no . of offices 4 worldwide no . of attorneys over 300 no . of employees over 630 major practice areas full service date founded 1851 founder william bridges company type partnership website www.deacons.com.hk deacons is hong kong s oldest and largest independent full service top tier law firm 1 with three offices in mainland china in shanghai beijing and guangzhou . it benefits from the long established relationships with hong kong s business community including the hksar government large local conglomerates such as shangri la hotels & resorts tsui wah holdings limited and kerry logistics network limited 2 and well known multinational corporation such as mcdonald s corp. samsung and yahoo inc . 3 deacons also has well established relationships with other independent law firms around the world through its membership of international networks of independent law firms such as lex mundi interlex world services group and employment law alliance . the firm is based in hong kong and has offices in beijing guangzhou and shanghai . 4 beyond hong kong and the people s republic of china deacons has established offices or affiliates in australia indonesia malaysia singapore taiwan and thailand . 5 6 in hong kong and china deacons provides legal services to a wide range of clients mainly from medium to large scale businesses . private elevators to deacons hong kong office at alexandra house central inside the alexandra house until now it has an office of 6 entire floors in alexandra house in central . the office is equipped with internal staircases across different floors and two private elevators exclusively for the use of deacons . it also extends its office to sheung wan . contents 1 history 2 practice areas 3 recognition 4 references 5 external links history edit the firm is named for the english solicitor victor deacon who in 1880 joined the legal practice established by william bridges in 1851 in hong kong . 7 bridges was the second barrister to commence practice in hong kong . within two years victor deacon was made a partner and within 20 years under his own name he had firmly established deacons as one of the colony s leading law firms a position it has retained to this day . in 1860 with offices on queen s road the firm was based close to the supreme court . deacons grew steadily throughout the 20th century flourishing during hong kong s post war boom . by the mid 1970s deacons was a busy full service business law firm and a highly respected name in commercial circles throughout asia . in 1910 the larger firm required bigger office space and deacons moved to ice house street . since 1985 it has resided in alexandra house progressively taking more floor space to accommodate the expanding team of lawyers . until now it has an office of 6 floors in alexandra house . it also has an office in sheung wan . in 1986 deacons opened an initial presence in the people s republic of china in beijing . in 2002 deacons established a representative office in beijing and was one of the first hong kong law firms to be granted a licence to open a second office in the prc . in 2005 deacons became the first firm to be awarded a third foreign law firm licence in mainland china . in 2016 deacons celebrates 165 years in hong kong . 8 practice areas edit deacons is listed in the legal 500 and chambers and partners . 9 10 it is globally ranked to be a top tier law firm particularly in real estate intellectual property investment funds and insurance services . 11 it has 15 key service areas including 12 banking & finance capital markets china trade & investment construction corporate and m & a employment & pensions insolvency & restructuring insurance intellectual property investment funds litigation & dispute resolution private clients real estate regulatory tax within these areas it has over 80 specializations in view of its substantial manpower 13 such as international arbitration entertainment & media and japan services . 14 15 recognition edit deacons has been awarded for its service corporate social responsibility csr employee benefits and working environment over the decades . a selection of the most recent awards includes 16 chambers asia pacific winner 2016 chambers asia pacific hong kong law firm of the year 2016 iflr hong kong firm of the year 2016 asian legal business employer of choice 2016 asian legal business annual csr list awardee 2016 chambers asia pacific hong kong law firm of the year 2015 china law & practice s hong kong firm of the year 2015 international financial law review asia awards winner 2016 asian mena counsel most responsive domestic law firm of the year 2015 iflr hong kong firm of the year 2015 asian legal business employer of choice 2015 asian legal business citizenship law firm of the year 2015 the asian lawyer references edit england vaudine 1998 . the quest of noel croucher hong kong s quiet philanthropist . hong kong hong kong university press . pp. 195 207 . isbn 9622094732 . china intellectual property international firms lawyers & law firms asia pacific chambers and partners . www.chambersandpartners.com . retrieved 2016 02 05 . wong douglas . hong kong law firm deacons plans independent expansion in china . bloomberg.com . retrieved 2016 02 05 . http www.deacons.com.hk eng aboutus location.htm sumitra giri . deacons . world attorney directory . retrieved 2016 02 05 . top law firm protects its information with confidence with symantec solutions . www.symantec.com . retrieved 2016 02 05 . deacons website about us our heritage deacons . www.deacons.com.hk . retrieved 2016 02 05 . http www.legal500.com default recommended firms deacons hong kong law firm profile chambers global 2015 chambers and partners . www.chambersandpartners.com . retrieved 2016 02 10 . the legal 500 deacons hong kong what we say . www.legal500.com . retrieved 2016 02 10 . our services deacons . deacons . retrieved 2016 02 05 . local and international business finance and commercial law in hong kong deacons . hg legal resources . retrieved 2016 02 10 . deacons names new head of japan services asian legal business . www.legalbusinessonline.com . retrieved 2016 02 05 . media & entertainment deacons . www.deacons.com.hk . retrieved 2016 02 05 . http www.esxinc.com lex mundi the world s leading network of independent law firms . esx inc. lex mundi lex mundi the world s leading law firm network . www.lexmundi.com . retrieved 2016 02 05 . external links edit official website plc which lawyer web site findlaw.com website martindale website http www.deacons.com.hk eng index.htm retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title deacons law firm & oldid 738221163 categories law firms of hong konglaw firms established in 18511851 establishments in hong kong navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom 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