Press Release

Morgan Lewis Gains Approval from Law Society to Operate in Hong Kong

Thursday, August 3, 2017

HONG KONG, August 3, 2017: Morgan Lewis has received formal approval from The Law Society of Hong Kong to form an association with Luk & Partners solidifying Morgan Lewis’s presence in Greater China.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Association with Luk & Partners further strengthens the firm’s ability to provide elite services to clients in Hong Kong, one of the world’s major financial centers, and represents the firm’s rapid and strategic growth commitment to serve clients throughout the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. In China, Morgan Lewis now counts more than 70 lawyers who collaborate closely with more than 90 additional lawyers in Singapore, Tokyo, and Kazakhstan, and more than 2,000 other lawyers and legal professionals across North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

“Our new association in Hong Kong further underscores Morgan Lewis’s unwavering focus on providing our clients with comprehensive, seamless services across the globe,” said Firm Chair Jami McKeon. “This exciting development also continues our substantial commitment to Asia that has been unfolding over the past three years, as we have expanded our offices in Beijing and Tokyo and have opened our doors in Singapore and Shanghai.”

In late 2014, Morgan Lewis significantly grew its Tokyo office with the addition of the leading asset management regulatory practice from Bingham McCutchen. In 2015, the firm secured a key base of operations in the thriving business center of Singapore with its novel combination with The Stamford Law Firm. In 2016, Morgan Lewis significantly expanded its China representative office in Beijing and branch office of Morgan Lewis Consulting in Shanghai with a team of more than 25 lawyers and legal professionals from another global law firm. Last month, the firm welcomed Shaobin Zhu as an IP partner in Shanghai focusing on US and cross-border intellectual property litigation.

“With Morgan Lewis’s official association with Luk & Partners, we now have firmly in place an elite team of highly respected lawyers with broad capabilities to serve clients with interests in mainland China, Hong Kong, and throughout the vast, economically critical Asia-Pacific region,” said Edwin Luk of Luk & Partners.

Morgan Lewis applied with The Law Society of Hong Kong to associate with Luk & Partners in February. Since then, the China team has closed five IPOs in a diverse set of industries, including a $180 million IPO on the Hong Kong Exchange; collaborated with the firm’s Singapore office on multiple dual-listings on the Singapore and Hong Kong exchanges; handled numerous inbound transactions with a number of global private equity funds; and advised on more than 40 separate matters originating in the United States or Europe.

Morgan Lewis’s China team focuses on inbound and outbound corporate and business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions; joint ventures; real estate investments; cross-border finance; telecommunications matters; and intellectual property and technology licensing issues. The team also assists all sizes of state-owned and private Chinese businesses and institutional and boutique investment management companies as they invest in China and throughout the world. Additionally, the team advises on the full range of labor, employment, benefits, and immigration issues while taking into account China’s evolving employment laws and US and China anti-corruption laws.

The team advises on a full spectrum of industry sectors, including energy; financial services (banking, private equity, and investment management); food and drugs; infrastructure; life sciences and healthcare; manufacturing; real estate; retail and consumer goods; automotive; education; natural resources; and technology, media, and telecommunications.