 firm on our list, Baker & McKenzie in the 6th position with 1,100 fee-earners, elected 68 30 Yoon & Yang* South Korea 100 154 301 lawyers this year to partnership. Of those, 31 Khaitan & Co India 58 242 300 almost half were based in Asia-Pacific. 32 Luthra & Luthra India 44 246 290 Ultimately, the numbers do not lie; it has 33 Allen & Overy* UK 46 164 287 been a prosperous year for the Asian market as demand for legal services continues at a 34 Bae, Kim & Lee* South Korea 99 157 280 furious pace, and law firms merge, expand, 35 Jingtian & Gongcheng China 85 96 279 and grow to keep up. 36 Deheng Law Firm China 37 181 277 37 DLA Piper UK/ U.S. 60 214 274 38 Jincheng Tongda & Neal China 99 217 271 39 Mayer Brown JSM U.S. 80 167 270 40 Guantao Law Firm China 65 140 268 ASIA 41 Deacons Hong Kong 51 135 268 42 WongPartnership Singapore 93 171 264 43 Beijing Grandway Law Offices China 46 214 260 Lee REUTERS/Jason 44 J Sagar Associates India 53 196 250 45 Hogan Lovells UK/ U.S. 44 204 244 46 AZB & Partners* India 19 221 240 47 Herbert Smith Freehills UK 45 192 237 48 Hylands Law Firm China 43 150 235 49 Drew & Napier Singapore 79 72 233 50 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer UK 31 N/A 233 *Information obtained from law firm website ^Total fee earners equals the universal subset of all time-keepers, including associates, partners, counsel, foreign counsel (including lawyers on secondment from alliance firms) and consultants. Trainees or pupils are not counted among fee-earners ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS 18 ALB TOP 50 laRGEST laW FIRMS DECEMBER 2012 china- china headquartered intl Total Fee- Total Rank Firm Partners Associates FEE- earners^ Rank Firm Headquarters Partners Associates earn- 1 Dacheng Law 749 1428 2676 ERS^ Offices 1 Baker & U.S. 20 74 94 2 Beijing Yingke 567 1053 1820 McKenzie Law Firm 2 Hogan UK/U.S. 11 69 80 3 Grandall Law 215 580 1112 Lovells Firm 3 Linklaters UK 10 56 72 4 DeHeng Law 187 763 1106 Offices 4 O'Melveny UK 8 39 70 & Myers 5 King & Wood 192 826 1018 Mallesons 5 DLA Piper UK/U.S. 11 57 68 6 Zhong Yin Law 117 584 960 6 Clifford UK 9 46 66 Firm Chance* 7 AllBright Law 184 671 940 7 Freshfields UK 6 N/A 60 Offices Bruckhaus Deringer 8 Zhong Lun Law 203 560 747 Firm 8 Pinsent UK 8 18 46 Masons 9 Jun He Law 149 299 482 Offices 9 Herbert UK 7 38 45 Smith 10 Guanghe Law 112 348 455 Freehills Firm 10 Allen & UK 9 22 39 11 Zhonglun W&D 98 320 418 Overy* Law Firm 11 Mayer U.S. 8 26 37 12 Guangdong Sun 35 234 350 Brown Law Firm JSM 13 Zhongcheng 78 275 307 12 Orrick, U.S. 5 16 37 Renhe Law Firm Herrington & Sutcliffe 14 Jingtian & 85 96 279 Gongcheng 13 Sidley U.S. 5 16 32 Austin 15 Deheng Law 37 181 277 Firm 14 Shearman U.S. 4 26 30 & Sterling 16 Jincheng 99 217 271 Tongda & Neal 15 Norton UK 11 15 26 Rose 17 Guantao Law 65 140 268 Lee REUTERS/Jason Firm *Information obtained from law firm website 18 Beijing 46 214 260 ^Total fee earners equals the universal subset of all time-keepers, including associates, partners, Grandway Law counsel, foreign counsel (including lawyers on secondment from alliance firms) and consultants.