The Legal 500

Within Asset finance, Mayer Brown JSM is a first tier firm,

The ’experienced and reliable’ team at Mayer Brown JSM draws praise for its experience on aircraft, ship and railway project financings. It advised ICBC Financial Leasing on the $2bn purchase of 42 Airbus A320 aircraft, which was notable for being the first transaction in which a PRC lessor acquired commercial aircraft directly from a foreign aircraft manufacturer. Firm-wide practice leader Alastair MacAulay has ’a well-balanced’ approach. Richard Stock is also recommended.

Within Banking and finance, Mayer Brown JSM is a third tier firm,

Still widely associated with asset and real estate finance transactions, Mayer Brown JSM is also developing its standing in commercial lending for local and international banks, as well as outbound deals on behalf of PRC institutions in the asset and project finance sectors. ICBC and HSBC are two of the department’s biggest clients. In 2011, Francis Chen advised the lenders on a HK$3.3bn loan facility to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company. Keith Cheung and PRC expert Joe Tam are also recommended.

Within Capital markets (debt), Mayer Brown JSM is a third tier firm,

Mayer Brown JSM’s Jason Elder is a leading figure in high yield debt, though the firm’s DCM practice is considerably broader. In 2012 it represented the Development Bank of Mongolia and the nation’s Ministry of Finance on its $580m senior guaranteed bonds issuance, the first transaction in the bank’s $600m EMTN programme. The team is also a key player in the RMB bond market.

Within Capital markets (equity), tier 4

Mayer Brown JSM’s recruitment of former Hogan Lovells partner James Fong in 2012 gave its ECM platform a boost, particularly on Hong Kong IPOs. The firm continues to work on a number of follow-on and secondary placement transactions, including block trades. It also has a strong record on South-East Asia deals.

Within Construction, Mayer Brown JSM is a third tier firm,

At Mayer Brown JSM, Menachem Hasofer, David Boyle, and Singapore-based Kevin Owen are recommended for construction and town planning matters. Hasofer handled a large number of non-contentious mandates throughout 2012, including advising West Kowloon Cultural District Authority on planning compliance matters, and acting for Wynn Resorts Macau on the development of its Coatai Resort project. Other clients include Cathay Pacific, the Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Alliance Construction Materials.

Within Corporate (including M&A), Mayer Brown JSM is a third tier firm,

Mayer Brown JSM has steadily built its cross-border M&A capability, with Mark Stevens and Jeremy Cunningham recently transferring to Hong Kong from the London office. The firm recently represented AkzoNobel on its HK$1.6bn pre-conditional cash offer to take Hong Kong listed Schramm Holding private. The firm continues to exploit its prestigious Hong Kong heritage, with a growing flow of instructions coming from Hong Kong giants such as HSBC and Li & Fung. Martin Robertson also has a fine reputation.

Within Dispute resolution, Mayer Brown JSM is a second tier firm,

The ’excellent’ Mayer Brown JSM is one of the pre-eminent firms when it comes to headline Hong Kong court battles. It represents big names such as Li & Fung, HSBC and Cathay Pacific. Much credit should go to esteemed litigator Nicholas Hunsworth, and John Hickin is making significant progress on the investigations side. Thomas So and Jacob Tse are the other senior litigators.

Within Employment, Mayer Brown JSM is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown JSM’s employment practice is led by ’first-class practitioner’ Duncan Abate. In 2012 the group handled the implementation of the Minimum Wage Ordinance for a number of clients including Swire Group and the Health Authority. Abate’s team also defended Cathay Pacific in claims brought by members of the cabin crew concerning statutory benefits, and represented Bank of America in a breach of contract claim brought by a former employee. Hong Tran is ’highly personable, knowledgeable, and professional’.

Within Insurance, Mayer Brown JSM is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown JSM is ’a responsive and knowledgeable firm that attends to clients’ requests proactively’. Practice head Angela Yim is ’good at handling complicated cases’, and has a broad contentious practice that includes policy interpretation, defending contractors risk claims, public liability, employees’ compensation and professional indemnity. The ’hands-on’ Tow Lu Lim leads the D&O liability and professional indemnity sub-group, and recently represented a leading insurer in mis-selling claims arising from its distribution of Lehman Brothers-related products. Jacob Tse is also recommended.

Within Intellectual property, Mayer Brown JSM is a second tier firm,

Mayer Brown JSM’s ’exceptional’ team is praised for its strength in depth, as well as its ability to service large corporate companies. Department head Kenny Wong handles both commercial and contentious IP, and also has niche expertise in the entertainment sector. Benjamin Choi manages a number of patent and trade mark portfolios. Wong recently defended a Swiss watchmaker in a passing-off and copyright claim by Cartier in Hong Kong, and is acting for a European bank in a copyright enforcement matter concerning the institution’s logo.

Within Investment funds, Mayer Brown JSM is a third tier firm,

The ’responsive and experienced’ team at Mayer Brown JSM is led by Phill Smith, who ’gets very involved in transactions’. The group acts for fund managers on forming private equity funds and hedge funds, and also provides advice on mutual funds and REITs.

Within Real estate, Mayer Brown JSM is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown JSM’s ’exceptional team has some of the best attorneys in Hong Kong, particularly when it comes to residential property issues’. The impressively sized practice has 16 partners and is led by Andrew MacGeoch and Keith Cheung. Highlights included acting for Swire Properties in its sale of 100% of its stake in Festival Walk to a subsidiary of Mapletree, and advising Hongkong Land on the redevelopment of the Forum at Exchange Square. Fun Kuen Au is ’one of the best residential development property lawyers in Hong Kong’, and MacGeoch is ’solid on hotel and recreation work’. Clients of the team include Ocean Park Corporation and Phoenix Property Investors. Ellen Tsao retired in 2012.

Within Regulatory, tier 4

At Mayer Brown JSM, Sara Or advises on compliance and licensing issues surrounding securities, banking, commodities and insurance regulations. Nicholas Hunsworth is the contact for contentious matters. Clients have included a number of major international financial institutions.

Within Restructuring and insolvency, Mayer Brown JSM is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown JSM provides ’a world-class service’ that ’compares very well to its peers’, and ’partners are backed up by very competent, more junior, lawyers’. Steven Miller leads the sizeable team, and has extensive experience acting for bank steering committees in negotiating and documenting cross-border workouts and reorganisations in Asia. John Marsden is also recommended, for his ’strong legal knowledge and excellent commercial acumen’. Marsden recently represented Vietnamese shipbuilder Vinashin in its proposed restructuring and rescheduling of $4bn of debt. The team also continues to advise the liquidators of the various entities of Lehman Brothers.

Within Shipping, Mayer Brown JSM is a second tier firm,

Mayer Brown JSM’s shipping team is ’very experienced, capable, and reliable’. The group is noted for its ship finance expertise, both non-contentious and contentious, which covers mortgage enforcement matters, debt restructurings and insolvencies. Recent mandates for the four-partner team include acting for China Development Bank in the $1.1bn financing of 30 ships for China Ship Fund, and advising on the acquisition, $1bn financing, and long-term charter of four natural gas carriers. Practice head Alastair MacAulay is ’well balanced and experienced’. Bill Amos rejoined the firm in 2011 from Ince & Co.

Within Structured finance and securitisation, tier 4

Mayer Brown JSM’s structured finance practice took a hit when Jeffrey Chen left for Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in August 2011, which followed Kingsley Ong’s departure to Eversheds LLP in January of the same year. Ben Sandstad is the key contact, and handles asset-backed securitisations, derivatives, structured products, CDOs and CLOs.

Within TMT, Mayer Brown JSM is a third tier firm,

Geofrey Master heads the business and technology sourcing practice at Mayer Brown JSM, which is predominantly focused on technology and IT outsourcing. Highlights included representing SNL Financial in its outsourcing negotiations with business solutions provider Integreon, and advising Bloomberg on telecommunications, data privacy and regulation issues. David Ellis and Kenny Wong are the key members of the multi-disciplinary team.