ALB Asia Top 50 2019: Resilience in an Uncertain Climate

Much like its preceding year, 2019 marked another tumultuous and politically charged year for Asia. Protesters marched in Indonesia following its general election; in Hong Kong, the city’s “summer of protest” has continued into autumn, and U.S.-China trade relations continue to be fraught. Throughout it, all law firms, for the most part, have succeeded in managing to keep their headcounts steady, against a backdrop of uncertainty.

INTERNATIONAL FIRMS

Overall the Asian Legal Business International Top 50 numbers show more of a picture of stability than of tumult. Despite the usual poaching, expansion of the Big Four’s legal services aggressively pushing into the market and rising alternative legal service providers, traditional law firms were able to hold their ground, and many of their staff, this year.

Once again Magic Circle firms dominated the top spots. In the international table, Baker McKenzie retained its number one spot for the second year in a row, slightly upping its head-count from last year. It was a big year for the firm, which elected its Hong Kong head as global chair, while also expanding its presence in Singapore with new hires.

Meanwhile, Linklaters shot up from third to second place, with a total lawyer headcount of 381, up from 334 last year. Allen & Overy secured fourth place, up from ﬁfth last year. This year A&O broke ground when the ﬁrm advised Hong Kong on its ﬁrst green bond issuance. Agnes Tsang in the ﬁrm’s Hong Kong ofﬁce and Alex Stathopoulos in its Singapore ofﬁce led the team.

There was also movement else-where. Mayer Brown and Ashurst both climbed in the rankings to #8 and #9 respectively. Morrison & Foerster also sailed up the table, swapping 13 for 12. The firm has continued its Asia expansion with a flurry of hires, most recently Nicholas Sheets from Kirkland & Ellis.

But some firms did drop. The biggest fall came from Norton Rose Fulbright, originally ranking eighth, now 14, meanwhile, Shearman & Sterling moved from 34 down to 36, after losing six lawyers in Asia over the year.

TOP 50 INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS These numbers pertain to the Asian offices of these firms. Australia and New Zealand not included.
2018 RANK	2019 RANK	FIRMS	HEADQUARTERS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	1	Baker McKenzie	U.S.	304	585	989
3	2	Linklaters	UK	72	276	381
2	3	Clifford Chance	UK	84	233	355
5	4	Allen & Overy	UK	65	184	320
6	5	Taylor Wessing	UK	114	163	292
7	6	DLA Piper	UK/U.S.	79	189	246
4	7	Herbert Smith Freehills	UK/Australia	72	96	242
9	8	Mayer Brown	U.S.	80	131	230
14	9	Ashurst	UK	44	160	208
10	10	Hogan Lovells	UK/U.S.	47	115	206
12	11	Stephenson Harwood	UK	59	117	199
13	12	Morrison & Foerster	U.S.	58	132	190
21	13	Withersworldwide	UK	60	103	174
8	14	Norton Rose Fulbright	UK	46	125	171
24	15	Sidley Austin	U.S.	38	58	164
11	16	Eversheds Sutherland	U.S./UK	44	71	161
19	17	White & Case	U.S.	40	97	157
15	18	Jones Day	U.S.	53	62	152
18	19	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	U.S.	44	65	147
22	20	Kirkland & Ellis	U.S.	48	62	143
16	21	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	UK	40	61	142
17	22	Latham & Watkins	U.S.	42	105	135
30	23	K&L Gates	U.S.	56	69	132
20	24	Reed Smith	U.S.	43	76	129
28	25	Bird & Bird	UK	28	84	123
29	26	HFW	UK	40	60	111
27	27	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom	U.S.	18	81	110
32	28	Davis Polk & Wardwell	U.S.	14	72	108
33	29	Simmons & Simmons	UK	51	20	98
40	30	Watson Farley & Williams	UK	17	43	93
26	31	Pinsent Masons	UK	34	58	92
35	32	CMS	UK/Germany	25	63	88
31	33	Squire Patton Boggs	U.S.	35	39	83
23	34	Clyde & Co	U.S.	42	16	81
25	35	Kennedys	UK	28	53	81
34	36	Shearman & Sterling	U.S.	22	57	79
37	37	Ropes & Gray	U.S.	22	57	79
41	38	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	U.S.	13	64	77
42	39	O'Melveny & Myers	U.S.	25	22	69
38	40	Duane Morris & Selvam	U.S.	28	30	68
36	41	Paul Hastings	U.S.	22	30	64
44	42	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	UK	22	37	59
47	43	Ince	UK	19	18	59
39	44	Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner	U.S.	15	27	55
48	45	Gibson Dunn & Crutcher	U.S.	19	28	52
45	46	Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy	U.S.	26	20	51
43	47	Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton	UK	6	38	51
46	48	Slaughter & May	UK	12	38	50
50	49	King & Spalding	U.S.	15	26	41
49	50	Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison	U.S.	7	15	38

DOMESTIC ASIAN FIRMS

The legal services market in China continues to flourish, and unsurprisingly, China law firms once again dominated the domestic table. When it comes to headcount, China firms are near impossible to rival, and with domestic clients valuing advice from legal teams with a high level of cultural literacy, firms with the scale to offer well-rounded services and the knowledge to navigate cross-jurisdiction work are thriving.

Yingke Law Firm retained its top spot once again this year with 7902 lawyers – and the Beijing firm has its eye on continued expansion. In August it reached a preliminary MoU with YKR Law to establish a new legal practice in the U.S., as its international presence swells. Yingke’s mammoth scale – boasting 64 domestic branches and providing legal services throughout 55 countries through its member firm alliance – make it a tough operation to beat. Yingke was followed by Dentons Dacheng and AllBright Law Offices with headcounts of 6254 and 2772, respectively.

Joint China-Australia head-quartered operation King & Wood Mallesons moved up the ranks from seventh position to sixth, while Beijing DHH Law Firm moved from eighth to seventh.

Several firms from other jurisdictions did make an appearance in the tables, among the top 30 were Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas of India, Rajah & Tann of Singapore and Lee & Ko of Korea.

This year also saw three new entrants to the domestic table: HanSheng Law Offices, Beijing Kangda Law Firm, and Kingsbridge Law Firm, all headquartered in China.

TOP 50 DOMESTIC LAW FIRMS
2018 RANK	2019 RANK	FIRMS	HEADQUARTERS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	1	Yingke Law Firm	China	838	7064	7902
2	2	Dentons Dacheng	China	1824	4359	6254
4	3	AllBright law Offices	China	672	2018	2772
3	4	DeHeng Law Offices	China	695	1809	2504
5	5	Grandall Law Firm	China	752	1623	2375
7	6	King & Wood Mallesons	China/Australia	380	1482	1869
8	7	Beijing DHH Law Firm	China	131	1327	1828
6	8	Zhong Yin Law Firm	China	312	1284	1596
9	9	Zhonglun W&D Law Firm	China	610	784	1394
10	10	Zhong Lun Law Firm	China	309	979	1288
11	11	Long An Law Firm	China	271	899	1277
15	12	Tahota Law Firm	China	350	857	1223
12	13	Kim & Chang	Korea	180	808	988
14	14	Hylands Law Firm	China	273	701	974
18	15	Guangdong Guanghe Law Firm	China	263	636	929
13	16	Jincheng Tongda & Neal Law Firm	China	290	618	910
NEW	17	HanSheng Law Offices	China	216	687	903
32	18	Duan & Duan Law Firm	China	230	588	900
16	19	Hiways Law Firm	China	180	572	894
NEW	20	Beijing Kangda Law Firm	China	140	729	869
17	21	TianTai Law Firm	China	268	515	796
21	22	Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas	India	130	620	750
20	23	Guantao Law Firm	China	221	515	745
30	24	Hui Ye Law Firm	China	162	556	728
22	25	Sichuan Mingju Law Firm	China	81	642	723
26	26	ETR Law Firm	China	168	543	718
19	27	JunHe LLP	China	184	511	714
23	28	Rajah & Tann	Singapore	234	451	685
45	29	Zhongwen Law Firm	China	259	374	663
24	30	Lee & Ko	Korea	215	430	645
29	31	Khaitan & Co	India	131	497	645
25	32	Bae Kim & Lee	Korea	261	383	641
40	33	China Commercial Law Firm	China	144	468	612
27	34	Nishimura & Asahi	Japan	149	403	606
31	35	Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas	India	118	476	594
49	36	Tian Yuan Law Firm	China	140	427	567
36	37	Allen & Gledhill	Singapore	182	363	549
34	38	Mori Hamada & Matsumoto	Japan	140	330	529
37	39	Anderson Mori & Tomotsune	Japan	147	267	504
48	40	TMI Associates	Japan	108	313	492
42	41	V&T Law Firm	China	202	286	489
39	42	Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu	Japan	122	289	468
38	43	Shin & Kim	Korea	194	263	465
43	44	AZB & Partners	India	104	358	462
33	45	King & Capital Law Firm	China	120	341	461
41	46	Yulchon	Korea	201	239	440
47	47	JunZeJun Law Offices	China	103	327	430
44	48	Yoon & Yang	Korea	115	308	423
46	49	East & Concord Partners	China	117	305	422
NEW	50	Kingsbridge law Firm	China	68	333	401

NORTH ASIA

Hong Kong’s international law firm’s rankings have jumped around some-what this year. King & Wood Mallesons scooped up prize position, up from second spot last year, while Mayer Brown stepped down to second spot. Linklaters stayed steady at third.

Latham & Watkins dropped to #16 from #13 the previous year, while Reed Smith moved from sixth spot to #13 after losing double-digit staff late last year – including six partners.

The Hong Kong domestic tables were steadier. Deacons, Li & Partners and Woo Kwan Lee & Lo once again rounded out the top three spots, while the rest of the submissions showed only minor movements.

In Japan, among international firms, Baker McKenzie and Morrison & Foerster towered over the competition when it came to head-count. White & Case, Clifford Chance and Linklaters were at the head of the chasing pack.

Among domestic firms, Nishimura & Asahi topped the list with Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu and Mori Hamada & Matsumoto behind it. With only 12 lawyers separating MHM and TMI Associates at #5, there is a case for Japan’s Big Four to be renamed as the Big Five.

In Korea, the six largest firms appear in three distinct clusters. Kim & Chang is in a league of its own, with a headcount of 1,000 likely soon, given its current tally.

Then come Bae Kim & Lee and Lee & Ko, each with more than 600 lawyers. Below them are Shin & Kim, Yulchon and Yoon & Yang, all within striking distance of each other.

They are followed in order by Barun Law, Jipyong, DR & Aju and Hwang Mok Park.

HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	King & Wood Mallesons	39	155	205
2	Mayer Brown	61	122	183
3	Linklaters	22	118	168
4	Baker McKenzie	50	81	159
5	Clifford Chance	41	98	153
6	Kirkland & Ellis	40	50	110
7	Allen & Overy	22	33	102
8	Herbert Smith Freehills	22	41	96
9	Sidley Austin	18	29	96
10	Stephenson Harwood	28	56	94
11	Davis Polk & Wardwell	11	59	85
12	Norton Rose Fulbright	20	59	79
13	Reed Smith	24	45	70
14	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom	10	18	70
15	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	19	42	68
16	Latham & Watkins	22	38	67
17	Ashurst	15	51	66
18	Eversheds Sutherland	18	28	62
19	Withersworldwide (formerly Withers)	16	45	62
20	DLA Piper	27	13	56

HONG KONG DOMESTIC
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Deacons	53	167	284
2	Li & Partners	9	88	97
3	Woo Kwan Lee & Lo	40	43	83
4	HWB (Howse Williams Bowers)	25	56	81
5	Stevenson, Wong & Co.	13	32	57
6	P.C. Woo & Co.	14	30	50
7	Wilkinson & Grist	25	17	49
8	ONC Lawyers	13	29	48
9	Gallant	16	17	43
10	Robertsons	14	18	37

JAPAN INTERNATIONAL
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Baker McKenzie	45	81	146
2	Morrison & Foerster	33	81	114
3	White & Case	10	23	46
4	Clifford Chance	7	28	45
5	Linklaters	9	32	42
6	Hogan Lovells	7	22	34
7	Squire Patton Boggs	12	13	33
8	Jones Day	7	8	30
9	Herbert Smith Freehills	6	23	29
10	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	8	17	25
11	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	6	12	23
12	DLA Piper	4	19	23
13	Allen & Overy	5	17	22
14	Ashurst	4	16	20
15	Withers	9	9	18
16	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	3	13	16
17	Shearman & Sterling	5	9	14
18	Sidley Austin	2	4	12
19	Latham & Watkins	6	7	10
20	Ropes & Gray	4	6	10

JAPAN DOMESTIC
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Nishimura & Asahi	133	346	528
2	Anderson Mori & Tomotsune	147	267	504
3	Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu	110	283	432
4	Mori Hamada & Matsumoto	114	248	403
5	TMI Associates	126	348	391
6	City-Yuwa Partners	58	78	158
7	Atsumi & Sakai	74	55	152
8	Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners	62	64	143
9	Kitahama Partners	35	42	89
10	Nakamura & Partners	42	35	79

SOUTH KOREA
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Kim & Chang	180	808	988
2	Bae Kim & Lee	261	383	641
3	Lee & Ko	212	417	629
4	Shin & Kim	190	253	451
5	Yulchon	199	229	428
6	Yoon & Yang	113	300	413
7	Barun Law	104	98	202
8	Jipyong	54	68	202
9	Dr & Aju	99	77	176
10	Hwang Mok Park	47	73	120

SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

In Singapore, the Big Four firms justified their nomenclature by taking the leading spots in a combined international and domestic table: Allen & Gledhill was followed by Rajah & Tann, WongPartnership and Drew & Napier, with Dentons’ Singapore office sitting just outside that group.

In India, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas ranked first once again.

This year, the firm promoted 19 lawyers to its partnership, more than 40 percent of whom were female. And while people-power is something the firm has in spades, it is also strengthening in other areas. In 2019, its newly launched legaltech startup incubator chose its first cohort, while it also established an educational programme that targets legal and business professionals, offering access to the firm’s legal knowhow.

Khaitan & Co and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas took the next two spots, consistent with last year’s numbers. AZB & Partners continued to hang onto fourth spot, while Trilegal moved up from seventh spot to fifth. J Sagar Associates and L&L Partners followed them.

In Indonesia, the top spots underwent a minor reshuffling as Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners moved up into top spot, while Assegaf Hamzah & Partners (Rajah & Tann) moved into second. Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo was in third place.

Malaysia also showed minimal movement, with Zaid Ibrahim & Co (ZICO Law) retaining the top spot. Similarly, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines maintained steady positions in 2019. While this year has proved a testing year for those working in Asia, headcounts and firms have remained resilient. Where there are challenges, many are also quick to spot opportunities, and with this comes a hunger for new skills and headcount.

INDIA
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas	130	620	750
2	Khaitan & Co	131	497	645
3	Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas	118	476	594
4	AZB & Partners	104	358	462
8	Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan	106	291	397
5	Trilegal	51	339	390
6	J. Sagar Associates	99	298	333
7	L&L Partners	72	253	325
9	Link Legal India Law Services	30	173	203
10	Kochhar & Co	46	145	191
11	Desai & Diwanji	28	162	190
12	Indus Law	41	118	159
15	Fox Mandal & Co	36	120	156
13	DSK Legal	20	130	150
14	Singh & Associates	8	142	150
16	Wadia Ghandy & Co	36	98	134
17	Economic Laws Practice	49	74	123
18	HSA Advocates	26	80	106
19	Vaish Associates	12	93	105
20	Anand and Anand	29	68	97
21	Phoenix Legal	14	64	79
22	Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe	11	65	76
23	Nishith Desai Associates	8	64	72
24	Dhir & Dhir	11	80	65
25	Singhania & Partners	15	45	60
26	Majmudar & Partners	7	49	56
27	Krishnamurthy & Co	8	47	55
28	Rajani Associates	11	26	37
29	Chadha & Chadha Intellectual Property Law Firm	10	25	35
30	Clasis Law	9	20	30

INDONESIA
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners	20	105	134
2	Assegaf Hamzah & Partners (Rajah & Tann)	25	101	126
3	Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo	7	107	115
4	Ali Budiardjo, Nugroho, Reksodiputro (ABNR)	22	89	114
5	Hanafiah Ponggawa & Partners (Dentons HPRP)	13	90	105
6	SSEK Legal Consultants	14	61	75
7	Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung	11	45	56
8	Makarim & Taira S.	10	39	51
9	Mochtar Karuwin Komar	5	45	50
10	Soemadipradja & Taher	11	35	46

MALAYSIA
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Zaid Ibrahim & Co (ZICO Law)	60	105	165
2	Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill	36	87	123
3	Skrine	48	65	116
4	Shearn Delamore	47	63	110
5	Adnan Sundra & Low	32	43	98
6	Zul Rafique & Partners	35	51	86
7	Rahmat Lim & Partners	21	62	83
8	Wong & Partners	13	63	82
9	Christopher & Lee Ong (Rajah & Tann)	27	47	74
10	Raja, Darryl & Loh	22	51	73

PHILIPPINES
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	ACCRALAW	55	109	164
2	SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan	43	72	122
3	Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura	50	37	93
4	Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia	20	54	74
5	Villaraza & Angangco	19	44	63
6	Puno & Puno Law Offices	14	45	59
7	Quisumbing Torres	21	35	56
8	Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos	30	18	51
9	Siguion Reyna Montecillo & Ongsiako	26	24	50
10	Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose	22	26	50

SINGAPORE
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Allen & Gledhill	146	244	392
2	Rajah & Tann	141	185	326
3	WongPartnership	102	222	324
4	Drew & Napier	90	111	269
5	Dentons (Singapore)	89	99	193
6	Baker Mckenzie Wong & Leow	29	79	128
7	Shook Lin & Bok	39	80	119
8	Withers Khattarwong	35	48	93
9	Eversheds Harry Elias	23	68	91
10	Clifford Chance	23	56	87
11	Linklaters	14	65	86
12	Allen & Overy	23	56	83
13	Stephenson Harwood	19	47	66
14	Norton Rose Fulbright	15	46	61
15	RHTlaw Taylor Wessing	23	23	58

THAILAND
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Weerawong C&P	12	100	112
2	Tilleke & Gibbins	24	85	109
3	Baker Mckenzie Ltd	61	31	93
4	Chandler MHM	17	37	80
5	SCL Law Group (Siam City)	10	34	59
6	Rajah & Tann Thailand	13	43	56
7	Hunton Andrews Kurth	5	22	32
8	Watson Farley & Williams	6	23	30
9	DFDL	5	25	30
10	Allen & Overy	3	22	29

VIETNAM
2019 RANK	FIRMS	TOTAL PARTNERS	TOTAL ASSOCIATES	TOTAL NO. OF LAWYERS
1	Vision & Associates	13	71	84
2	Vilaf	14	60	74
3	YKVN	11	63	74
4	LNT & Partners	8	45	55
5	Tilleke & Gibbins	5	40	45
6	Baker McKenzie (Vietnam)	8	24	38
7	Global Vietnam Lawyers	8	15	38
8	RHTLaw Taylor Wessing Vietnam	6	27	33
9	DFDL	5	17	22
10	ZICO Law	4	15	19

To contact the editorial team, please email ALBEditor@thomsonreuters.com.

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