Hong Kong is known for its social stability and rule of law. The prosperity of Asia’s financial capital over the past few decades has attracted multinational companies, financial institutions and law firms. But will the escalating tensions between local citizens and the central Chinese government upend it all?

The hope is certainly not. But a controversial new law triggered three mass protests in eight days—protests in which nearly a quarter of the city’s 7.4 million people took to the streets. And that has rattled the global business community in Hong Kong, including Big Law.