Hong Kong is among Asia’s more developed legal markets, of key importance to firms mostly because of its proximity to China. There was no clear pattern of activity during 2014, with some firms ramping up and others seeing partner losses, and some new entrants at the same time as others retreated. Politically, the year was troublesome for the North Asian legal hub, with pro-democracy activists taking to the streets calling for more say in the 2017 chief executive elections.
Probably the biggest law firm news was in January – that being Slaughter & May’s first ever lateral hire in history. Joining the firm from Morrison & Foerster in the city; John Moore was appointed amid a recognition by the magic circle firm that it needed US law capability for Hong Kong IPOs.
