ALB Asia Top 50 2021 | Asian Legal Business

The year 2021 was undoubtedly tough for law firms, but with vaccinations on the rise and border restrictions loosening, there is hope on the horizon. As firms attempt a return to normalcy, they find the needle has shifted when it comes to the expectations of lawyers. As a result, firms are increasingly looking inward, carefully considering their needs, and how to ensure they can retain the talent they seek.

As December draws near, law firms can breathe a sigh of relief that they made it through yet another pandemic-impacted year. Far from just weathering the storm and uncertainty, a number of firms have grown, expanded and entered into new practice areas. In many cases, to do this, they’ve had to add headcount. While hires still make headlines, the global conversation has increasingly turned to that of retention, and how to keep lawyers, especially younger hires, engaged and supported.

Office culture and work-life balance are scrutinised more than ever before, and law firms are among those to closely examine their hiring needs and retention strategy during these uncertain times.

For Helmsman, which has a presence in both Singapore and Hong Kong, hiring is all about fit. Ian Teo, managing director, and Maureen Poh, director, that believe in order to make a successful hire, they need to spend time getting to know the candidate.

“We rather take the time to learn about the candidate because there are attributes such as critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving which are really important to us,” Teo and Poh say, noting these attributes may not be visible on a CV.

Hiring carefully and looking beyond the critical hard skills remain important for Helmsman, which looks for character, longevity in previous roles, understanding of the law, and interests beyond being a lawyer.

“We consider many attributes because we are not just hiring another lawyer but rather bringing in new permanent members into our professional family. Finding the right fit ensures we have a strong and supportive network to drive the firm collectively in the long term. This is more sustainable than finding quick fixes for our firm,” they say.

Meanwhile, Bazul Ashhab, managing partner of Oon & Bazul, which has offices in Singapore and Malaysia, says diversity is a key element of the firm’s hiring strategy.

“I believe differences are to be celebrated. From experience, it is a great driver for change and a great contributor to solutions. We recently hired three ex-Magic Circle lawyers and one former Big Four lawyer in our firm. They bring into the practice their rich experience, which we integrate into the firms’ best practice guide,” Bazul says.

Aside from legal backgrounds, Bazul looks also for “those who can lead by inspiring others. They are those who enjoy their practice so thoroughly and find that it is a meaningful way to earn a living. This has a ripple effect and generates a positive vibe in and around the firm. I also hire business professionals who are passionate and entrepreneurial in their outlook, who work hand in hand with the legal professionals to bring the practice to greater heights,” he says.

Bazul says he has “an amazing team of lawyers and business professionals,” considering them “not just colleagues but friends.”

During the pandemic, this has only grown more important. “The trust I have placed in them, and them in me, has not been shaken and in fact, has strengthened.“

“The team has demonstrated great adaptability and has responded innovatively to the pandemic to avert crisis,” he says.

Looking further into the future, Bazul remains “deeply confident” the world economy will spring back, and new opportunities will continue to appear.

“The pandemic has created hiring opportunities. The opportunity in the firm for those in their mid-careers to explore their full potential both in lawyering and entrepreneurial skills is attracting top talent. The commercial fallout arising from the pandemic has increased the workflow for the firm and created opportunities to hire,” he says.

THE LIST

ALB TOP 50 FIRMS (INTERNATIONAL)
2021 Ranking	Firms	Headquarters	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Baker McKenzie	U.S.	303	498	911
2	Linklaters	UK	70	272	375
3	Clifford Chance	UK	68	222	338
4	Allen & Overy	UK	69	183	305
5	Mayer Brown	U.S.	86	143	241
6	Herbert Smith Freehills	UK/Australia	78	92	241
7	DLA Piper	UK/U.S.	59	64	227
8	Morrison & Foerster	U.S.	62	125	189
9	White & Case	U.S.	56	131	187
10	Withersworldwide	UK	66	114	180
11	Norton Rose Fulbright	UK	65	98	180
12	Stephenson Harwood	UK	59	79	166
13	Ashurst	UK	52	114	163
14	K&L Gates	U.S.	64	75	157
15	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	UK	41	86	146
16	Hogan Lovells	UK/U.S.	42	65	134
17	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	U.S.	39	90	132
18	Latham & Watkins	U.S.	45	71	128
19	Kennedys	UK	35	88	123
20	Reed Smith	U.S.	43	72	121
21	Bird & Bird	UK	31	88	119
22	Sidley Austin	U.S.	23	10	117
23	Kirkland & Ellis	U.S.	31	67	116
24	Jones Day	U.S.	49	55	104
25	HFW	UK	37	59	102
26	Clyde & Co	UK	26	38	99
27	CMS	UK/Germany	28	62	93
28	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	U.S.	17	73	90
29	Watson Farley & Williams	UK	22	34	87
30	Pinsent Masons	UK	29	54	83
31	Davis Polk & Wardwell	U.S.	19	49	81
32	Ropes & Gray	U.S.	21	47	79
33	Paul Hastings	U.S.	20	59	79
34	Shearman & Sterling	U.S.	18	59	77
35	O'Melveny & Myers	U.S.	25	25	76
36	Simmons & Simmons	UK	31	44	75
37	Ince	UK	13	23	74
38	Squire Patton Boggs	U.S.	37	31	73
39	Duane Morris & Selvam	U.S.	10	32	65
40	Slaughter & May	UK	14	35	53
41	Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton	U.S.	5	29	53
42	Gibson Dunn & Crutcher	U.S.	19	28	52
43	Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner	U.S.	13	12	50
44	Milbank	U.S.	13	30	48
45	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	UK	16	11	46
46	Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati	U.S.	5	22	45
47	Cooley	U.S.	10	31	41
48	King & Spalding	U.S.	13	22	36
49	Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison	U.S.	7	19	34
50	Taylor Wessing	UK	17	10	31

ALB TOP 50 FIRMS (DOMESTIC)
2021 Ranking	Firms	Headquarters	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	YingKe Law Firm	China	1366	10024	11390
2	Dentons China	China	2050	4730	6780
3	Jingsh Law Office	China	318	4993	5311
4	DeHeng Law Offices	China	648	3017	3665
5	AllBright Law Offices	China	792	2601	3436
6	W&H Law Firm	China	659	2008	3006
7	Grandall Law Firm	China	1002	1661	2709
8	Beijing DHH Law Firm	China	178	2282	2519
9	Zhonglun W&D Law Firm	China	610	1550	2160
10	Zhong Lun Law Firm	China	365	1785	2150
11	King & Wood Mallesons	China	454	1659	2121
12	Tahota Law Firm	China	642	1350	2100
13	Zhong Yin Law Firm	China	420	1338	1765
14	Long An Law Firm	China	411	1166	1663
15	Duan & Duan Law Firm	China	393	1226	1619
16	Hui Ye Law Firm	China	367	1084	1503
17	China Commercial Law Firm	China	220	1211	1502
18	Jincheng Tongda & Neal Law Firm	China	420	958	1411
19	Hengdu Law Firm	China	150	934	1200
20	Hylands Law Firm	China	290	852	1189
21	Guangdong Guanghe Law Firm	China	191	942	1135
22	Hansheng Law Offices	China	274	837	1129
23	Tian Tai Law Firm	China	347	683	1109
24	Kangda Law Firm	China	182	927	1109
25	Kim & Chang	Korea	200	900	1100
26	City Development Law Firm	China	290	789	1092
27	Guantao Law Firm	China	305	692	1000
28	Hiways Law Firm	China	301	668	1000
29	Sichuan Mingju Law Firm	China	125	775	932
30	Zhongwen Law Firm	China	417	512	929
31	Beijing Yinghe Law Firm	China	85	470	922
32	Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas	India	141	729	870
33	JunHe LLP	China	233	603	847
34	Khaitan & Co	India	180	652	832
35	Nishimura & Asahi	Japan	207	472	753
36	Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas	India	150	600	750
37	Lee & Ko	Korea	278	447	725
38	Rajah & Tann	Singapore	261	424	685
39	KINGBRIDGE Law Firm	China	84	527	663
40	Guangdong Everwin Law Office	China	171	483	656
41	Zhejiang Zeda Law Firm	China	200	448	648
42	ETR Law Firm	China	154	494	648
43	Mori Hamada & Matsumoto	Japan	157	401	636
44	Allen & Gledhill	Singapore	189	394	592
45	Han Kun Law Offices	China	105	472	577
46	SGLA Law Firm	China	134	437	571
47	Shin & Kim	Korea	251	319	570
48	JunZeJun Law Offices	China	164	397	561
49	Bae Kim & Lee	Korea	265	268	558
50	Anderson Mori & Tomotsune	Japan	170	318	548

ALB CHINA FIRMS (INTERNATIONAL)
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	24	52	90
2	Stephenson Harwood	29	36	78
3	Clifford Chance	11	48	72
4	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	7	42	49
5	Paul Hastings	5	37	42
6	DLA Piper	20	2	41
7	Baker McKenzie	9	25	37
8	Allen & Overy	9	20	34
9	Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati	3	19	34
10	Sidley Austin	4	25	33
11	CMS	7	21	31
12	Watson Farley & Williams	6	11	30
13	Bird & Bird	8	21	29
14	Cooley	6	22	28
15	White & Case	5	23	28
16	Herbert Smith Freehills	17	5	25
17	Hogan Lovells	9	8	24
18	Kirkland & Ellis	7	16	24
19	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	12	6	22
20	Jones Day	9	8	22
21	O'Melveny Myers	5	6	22
22	K&L Gates	9	10	21
23	Pinsent Masons	6	14	21
24	Ropes &Gray	4	13	21
25	Clyde & Co	6	9	20
26	Reed Smith	4	10	19
27	Ashurst	2	16	18
28	Deacons		17	17
29	Eversheds Sutherland	5	10	16
30	Simmons & Simmons	6	9	15

ALB HONG KONG FIRMS (INTERNATIONAL)
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	King & Wood Mallesons	39	177	216
2	Mayer Brown	67	114	193
3	Baker McKenzie	52	83	167
4	Clifford Chance	30	85	134
5	Allen & Overy	24	46	108
6	Herbert Smith Freehills	20	43	95
7	Kirkland & Ellis	24	51	92
8	Linklaters	33	43	90
9	Sidley Austin	17	6	84
10	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	19	42	72
11	Reed Smith	28	43	71
12	Withersworldwide	23	45	68
13	Stephenson Harwood	24	33	66
14	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in Hong Kong	11	54	65
15	Latham & Watkins	22	34	64
16	Davis Polk & Wardwell	10	43	62
17	Norton Rose Fulbright	19	39	60
18	White & Case	17	41	58
19	Ashurst	20	37	57
20	HFW	17	34	53

ALB HONG KONG FIRMS (DOMESTIC)
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Deacons	54	149	203
2	Howse Williams (formerly HWB)	26	65	91
3	Woo Kwan Lee & Lo	34	53	87
4	Li & Partners	10	44	73
5	Stevenson Wong & Co	15	37	57
6	P.C. Woo & Co	15	33	54
7	Tanner De Witt	15	31	46
8	ONC Lawyers	13	20	42
9	Gallant	16	25	41
10	Wilkinson & Grist	19	15	40

ALB INDIA FIRMS
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas	141	729	870
2	Khaitan & Co	170	651	829
3	Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas	150	600	750
4	Trilegal	63	392	515
5	AZB & Partners	110	384	509
6	J. Sagar Associates	108	246	354
7	IndusLaw	54	248	302
8	L&L Partners	79	160	239
9	Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan	42	62	225
10	Desai & Diwanji	38	184	222
11	Singh & Associates	15	195	210
12	Link Legal India Law Services	38	170	208
13	Fox Mandal & Co	21	186	207
14	Kochhar & Co	46	145	191
15	Economic Laws Practice	42	101	160
16	HSA Advocates	29	120	149
17	DSK Legal	22	122	144
18	Wadia Ghandy & Co	36	98	134
19	Singhania & Co	12	100	112
20	Vaish Associates	12	93	105
21	Argus Partners	18	74	92
22	Phoenix Legal	12	75	87
23	Anand and Anand	30	55	85
24	Bharucha & Partners	13	70	83
25	Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe	11	65	76
26	Dhir & Dhir	11	64	76
27	Nishith Desai Associates	8	64	72
28	S K Singhi & Co	3	63	66
29	Singhania & Partners	15	45	60
30	Majmudar & Partners	8	49	57

ALB INDONESIA FIRMS
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Assegaf Hamzah & Partners (Rajah & Tann)	27	108	135
2	Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo	7	107	115
3	Ali Budiardjo, Nugroho, Reksodiputro (ABNR Counsellors at Law)	21	90	111
4	Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners	18	70	102
5	Hanafiah Ponggawa & Partners (Dentons HPRP)	16	72	93
6	SSEK Legal Consultants	15	55	70
7	Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung	11	37	55
8	Mochtar Karuwin Komar	5	45	50
9	Makarim & Taira S.	10	37	47
10	Soemadipradja & Taher	10	32	45

ALB JAPAN FIRMS (INTERNATIONAL)
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Baker McKenzie	47	77	144
2	Morrison & Foerster	37	70	107
3	Clifford Chance	7	28	43
4	White & Case	14	22	36
5	Linklaters	9	19	31
6	Squire Patton Boggs	14	11	30
7	K&L Gates	12	11	26
8	Hogan Lovells	7	15	26
9	DLA Piper	6	11	25
10	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	7	13	23
11	Herbert Smith Freehills	5	9	23
12	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	3	5	22
13	Withersworldwide	11	6	21
14	Jones Day	8	5	21
15	Allen & Overy	5	12	18
16	Morgan Lewis & Bockius	8	9	17
17	King & Wood Mallesons	5	12	17
18	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	5	11	16
19	Ashurst	4	12	16
20	Shearman & Sterling	5	8	13

ALB JAPAN FIRMS (DOMESTIC)
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Nishimura & Asahi	173	374	609
2	Anderson Mori & Tomotsune	163	279	496
3	TMI Associates	141	346	487
4	Mori Hamada & Matsumoto	126	301	486
5	Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu	121	315	473
6	Atsumi & Sakai	77	79	186
7	City-Yuwa Partners	71	72	167
8	Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners	65	64	154
9	Kitahama Partners	38	45	93
10	Nakamura & Partners	46	34	80

ALB MALAYSIA FIRMS
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Zaid Ibrahim & Co (ZICO Law)	67	92	159
2	Skrine	43	68	115
3	Shearn Delamore	44	66	110
4	Adnan Sundra & Low	14	74	90
5	Zul Rafique & Partners	35	50	88
6	Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill	31	57	88
7	Rahmat Lim & Partners	28	60	88
8	Christopher & Lee Ong (Rajah & Tann)	36	47	83
9	Raja, Darryl & Loh	23	51	74
10	Wong & Partners	14	41	63

ALB PHILIPPINE FIRMS
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	ACCRALAW	56	78	145
2	SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan	43	72	122
3	Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura	50	37	93
4	DivinaLaw	19	36	69
5	Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia	23	37	60
6	Villaraza & Angangco	21	39	60
7	Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos	30	18	51
8	Quisumbing Torres	20	31	51
9	Gatmaytan Yap Patacsil Gutierrez & Protacio (C&G Law) (Rajah & Tann)	17	24	41
10	Puno & Puno Law Offices	15	26	41

ALB SINGAPORE FIRMS
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Allen & Gledhill	144	278	426
2	WongPartnership	111	223	334
3	Rajah & Tann	156	163	319
4	Drew & Napier	98	148	319
5	Dentons (Singapore)	93	72	198
6	Shook Lin & Bok	54	86	140
7	Baker Mckenzie Wong & Leow	31	84	131
8	Withers Khattarwong	32	63	95
9	Clifford Chance	20	61	87
10	Harry Elias Partnership	24	54	78
11	Allen & Overy	15	58	75
12	Stephenson Harwood Alliance	20	49	69
13	Norton Rose Fulbright	15	46	61
14	RHTlaw	23	23	58
15	K&L Gates Straits Law	17	30	53
16	Bird & Bird ATMD	13	37	50
17	Oon & Bazul	19	29	48
18	Herbert Smith Freehills	14	15	47
19	White & Case	14	31	45
20	Ashurst	16	28	44

ALB SOUTH KOREA
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Kim & Chang	200	900	1100
2	Lee & Ko	275	435	710
3	Shin & Kim	243	304	547
4	Yulchon	226	316	542
5	Bae Kim & Lee	255	258	538
6	Yoon & Yang	131	319	450
7	Jipyong	4	286	290
8	Barun Law	6	231	237
9	DR & AJU	105	96	201
10	HMP Law	47	73	120

ALB THAILAND FIRMS
2021 Ranking	Firms	Total Partners	Total Associates	Total Lawyers
1	Weerawong C&P	13	100	113
2	Tilleke & Gibbins	22	85	107
3	Chandler MHM	17	62	92
4	Baker Mckenzie Ltd	60	21	83
5	SCL Nishimura	10	53	63
6	Rajah & Tann Thailand	11	46	57
7	Allen & Overy	4	27	36
8	Hunton Andrews Kurth	5	22	32
9	Watson Farley & Williams	6	23	30
10	DFDL	8	21	29

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

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