King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest international commercial law firm based in the Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and over 3,000 legal professionals across

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Prior to KWM's current structure, its predecessor firms included

SJ Berwin SJ Berwin LLP was a multinational law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. SJ Berwin merged with the Hong Kong-headquartered law firm King & Wood Mallesons on 1 November 2013, becoming the fourth member of its Swiss Verein structure. S ...

of the United Kingdom's "Silver Circle",

Mallesons Stephen Jaques King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest international commercial law firm based in the Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and over 3,000 legal professionals across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United States. Prior to KW ...

, one of the "Big Six" Australian law firms, and King & Wood, one of China's "Red Circle" law firms.

History

Predecessor firm history

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Mallesons Stephen Jaques was an Australian

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

which originated in 1832 and was one of the " Big Six" law firms in Australia. 'Mallesons' derives from the name of the predecessor firm's founding partner; Alfred Brooks Malleson. Malleson was born at Richmond Hill, on the

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

side of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

in 1831. As a 25-year-old London solicitor he immigrated to Melbourne in 1856. Malleson's obituary in '' The Argus'' in 1892 recorded that his expertise was especially "in company law and in the banking business. Several of the associated banks entrusted their legal affairs to the firm, as well as a large number of leading insurance and other companies, so that Mr Malleson had always as much as he could do". In 1858, the firm (then called "Muttlebury Malleson and Coster") handled the legal work to establish The National Bank of Australasia, which remains one of the firm's key clients as the present-day

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...

. The "Stephen" part of the firm's former name comes from Sydney founder Montague Stephen. He was the second son of Sir

Alfred Stephen Sir Alfred Stephen (20 August 180215 October 1894) was an Australian judge and Chief Justice of New South Wales. Early life Alfred was born at St Christopher in the West Indies. His father, John Stephen (1771–1833), was related to James S ...

, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 1844 to 1873. Montague Stephen founded a Sydney practice in 1849. One of his earliest (1853) clients was the "Australian Mutual Provident Society" (

AMP Limited AMP Limited (formerly Australian Mutual Provident Society) is an Australian financial services company that operates in Australia and New Zealand. It offers superannuation and investment products, financial advice and banking services through '' ...

) which remains one of the modern firm's key clients. The "Jaques" part of the firm's name comes from a second "Alfred" – Alfred Jaques. He became a partner of the Sydney firm in 1878. In 1888 the firm's name changed to Stephen Jaques & Stephen – a name which continued until the 1980s. In 1976, Stephen Jaques & Stephen established its London office. In 1982, it merged with Stone James of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. The merged firm was called "Stephen Jaques Stone James". Stone James had been established in 1832 by Alfred Stone,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

's first solicitor. The merger reflected a growing importance of Western Australian primary industries as clients to the firm. In 1987, Stephen Jaques Stone James merged with Mallesons. The firm was renamed "Mallesons Stephen Jaques". The 1987 merger was driven by an assessment that Sydney and Melbourne had become one legal market. The merger enabled the firm to look after clients in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra. In 1989, the firm opened an office in Brisbane. The firm opened a Hong Kong office in 1989, and a Beijing office in 1993. It established an alliance with Posman Kua Aisi Lawyers of

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

in 1995. In 2004 the firm strengthened its Beijing resources by taking on lawyers and support staff from

Denton Wilde Sapte Denton Wilde Sapte LLP (informally Dentons) was an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It merged with the United States–based law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in September 2010, forming SNR Denton. At the time ...

. Later that year Mallesons merged with the Hong Kong and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

corporate boutique Kwok & Yih.

King & Wood PRC Lawyers

King & Wood was among the first law firms established in the People's Republic of China during the modern era. In April, 1993, King & Wood's founding partners were still working with a state-sponsored organization, the

China Council for the Promotion of International Trade The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), also called the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC), is a trade body founded in 1952. CCPIT is controlled by the Ministry of Commerce. History In response to the ...

, when the central government permitted private ownership of law firms, allowing them to create the firm. The firm's clients included

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

China Life China Life Insurance Company Limited (short China Life, ) is a Beijing-headquartered China-incorporated company that provides life insurance and annuity products. China Life is ranked No. 94 on Fortune 2015 Global 500 Company list. and is China' ...

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

PetroChina PetroChina Company Limited () is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and ga ...

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Banco da China'') is a state-owned Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of ...

, the

Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, or BOCOG, also known as the Beijing Organizing Committee, was an informal name for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. It was also the organizi ...

of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. Prior to merging with Mallesons Stephen Jacques, King & Wood was aligned with Australian law firm

Gilbert + Tobin Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters *Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

SJ Berwin

SJ Berwin was founded by lawyer Stanley J. Berwin 1982. From 1992 the firm underwent a strategy of European expansion. In 2009 the firm opened three offices in Hong Kong, Dubai and Shanghai respectively.

Merger

King & Wood Mallesons formed on 1 March 2012 as a combination of Chinese firm ''King & Wood PRC Lawyers'' and Australian firm ''Mallesons Stephen Jaques'', following votes in November 2011. In 2013 a merger was announced between King & Wood Mallesons and the UK Silver Circle firm

. The firm used a

Swiss Verein A Swiss association ("" in German, "" in French, "" in Italian) is a type of corporation in Swiss law. It is similar to the Anglo-American voluntary association. Unlike in Germany, a Swiss association does not need to be registered in order to ...

structure, and had four financially independent partnerships: Australia; Europe and the Middle East; Hong Kong; and

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

and the United States.

Demise of KWM Europe

In 2016 a substantial number of important partners at KWM Europe left the firm, and attempts to find merger partners failed. It was subsequently announced the firm was being advised by external administrators. In November 2016 a memorandum was circulated to European partners of KWM outlining terms of a potential 'bail out' under which they would have to commit to a 12 month lock-in period, and provide capital to the firm. Additional capital would be provided by the Chinese arm of the business. This deal failed to win approval, and by the end of November KWM announced it would disband its European partnership. The law firms of

Goodwin Procter Goodwin Procter LLP is an American multinational law firm. It is one of the largest law firms in the world as measured by revenue and consists of more than 1,800 lawyers across offices in Boston, Cambridge, Frankfurt, Munich, Hong Kong, London, ...

and

Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has addition ...

were in discussions to hire key partners from KWM Europe. In January 2017, the European arm became subject to administration and ceased operations. The Australian, Chinese, and Hong Kong portions of KWM, which are financially and legally separate, were otherwise unaffected. Following the insolvency of KWM Europe, the remaining Asia-Pacific side of the firm established a new business to maintain a strategic presence in the UK, Europe & the Middle East to service the needs of its global clients. KWM at that time established core practices in London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Brussels and Dubai. New companies of the KWM network were established in the UK (KWM Europe LLP) and Germany (KWM Europe Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH). The new European platform focused on Corporate M&A, Finance, Competition and Dispute Resolution and had more than 30 partners, together with associates and support staff. In 2023, KWM China announced that it would, subject to regulatory requirements, cease to operate in the UK, Europe and the Middle East by 31 October 2024, as part of a cooperation agreement reached with Eversheds Sutherland (International).

Operations

Finances

In 2012–13, the firm's total global revenue was US$1 billion, with revenue per lawyer of US$453,000 in China, and profit per equity partner of AU$1.08 million in Australia and £610,000 in Europe.

Pro bono

King & Wood Mallesons has a community impact practice which supports the community through pro bono legal services, community services, and philanthropy. In 2021, more than 91% of the firm's Australian lawyers took part in pro bono work, contributing over 54,000 pro bono hours.. The firm is a long-time partner of Youth Law Australia, a community legal centre that provides free legal services to children and young people across Australia. The firm provides a full-time solicitor on secondment to Youth Law Australia and the firm's solicitors also volunteer as part of the Cyber Volunteer Program. Other organisations supported by the firm's pro bono services include: homeless law clinics, refugee legal clinics, and the Arts Law Centre. TalkLaw is the firm's community legal education initiative which educates disadvantaged high school students across Australia about legal topics relevant to young people. The KWM School of Opportunity provides disadvantaged young people with a work placement and skills development program.

Notable cases and transactions

Australia

* Advised on the merger of

Glencore Glencore plc is an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's oil and gas headquarters are in London, London, England as well a ...

and

Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It was a major producer of coal (and the world's largest exporter o ...

. * Advised Square Inc (now

Block Inc Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

) on its A$39 billion acquisition of Afterpay Ltd, the largest M&A deal in Australian history. * Advised Lygon on the creation of the world's first digital bank guarantee using blockchain technology. * Advised Woolworths on its A$400 million green loan, the first supermarket in the world to issue certified green bonds. * Advised

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport — colloquially Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport or Mascot Airport — is an international airport serving Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district, in the subu ...

on its A$1.4 billion sustainability-linked loan, the first syndicated sustainability-linked loan in Australia and the largest in Asia-Pacific.

China

* Advised on the

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

. * Sole legal advisor to the Beijing Organising Committee of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. * Advised

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

with respect to an antimonopoly investigation by the

State Administration for Industry and Commerce The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC; ) was the authority in the People's Republic of China responsible for advancing legislation concerning the administration of industry and commerce in the People's Republic. On a local leve ...

. * Advised

Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet services and artificial intelligence. It holds a dominant position in China's search engine market (via Baidu Search), and provides a wide variety of o ...

on its HK$24 billion secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

United Kingdom

* Advised

Lion Capital LLP Lion Capital LLP is a British private equity firm specialising in investments in the consumer sector. Previous and current consumer brands owned by Lion have included Weetabix, Jimmy Choo Ltd, Jimmy Choo, Wagamama, Kettle Foods and AllSaints. Th ...

on a string of deals including on the acquisition of fashion chain

AllSaints AllSaints is a British fashion retailer headquartered in London, UK.La Ferla, Ruth,The Romance of Jack the Ripper, ''New York Times'', 8 June 2010.Smith, Adam,", ''Fast Company'', 1 October 2010.Kaupthing Kaupthing Bank (, ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic-based operations were ...

and

Glitnir ''Forseti Seated in Judgment'' (1881) by Carl Emil Doepler Forseti (Old Norse "the presiding one", "president" in modern Icelandic and Faroese) is the god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identified with Fosit ...

, and the £1.4 billion acquisition of French frozen food business Picard Surgelés.

Awards and recognition

Awards and recognition include: * Law Firm of the Year, Australasian Law Awards (2022, 2023) * Australian Law Firm of the Year, Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards (2020, 2024) * Chinese Law Firm of the Year, Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards (2020) * Regional Law Firm of the Year, IFLR Asia Awards (2020, 2021, 2023) * Chambers Asia-Pacific Band 1 rankings across a record 21 practice areas * Largest International Law Firm in Hong Kong, ALB Asia Top 50 Rankings (2021) * Golden League Award, China Business Law Awards by Law.asia (2024)

Criticism

In 2018, WorkSafe Victoria launched an investigation into the firm, following complaints of overworked staff due to the high demands of working on the

Banking Royal Commission The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, also known as the Banking Royal Commission and the Hayne Royal Commission, was a royal commission established on 14 December 2017 by the Austral ...

. Responses made by the firm to the investigation were reported by the AFR. In 2024, with regard to

United States sanctions against China The United States government applies economic sanctions against certain institutions and key members of the government of the People's Republic of China and its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), certain companies linked to the People's Liberat ...

, King & Wood Mallesons advised its clients in China to not to release public statements that "could attract the suspicion of or trigger an investigation by US regulators".

Notable alumni

The following list includes notable people who have worked at King & Wood Mallesons. *

Jayne Jagot Jayne Margaret Jagot () is a justice of the High Court of Australia. She was appointed to the High Court in October 2022. Jagot was previously a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. Before that, she served as a judge of the Land and Environ ...

– High Court of Australia Justice * Simon Steward – High Court of Australia Justice * Geoffrey Nettle – former High Court of Australia Justice *

Emilios Kyrou Emilios Kyrou (; born 8 November 1959) is a Greek-Australian jurist and former lawyer. He is the inaugural President of the Administrative Review Tribunal and was the last President of its predecessor, the former Administrative Appeals Tribu ...

– President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Federal Court of Australia judge, and former Victorian Supreme Court Judge *

Nye Perram Nye Perram (born 1969) is an Australian judge. He has been a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia since his appointment in August 2008 at the age of 39. Prior to his appointment, Perram practised as a Senior Counsel in Sydney. Perram was educ ...

- Federal Court of Australia Judge * Lisa Hespe - Federal Court of Australia Judge * Lucy McCallum – ACT Chief Justice * Julie Ward – NSW Court of Appeal President *

Mark Leeming Mark James Leeming is a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the highest court in the State of New South Wales, Australia, which forms part of the Australian court hierarchy. He is one of the current authors of ...

- NSW Supreme Court Judge * Anna Mitchelmore - NSW Supreme Court Judge * Ashley Black – NSW Supreme Court Judge * Kelly Rees – NSW Supreme Court Judge * Reginald Barrett – NSW Supreme Court Judge * Richard Weeks White – NSW Supreme Court Judge * Trish Henry – NSW Supreme Court Judge * Ian Pike - NSW Supreme Court Judge * Anthony McGrath - NSW Supreme Court Judge * David Davies - NSW Supreme Court Judge * Robertson Wright - NSW Supreme Court Judge * Tim Faulkner, NSW Supreme Court Judge *

Patricia Bergin Patricia Anne Bergin is a former judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Early life and education Bergin was born in Sydney, NSW, the daughter of Olga and Denis Bergin, and went to school at Sacré Cœur, Kincoppal. Bergin attended ...

– former NSW Supreme Court Chief Judge in Equity * Frances Williams - Queensland Supreme Court Judge * Patricia Matthews - Victorian Supreme Court Judge * Joanne Cameron – former Victorian Supreme Court Judge * Michael Lundberg - WA Supreme Court judge *

Larissa Strk Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

– WA Supreme Court Judge *

Michael Corboy Edwin Michael Corboy is a Deputy Commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission and former justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. He commenced work as a solicitor at Norton Rose. He then joined Stone James (now King & Wood Malles ...

– WA Supreme Court Judge

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King and Wood Mallesons Law firms established in 2012 Law firms of Australia Law firms of China Law firms of Hong Kong Law firms of the United Kingdom Foreign law firms with offices in Japan Foreign law firms with offices in the United States Organizations established in 2012