Big mergers have shaken up the Asian legal scene, though their effect on the Asia 50—The Asian Lawyer’s survey of the 50 largest firms based in the region, as calculated by head count—has been more muted.
The Asia 50 actually didn’t lose any firms because of international mergers [see "On Their Home Turf"]. That’s because our methodology attributes a firm’s nationality to the jurisdiction where it has the most lawyers, rather than where its management is or where it generates the largest part of its revenue. Thus, though many will likely disagree, we label Herbert Smith Freehills as Australian, since Australia contributes the single largest number of the combined firm’s lawyers, 901 out of 2,058. Likewise, Ashurst, which combined with Blake Dawson in 2012 and now has 634 out of its 1,561 lawyers in Australia; the firm has 428 lawyers in the U.K., now its second-largest jurisdiction. Mallesons Stephen Jaques remains in the Asia 50 but has changed names and nationalities through its merger with China’s King & Wood. At the number four spot, King & Wood Mallesons is now considered to be a Chinese firm, as it has 1,217 lawyers in China and 762 in Australia.
