Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM) is one of the oldest and largest law firms in Asia 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 firm Mayer Brown and the Asia practice was called Mayer Brown JSM (and from 1 September 2018, Mayer Brown). 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 Hong Kong split into two Hong Kong firms Mayer Brown and Johnson Stokes & Master. JSM now has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing and 120 lawyers including 40 partners. .

History

Johnson Stokes & Master was established in 1863 in Hong Kong by Edmund Sharp as a sole proprietorship at a time when Hong Kong had less than a dozen practising lawyers. Later, an office in Shanghai, China was set up in 1893. In 1890, the firm changed its name to Johnson, Stokes and Master, from Edmund Sharp & Toller. 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 to The 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 solicitor - the Oxford-educated Wei Wah-on, son of a compradore of the Chartered Mercantile Bank. In 1936, JSM moved into the air-conditioned offices of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Building. After the Second 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 major Asian cities. On 28 January 2008 JSM combined into Mayer Brown to become Mayer Brown JSM. Before the combination with Mayer Brown, JSM had offices in Hong Kong, where it was one of the leading law firms, and in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai on mainland China, as well as in Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi and Ho 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 to Mayer Brown. On 2 May 2024, it was announced that JSM would be de-coupling from Mayer 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. Terence Tung, senior partner of the Hong Kong partnership, said services would continue to be provided through offices in Hong Kong and the mainland. “Whilst we have always been known as ‘孖士打’ in Hong Kong, it is now the right time to build upon this important legacy to establish a new direction for the Hong Kong partnership as a leading independent law firm, responsive to the challenges and opportunities our clients navigate today,” said Tung. On December 2, 2024, Mayer Brown Hong Kong split into two Hong Kong firms Mayer Brown and Johnson Stokes & Master. JSM has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.

Awards

In 2008 JSM was awarded at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards as the: