Hong Kong’s emergence as Asia’s preeminent financial center has drawn the big-name firms from London, New York and elsewhere in droves. To date, however, it has proved somewhat less of spur to the expansion of homegrown firms.
In 2008 Johnson Stokes & Master, the biggest Hong Kong firm, merged with U.S. giant Mayer Brown, joining a host of smaller firms that combined with international players. The disappearance of JSM as a stand-alone firm left 200-lawyer Deacons as the only large independent firm left in Hong Kong.
