Deloitte is set to become the last of the Big Four accounting firms to establish a presence in the Hong Kong legal market, with plans to set up an affiliated law firm led by the firm’s China general counsel, James Jamison.
J. E. Jamison & Co., which is registered as a sole proprietor law firm under the Deloitte Hong Kong umbrella, will be a part of the accounting giant’s global legal network.
Deloitte did not comment on the news, although several expired, but still visible, job advertisements recruiting lawyers with experience in arbitration, regulation, private wealth and litigation, also describe J. E. Jamison & Co. as “a new firm in Hong Kong which is a member of the Deloitte Legal global network.”
Jamison, who earlier served as a litigation partner with Clifford Chance in Tokyo, moved to Hong Kong with Deloitte, a former client, in 2011. In his role as general counsel, he leads a multi-jurisdictional team, providing legal services to clients based across 21 locations across East Asia.
Deloitte already has a solid Singapore presence, launching a foreign law practice, Deloitte Legal International last year, and then adding local firm Sabara Law to its network.
But Hong Kong has seen a lot of interest from the Big Four in recent months. In January, KPMG launched a affiliated law firm, while EY poached a three-lawyer team from Dechert last December. PwC has also steadily grown, adding a new APAC competition law head and poaching a senior ex-Mayer Brown M&A lawyer, last June.
