Johnson Stokes & Master walked away with four awards at the 25th ALB Hong Kong Law Awards, including the night’s top honour, Hong Kong Law Firm of the Year, while Clifford Chance and Davis Polk & Wardwell each secured three awards apiece at the star-studded ceremony marking a quarter-century of celebrating legal excellence in the city.
Clifford Chance and Davis Polk dominate the night
Held on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, the awards welcomed around 450 guests from across Hong Kong’s legal community to celebrate the profession’s achievements over the past year.
Clifford Chance, long known for its heavyweight disputes practice in Asia, won the Opus 2 Award for Civil Litigation Law Firm of the Year, as well as Regulation and Investigations Law Firm of the Year, and Fintech Lawyer of the Year for Rocky Mui. Its success reflected the firm’s continued investment in cross-border litigation capabilities and its ability to adapt to evolving regulatory environments.
Davis Polk & Wardwell, one of the top US firms active in Hong Kong’s capital markets and M&A space, had a strong showing on the night, picking up three awards. The firm was named Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law Firm of the Year, highlighting its growing footprint advising on TMT deals in the region. On the individual side, Li He was named Dealmaker of the Year, recognising his work on the year’s standout transactions, while Martin Rogers took home Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year for his contributions to its contentious practice.
Competition and scale
This year’s edition was the most competitive in the awards’ history. More than 190 organisations participated, including over 120 law firms and more than 60 in-house legal teams, with over 50 organisations taking part for the first time. Across 56 award categories, organisers received nearly 900 submissions.
The submissions tell us about the velocity and depth of Hong Kong market. With 60 submissions involving equity market transactions and 40 focused on M&A, together, they demonstrate that Hong Kong remains an active, dynamic and highly trusted hub with a unique position bridging the East and West,” said Amantha Chia, senior director at Thomson Reuters, in her welcome address. “Hong Kong is pulsing with flourishing despite global uncertainty. The firms and practitioners we celebrate tonight have been integral to maintaining this competitive edge.”
Other big winners included King & Wood, taking home the International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year award for its cross-border arbitration work. Sullivan & Cromwell’s Kay Ian Ng, a veteran of the firm’s Hong Kong corporate practice, was named Managing Partner of the Year.
In-house teams take centre stage
The in-house categories too saw a wide spread of winners across sectors. HSBC took home the Robertsons Award for Hong Kong In-House Team of the Year, with its in-house team playing a central role in the largest M&A transaction in Hong Kong in a decade this year: the bank’s $13.6 billion privatisation of subsidiary Hang Seng Bank, which marked the largest privatisation in Hong Kong’s history.
Meanwhile, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) won the Jingtian & Gongcheng Award for Investment Banking In-House Team of the Year.