U.S. firm Steptoe & Johnson’s Hong Kong office has just turned a year old. In a year when a deadly global pandemic and regulatory volatility ravaged transactions, Steptoe tapped into its niche expertise and turned its first year in Hong Kong into a rare success.

“You have to be an expert,” said Wendy Wysong, the firm’s Hong Kong managing partner. “You can’t dabble in it, you need to know about all of the different programs and how they interlace.”