Firm Profile > Mayer Brown > Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Insurance Tier 1

Mayer Brown's practice is strong in both non-contentious and contentious insurance work. In the case of the former, the team handles large-scale transactional matters; in the latter area, high-profile motor and construction fatality-related claims and regulatory issues have been prominent in the group's workload. Names to note are Angela Yim, who has extensive expertise in insurance litigation; Marina Fung, who is well versed in advising on public and motor liability matters; and Tow Lu Lim, who handles professional indemnity and cybersecurity-related insurance work.

Labour and employment Tier 1

A longstanding presence within the Hong Kong legal market, Mayer Brown provides 'extremely meticulous and strategic advice' to local and international corporates, and public sector entities, across a broad swathe of contentious and non-contentious matters, including as it relates to employee benefits/remuneration, sexual discrimination, and large regional redundancy programmes. The firm is plugged into the HR community, with many team members serving on influential employment-related chambers and committees, and is thereby attuned to current trends and issues impacting employers in the region. This was recently underscored by its proactive response in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a raft of thought leadership pieces being particularly well-received in the business community. Duncan Abate and Hong Tran have vast experience in the market and co-head the seven-strong team that also includes newly promoted partner Jennifer Tam, who is developing a strong reputation on the contentious front.

Real estate Tier 1

At Mayer Brown, the team assisted both property developer China Motor Bus Company (CMB), alongside Swire Properties, with the sale of the clients' respective 50% stakes, worth HK$2.38bn each, in 625 King’s Road, an office tower in North Point to a special purpose vehicle of Gateway Real Estate Fund V; the office tower was previously owned as a joint venture between CMB and Swire Properties. Keith Cheung leads the 'efficient and solution-based' team; key contacts include Fun Kuen Au, Robert Lynn, real estate finance expert Jasmine Chiu, and Alvin Yeung, who handles a range of real estate development work.

Antitrust and competition Tier 2

Co-headed by John Hickin and Hannah Ha, Mayer Brown's Asian competition law group advises regional and international corporates (including many within the financial services and real estate sectors) across a range of advisory compliance, merger control, and investigations-related work. The firm is, perhaps, best-known, however, for its contentious expertise and in this regard Ha is well-placed to guide local clients through investigations initiated by the Competition Commission by virtue of her fluency in both Cantonese and Mandarin. In addition, clients benefit from Hickin's broader commercial litigation competence and his ability to leverage this to provide a 'strategic and nuanced' service to clients in the investigation phase, as well as any pursuant litigation before the Competition Tribunal.

Banking and finance Tier 2

Mayer Brown acts for lenders and borrowers on the full gamut of banking and finance transactions. Under the leadership of Richard Stock, Fanny Wang and Francis Chen have steadily built a strong client base, which includes leading global, PRC, Japanese and local banks. Doos Choi has over 20 years’ experience in multi-jurisdictional, multi-tiered, full and limited recourse financings. Chen advises financial institutions and large corporations on various financing structures, including bilateral and syndicated loan transactions. Wang acts for developers on development and redevelopment finance.

Construction Tier 2

Geoffrey Chan leads the construction team at Mayer Brown. The group has notable strength in arbitration, and advises clients from the financial services, hospitality, transport, and public sectors on a range of matters. Menachem Hasofer, Mei Ling Lew, Venna Cheng, and counsel Felicia Lee are also key names.

Dispute resolution: litigation Tier 2

John Hickin heads up the team at Mayer Brown, which successfully represented DBS Bank in a long-running $50m mis-selling claim brought against the bank by its customers. Senior consultant Nicholas Hunsworth has an excellent reputation for his expertise in commercial and banking litigation. Raymond Chan is well versed in handling civil litigation, while Vivien Yip has experience in representing financial institutions in contentious work.

Intellectual property Tier 2

Led by the 'excellent' Gabriela Kennedy, Mayer Brown's two-partner team is particularly strong at advising on branding strategy and portfolio management throughout Asia Pacific, where it is also able to leverage significant resources on the ground in key offices, including Singapore, Thailand and Japan. Kennedy is also well-versed at handling matters at the intersection of TMT and IP (including advice on licensing agreements and other technology-related commercial contracts work), while her contentious work includes the representation of clients in trade mark and licensing disputes, as well as in her role as an arbitrator at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) for Intellectual Property Disputes. Although the team was weakened at a senior level by the recent retirement of Rosita Li, it has successfully nurtured a sizeable roster of more junior talent, including Amita Haylock, whose promotion to partner at the beginning of 2020 is a testament to her broad-ranging IP and TMT disputes offering, in particular.

Restructuring and insolvency Tier 2

A well-established presence in the Hong Kong market, Mayer Brown has developed strong ties with regional corporates/issuers, banks and IPs, enabling it to provide an excellent perspective of both debtor and creditor needs, and to thereby offer a balanced service to clients engaged in Hong Kong-specific restructuring and insolvency matters, as well as on work extending across South East Asia (where it is able to tap into the expertise of lawyers on the ground in Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand). The 'hugely experienced and likeable' John Marsden is 'vastly experienced' in handling Hong Kong-related work, as well as situations throughout South East Asia, and is often instructed by banks with significant exposure to debt in the region. Tom Pugh is 'very analytical' and co-heads the team alongside Marsden.

TMT Tier 2

Benefiting from strong local/regional relationships - as a result of the firm's longstanding presence in the market - and also able to effectively mobilise the firm's wider international resources, Mayer Brown is able to provide effective transactional, regulatory, and contentious TMT-related advice, from a standalone Hong Kong perspective, as well as in the context of broader multi-jurisdictional projects. Although she is perhaps best known for her work on complex IT transactions, outsourcing agreements, and cybersecurity matters, 'top-notch' team head Gabriela Kennedy also leverages her broader IP-related expertise to provide a compelling service to media clients on licensing matters and copyright disputes. Amita Haylock is well-versed at handling a broad range of IP and TMT-related matters, and is forging a growing reputation within the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, as a result of her involvement for the regulator and major companies in numerous recent high-profile judicial reviews.

Capital markets (debt) Tier 3

With offices in Hong Kong, London and New York, Mayer Brown has strong support in key financial centres to support its global capital markets practice. With its global platform and deep bench of US-qualified lawyers, the firm handles cross-border transactions for issuers and underwriters with ease. High-yield transactions are a key area of focus for the practice and its experience also encompasses hybrid capital-product structuring and execution. Practice head Jason Elder is recommended for global offerings of investment-grade, high-yield, hybrid and structured-debt products. Thomas Kollar handles Rule 144A/Regulation S DCM transactions.

Corporate (including M&A) Tier 3

With an integrated team across Hong Kong, London and New York, Mayer Brown handles cross-border transactions with ease. The firm offers advice on the full range of corporate matters and draws on strength from its partners in anti-trust, regulatory, tax, fund formation, investment management and private equity, offering a holistic approach to M&A. Head of team Hannah Ha is adept at handling foreign direct investment in China, cross-border M&A, private equity transactions and general corporate and commercial matters. Steven Tran and Paul Chen joined as partners from Hogan Lovells and DLA Piper, respectively.

Dispute resolution: international arbitration Tier 3

Menachem Hasofer shares leadership of Mayer Brown's practice with John Hickin and Singapore-based Yu-Jin Tay. The practice counts contentious work in the construction sector as a core strength, and has also been handling disputes for clients from the energy sector. Thomas So is very experienced in handling shareholders' disputes.

Structured finance and securitisation Tier 3

Mayer Brown’s global team handles securitisation, structured finance, and derivatives across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It acts for sponsors, issuers, servicers, arrangers, underwriters, swap counterparties, Asia securitisation and structured finance enhancement providers, liquidity providers, trustees, and rating agencies. Key practitioner Vincent Sum focuses on capital markets matters, including structured products, derivatives, securitisations, retail and non-retail funds, secured lending and financing, and debt capital markets. Richard Stock heads the team.

Capital markets (equity) Tier 5

With offices in Hong Kong, London and New York, Mayer Brown has strong support in key financial centres to support its global capital markets practice. It acts for issuers and underwriters throughout Asia on the full spectrum of equity capital markets transactions. Head of team Billy Au advises Chinese SOEs and privately owned enterprises on global offerings, inbound and outbound M&A and other corporate finance matters.

Asset finance (including aviation and shipping finance)

Benefiting from a longstanding presence in the Asian market and also able to leverage the expertise of lawyers from across the firm's international network, Mayer Brown provides a 'very slick service' to an eclectic mix of clients in the aviation and maritime sectors, from both a pan-Asian and international perspective. On the aviation front, Richard Stock heads a 'seasoned team of professionals' that have 'extensive experience across Asia' for banks and numerous high-profile local airlines, enabling it to provide a balanced perspective across a range of operating lease, sale and leaseback and tax-based leasing products, as well as secured debt financings. On the shipping front, the 'very impressive' Conor Warde continues to handle a wide range and volume of work for PRC-based lessors, while the 'excellent' Maggie Cheung has an excellent reputation for international lenders and Chinese institutions, including work on structured loan facilities. Senior associate Dora Ying is also recommended.

China > Projects and energy: foreign firms Tier 2

Mayer Brown's China projects and infrastructure group acts for lenders and equity investors in relation to projects involving gas- and coal-fired, alternative and renewable energy, infrastructure and manufacturing facilities. The practice also assists Chinese and international lenders and borrowers with major outbound and inbound bank and acquisition finance transactions in multiple sectors, including technology, energy, oil and gas, healthcare, real estate and logistic assets. Additionally, it advises lessees, lessors and lenders on asset finance transactions involving aircraft, rail, hydroelectric and nuclear facilities. Regularly acting on first-of-their-kind, cross-border projects and infrastructure matters, Hallam Chow leads the China projects practice from the Beijing office, where senior associate Boya Shen advises lenders, sponsors and investment funds on power, energy, and manufacturing facilities projects.

China > Investment funds: foreign firms Tier 3

Mayer Brown's practice covers advice to investment fund sponsors, institutional investors and other market participants in the alternative investment fund space. The team assists with the legal, regulatory, tax and commercial challenges that face investment fund clients, which range from large alternative-asset managers and financial institutions to independent boutiques and first-time fund sponsors. In Hong Kong, Robert Woll is a private investment fund specialist, and Mark Uhrynuk's experience includes establishing private equity, infrastructure and real estate funds.

Mongolia > Leading firms Tier 3

Located in Hong Kong, the team at Mayer Brown offers advice to major corporates on matters ranging from restructurings to cross-border high-yield transactions. Its clients include notable issuers and sponsors in Mongolia. Global leader of the corporate and securities group Jason Elder is particularly experienced in high-child, hybrid, and structured-debt products. Has acted on a number of key significant international capital markets transactions in Mongolia. Thomas Kollar focuses on cross-border capital markets transactions.

China > TMT: foreign firms Tier 3

Mayer Brown's team is primarily located in Hong Kong where it operates at the forefront of a number of burgeoning TMT segments, notably artificial intelligence (AI), biometrics, data analytics, mobile payment solutions and smart banking initiatives, and data privacy and cybersecurity. Gabriela Kennedy leads the Asia IP and TMT group, which includes Amita Haylock, who was promoted to partner in January 2020. Counsel Karen Lee is noted for technology procurement, data privacy and cybersecurity.

South Korea > International arbitration Tier 4

Mayer Brown's Korea-facing international arbitration offering utilises its local knowledge and expertise to assist clients with disputes in every major emerging market in the world, including South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The firm is particularly valued by Korean international contractors, due to its highly specialised global construction practice, which handles all manner of English law disputes. Practice head Yu-Jin Tay leads the Asia arbitration team from Singapore, where he holds a number of leadership positions, including Vice President of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. Also notable are Hong-Kong based practitioners Menachem Hasofer and John Hickin; the latter is a key name for banking and commercial disputes.

China > Private equity: foreign firms Tier 4

Mayer Brown's Hong Kong-based PE group comprises team members from the firm's corporate and real estate practices, who advise sponsors and investment fund clients on their investment activities. It also acts on fund formation, fund finance, separate account arrangements and club deals, along with portfolio transactions, tax planning, fund administration and regulatory matters. The principal advisers are Mark Uhrynuk, Steven Tran and David Ellis.