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| Key people | Terence Tung (Senior Partner)[1] |
|---|---|
| Date founded | 1863 |
| Company type | General partnership |
| Website | jsm |
Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM) is one of the oldest and largestlaw firms inAsia based in Hong Kong and with offices in Shanghai and Beijing. It was founded in Hong Kong in 1863 and became known as Johnson, Stokes and Master in 1890.
Between 2008 and 2024 it combined into United States law firmMayer Brown and the Asia practice was called Mayer Brown JSM (and from 1 September 2018, Mayer Brown). In May 2024, Mayer Brown announced the agreement to separate JSM from Mayer Brown practices. JSM was resurrected on 2 December 2024 after the de-coupling between Mayer Brown and a majority of partners who had originally joined from JSM. Mayer Brown in Hong Kong split into two Hong Kong firms Mayer Brown and Johnson Stokes & Master.
JSM has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing and 120 lawyers including 40 partners.[2]
Johnson Stokes & Master was established in 1863 inHong Kong by Edmund Sharp as a sole proprietorship at a time when Hong Kong had less than a dozen practising lawyers.[3] In 1890, the firm changed its name to Johnson, Stokes and Master, from Edmund Sharp & Toller.[4]In 1893, an office was established inShanghai,China.
In 1895, Alfred Bulmer Johnson became senior partner of the firm with Alfred Stokes and Godfrey Cornewall Chester Master as supporting partners. At that time, JSM was already legal advisor toThe Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, a major commercial establishment in Hong Kong.
On December 1, 1896, Johnson retired from private practice at the firm and also resigned his position of Crown Solicitor which he had held from 1882. On this occasion, the succession of the Crown Solicitor-ship was passed not to the firm's next in command - Stokes who was in Shanghai, China running the local branch of the firm - but to the next most senior solicitor in the Colony, Henry Lardner Dennys.
In July 1897, JSM engaged the firm's first local born Chinese solicitor - theOxford-educated Wei Wah-on, son of acompradore of theChartered Mercantile Bank.
In 1936, JSM moved into theair-conditioned offices of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Building.
After theSecond World War, JSM resumed business in the Bank Building though Hong Kong was in a sorry state at that time.
Since then, the firm's growth paralleled Hong Kong's rapid economic development and it further expanded into other majorAsian cities.[5]
On 28 January 2008 JSM combined intoMayer Brown to become Mayer Brown JSM. Before the combination with Mayer Brown, JSM had offices inHong Kong, where it was one of the leading law firms, and inBeijing,Guangzhou andShanghai on mainlandChina, as well as inBangkok,Thailand andHanoi andHo Chi Minh City,Vietnam. Before the combination, the firm had a team of 800 staff, including more than 260 lawyers.
On September 1, 2018, the firm dropped the JSM name and changed its name in Asia toMayer Brown.
On 2 May 2024, it was announced that JSM would be de-coupling fromMayer Brown, after 15 years, to separate the Hong Kong partnership from the international practices, reverting to its legacy name, Johnson Stokes & Master (“JSM”). Mayer Brown would continue to operate in Hong Kong through a new partnership, focusing on areas of practice aligned with the firm’s strategy internationally and in Asia. JSM will focus on its unique position as a home-grown full-service law firm in Hong Kong.[6] Terence Tung, senior partner of the Hong Kong partnership, said services would continue to be provided through offices in Hong Kong and the mainland.
On December 2, 2024, Mayer Brown Hong Kong split into two Hong Kong firms Mayer Brown Hong Kong LLP and Johnson Stokes & Master. JSM has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.[7]
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