Skip to main content

Mayer Brown JSM won three awards at The Macallan ALB Hong Kong Law Awards 2016 on Sept. 9, including the coveted The Macallan Single Malt Scotch Whisky Award Hong Kong Law Firm of the Year accolade.

Held once again at Conrad Hong Kong, ALB’s 15th annual celebration of legal excellence in the jurisdiction was possibly the most open awards to date, with no law firm or in-house team winning in more than three categories. Mayer Brown JSM was also named as the Real Estate Law Firm of the Year and the Litigation Law Firm of the Year, to go with the top law firm award of the evening.

“We are deeply honoured to win the award”, said Terence Tung, senior partner at the firm. “On behalf of Mayer Brown JSM, I would like to thank all our clients who have placed their trust and confidence on us, all our lawyers and staff for their dedication and contribution and ALB and the panel judges for their recognition.  We are and will be committed to do our best for the profession, now and in the future!”  

ALB introduced three new awards on the night, all of which were well-received. Philana Poon, executive director, Legal & Compliance at the Hong Kong Jockey Club was named Woman Lawyer of the Year; Nima Amini, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, won Young Lawyer of the Year; and specialist criminal defence firm Morley Chow Seto, which was set up in 2014, won Rising Law Firm of the Year.

Other law firms winning key awards included Slaughter and May, which picked up Deal Firm of the Year, and Herbert Smith Freehills, named Arbitration Law Firm of the Year. On the in-house side, local conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings took home two notable awards, including the HKCCA Award Hong Kong In-House Team of the Year, and the In-House Lawyer of the Year for Edith Shih.

Simon Weller of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, named Dealmaker of the Year; and Frances Woo of Appleby, who won Managing Partner of the Year, were other individuals who stood out on the night.

The full list of winners can be found here.

Related Articles

Japan’s Nagashima Ohno to open London office

Leading Japanese law firm Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu (NO&T) has announced plans to establish its first permanent European presence with a new office in London, set to open in January 2025.

Nishimura becomes first major Japanese firm to launch HK office

by Sarah Wong, Nimitt Dixit |

Japanese Big Four firm Nishimura & Asahi has continued its aggressive international expansion with the opening of an office in Hong Kong. The office will make it the first major Japanese law firm to directly open an outpost in the Asian financial centre.

SUBMISSIONS OPEN: ALB Firms to Watch (Singapore) 2025

Submissions open for ALB Firm to Watch (Singapore) list. The list will highlight the law firms with a more compact partner structure or focused practice in the country. The list will be published in the January/February 2025 issue of ALB Asia.