The Legal 500

Baker & McKenzie handles projects in the media and entertainment, technology, e-commerce and communications industries. The group, led by Nancy Leigh, is advising Disney on its joint venture with the Shanghai Shendi Group, a state-owned company established for the Shanghai Disneyland project. Other noteworthy individuals include Won Lee, recommended for representing Korean sellers and foreign buyers, and special counsel Anna Gamvros, for her ‘good understanding of the law and business-oriented, practical advice’.

‘Probably the best firm for TMT’, Bird & Bird fields specialists in the technology and communications sectors, who ‘always mobilise adequate resources to assist during a crisis’. In 2010, the team acted for Octopus in a headline data-protection case and now continues to advise the leading smart card payment system on the restructuring of its internal policies and procedures and the implementation of the recommendations set out by the various reports into the incident. Practice head Marcus Vass ‘does a very good job; he understands clients’ needs and is extremely competent, even when under time pressure’.

Clients would ‘strongly recommend’ Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for TMT work, where the lawyers provide an ‘excellent level of service and appropriateness of advice’. The firm recently advised Imagi International Holdings on its acquisition of Toon Express Group (the manager and owner of various animation characters); and represented Vodafone on an agreement to sell its entire 3.2% interest in China Mobile. Department head Connie Carnabuci and counsel Mark Parsons offer ‘technical expertise combined with the advantage of being very nice to work with, no matter how difficult the circumstance’.

Morrison & Foerster recently lost Nigel Stamp to Eversheds LLP, leaving Gordon Milner at the helm of the TMT practice. Nevertheless, the group maintains a range of Asian, European and US clients in the technology, financial services, insurance, life sciences, telecoms and media industries. Recent work highlights include advising Standard Chartered Bank on various projects, including the development and roll-out across 16 countries of a new Unit Trust system and an extension of the outsourcing of its Hong Kong ATM network facilities to G4S.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison is well known for its expertise in advising on corporate matters in the telecoms, broadcasting, IT, content production and publishing sectors. Splitting her time between Beijing and Hong Kong, Jeanette Chan is at ‘the top of her game’ and recently represented Motorola Solutions on the separation and spin-off of its mobile device and home businesses into Motorola Mobility Holdings, which involved a global restructuring process. Other clients include IMAX, Ericsson and KKR.

Allen & Overy ‘consistently provides an outstanding level of service’, attributed to its Asia head of communications, media and technology Will McAuliffe. McAuliffe is ‘a trusted adviser, who repeatedly demonstrates avid interest and commitment to his clients, making them feel as if nothing is too much trouble’. The group is recognised for its corporate and M&A abilities in the TMT sector, and recently advised longstanding technology client SunGard Data Systems on several proposed acquisitions of IT companies in the region. Jeremy Hunt is also recommended.

Herbert Smith’s TMT offering was recently strengthened, through two relocations to Hong Kong and two lateral hires, notably disputes partner Robert Hunt moved from the London office, bringing expertise in media and sports-related matters. The group is particularly strong in the telecoms sector, and in 2010, it advised the bookrunners on a $1.84bn convertible bond sale by China Unicom. ‘Very few people are as committed to excellence’ as Michelle Chan, who leads the Asia TMT practice and is described as ‘thorough and innovative with her solutions’.

Hogan Lovells ‘exceeds in its professionalism’ and handles transactional, contentious and regulatory TMT matters. The department is anchored by the ‘sharp and decisive’ Gabriela Kennedy, who recently represented TVB in a case concerning defamatory statements made by ATV and two individuals regarding television rating results commissioned by TVB. On the non-contentious side, the team is advising Skype on telecoms regulatory issues in China. Other clients include Facebook, Microsoft and The Airport Authority of Hong Kong.

Recognised for its IT expertise, Pinsent Masons’ TMT group is led by Peter Bullock, who handles contentious and risk management issues. Recent work includes advising Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group on various software and services agreements for in-room entertainment and back-of-house software applications. A strong client roster also features the likes of Fujitsu, Nokia Siemens Networks, BT, AXA Asia Pacific Holdings, and new gains in Misa Digital and Otto International.

Damien Bailey leads the TMT practice at Simmons & Simmons, which acts for clients such as Cathay Pacific Airways, Yahoo! and Warner Bros. The group is also advising Hitachi Data Systems on the roll-out of a new cloud storage solution, which will be the first time it has offered such a system to its customers. The firm has seen an increase in cross-border and international TMT transactions, advising international clients on Greater China opportunities, and local companies on increasing worldwide capabilities.

DLA Piper’s TMT department and has undergone some significant changes, since the former team left for Norton Rose Hong Kong in October 2010. Notably the ‘excellent’ Matthew Glynn transferred from the Dubai office to head up the Asia, Middle East and Africa intellectual property and technology practice, and four new hires joined the Hong Kong group. The team ‘goes the extra mile for its clients’ and delivers an ‘unmatched level of service’. Clients include Gap, RBS and Polo Ralph Lauren.

Well known for technology and outsourcing matters, Mayer Brown JSM’s three-partner TMT practice is going from strength to strength. Work highlights included advising Hong Kong Hospital Authority on the creation and implementation of a centralised system for holding patient health records for use by public and private providers; this HK$700m project is one of the largest public sector IT projects in the region.

In October 2010, Norton Rose Hong Kong acquired DLA Piper’s TMT practice and the Hong Kong office welcomed two big names in Justin Davidson and Gigi Cheah (although Cheah recently relocated to the firm’s Singapore base, she is active across the region). The group handles contentious and non-contentious matters for a range of clients, and recently carried out a review for HSBC on its electronic terms, relating to enforceability and regulatory requirements.

The ‘excellent’ TMT group at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey comprises ten lawyers across Greater China, who have a ‘deep understanding of this area of law’. Nicholas Chan is ‘very good for telecoms work’ and clients benefit from ‘his experience and knowledge of legal developments’. Google and Yahoo! are longstanding clients of the firm.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ TMT practice brings together lawyers from the firm’s corporate and private equity groups. Headline deals included advising an investor consortium on the $1bn-plus acquisition of a 26% ownership interest in TVB, one of the largest producers of Chinese language programming in the world. Former Simmons & Simmons partner Henry Ong comes highly recommended.