Asia Spotlight: Han Kun Law Offices

Firm overview

Locations: Headquartered in Beijing with branch offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Haikou, Wuhan and Hong Kong.

History

Han Kun was established in Beijing in 2004 and has since become a leading full-service law firm in China with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Haikou, Wuhan and Hong Kong. Over the years, we have been known for our ability to handle complex domestic and international transactions and high-stakes dispute resolution matters. We are also known as a firm where professionals are able to combine their talents and experience to optimise services for our clients.

Our practice areas include private equity, mergers and acquisitions, international and domestic capital markets, investment funds, asset management, competition law, banking and finance, aviation finance, foreign direct investment, compliance, private client wealth management, intellectual property and dispute resolution. All lawyers at Han Kun are graduates of top universities in China or abroad and many have worked at prestigious international law firms.

Key practice areas

Mergers & acquisitions; capital markets; private equity & venture capital investments; fund formation; banking & finance; compliance and data protection; antitrust & competition; insolvency & restructuring; dispute resolution; intellectual property; family law.

View Han Kun's rankings in the Greater China Region, Chambers Global and Chambers FinTech guides.

Philosophy

We strive to be trusted advisors for our clients. We believe that legal services are useful and effective only when clients trust our ability and experience, quality and efficiency and, above all, integrity and judgement. Trust is also the cornerstone of our firm culture. We value each other, learn from each other and rejoice being in the company of each other. With trust we grow with clients. With trust we thrive as a firm.

Adjacent to trust is our belief that legal knowledge and training must be combined with business sense to solve real problems. We grow with clients only if we take ownership of their problems and find solutions.

Firm culture

We organise ourselves in ways that reward cooperation among all our employees for the sole purpose of serving our clients with consistent quality, efficiency and pride. This is made possible by our emphasis on transparency in all key aspects of the firm’s operation and organisation including the management structure, decision-making processes, client relationships, individual performance, promotions and compensation. Transparency instils a sense of ownership and empowers all to trust each other for the benefit of ourselves and clients alike.

Strategy and future

We follow the needs of our clients to formulate strategies. As a general matter, our strategy is to ensure that at any given time we have the requisite skill sets and industry knowledge to meet their diverse needs. As many of our clients are in the fast-evolving technology and new economy sectors dependent on the global market, a new challenge we face these days is to help them deal with the increasing volatilities resulting from the seismic changes in the world economic and geopolitical landscapes. These volatilities not only affect the business operations of the clients, but also impact their decisions to retain legal services. Clients expect more than ever that their trusted advisors deliver practical solutions, rather than academic analysis of risks, to help them ride out these challenges. Their expectations guide our strategies for today and tomorrow.

 

Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Haikou, and Wuhan

Locations

• Beijing: 9/F, Office Tower C1, Oriental Plaza, 1 East Chang An Ave, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100738, PRC

• Shanghai: 33/F, HKRI Center Two, HKRI Taikoo Hui, 288 Shimen Road (No. 1), Jing'an District, Shanghai 200041, PRC

• Shenzhen: 20/F, Kerry Plaza Tower 3, 1-1 Zhongxinsi Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 518048, Guangdong, PRC

• Haikou: Room 1903, The Form Plaza Tower A, 105 Binhai Road, Longhua District, Haikou 570100, Hainan, PRC

• Wuhan: Room 3107-18, Chicony Center, 10 Luoyu Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PRC

• Hong Kong: Rooms 3901-05, 39/F., Edinburgh Tower, The Landmark, 15 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong SAR, PRC

 

Work highlights

• We are a leader in a wide variety ofVC/PE transactions ranging from seed round to pre-IPO stage investments. Our clients include domestic and international investors, corporate stars, unicorns and start-ups positioned on the cutting edge of many leading industries. Over the past two years, we have assisted clients in the closing of over 1,200 VC/PE transactions with a total deal value of over RMB 600 billion.
• Our mergers and acquisitions practice has consistently won accolades from clients and peer firms alike and is highly recognised by top legal publications. Our strength is best exemplified in our ability to represent both Chinese and international clients in complex domestic and cross-border transactions.
• Our life sciences and healthcare practice has expanded rapidly recently, taking advantage of the intense interest of many VC/PE clients in this sector. Although a relative newcomer in this space, we are now highly ranked in healthcare by Chambers Greater China Region.
• We have a robust capital markets team active in both domestic and international public equity and debt transactions. We regularly represent issuers, underwriters and special advisors in public listings, follow-on issuances and bond issuances on domestic and foreign capital markets.  We provide clients with comprehensive solutions dealing with the structuring and dismantling of red chip structures, pre-IPO financings, business restructurings and regulatory inquiries and investigations.
• Our antitrust and compliance practice has been particularly active recently in response to regulatory changes, the expansion of the market (such as data compliance) and enhanced needs of clients.  We communicate regularly with the relevant government authorities and provide clients with on-the-spot practical solutions. 
• Our dispute resolution practice has undergone the fastest growth in recent years both in terms of headcount and revenue contribution. It handles both commercial disputes and IP litigations. The commercial dispute resolution team handles both litigation and arbitration and helps clients resolve disputes arising from a wide range of commercial and economic sectors including life sciences and healthcare, investments and financings, manufacturing and distribution of innovative drug products. Our IP team includes specialists in biology, pharmacology and mechanical engineering who have extensive experience in patent infringement and invalidation, trade secrets protection and unfair competition litigations and regulatory investigations.

 

Hong Kong

Our office in Hong Kong currently works in association with Miao & Co. It is highly recognised and acclaimed for its equity and debt capital markets, private equity investment, cross-border M&A transaction, fund formation, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution practices.

Our Hong Kong office has 6 senior partners and 30 associates and paralegals.  Many of them are qualified to practice law in multiple jurisdictions and are recognised as leaders in their respective areas of practice.

 

Opportunities at Han Kun Law Offices

Entry requirements/application criteria (domestic candidates)

Profile of new associates:

• We look for highly motivated individuals with a strong commitment to the practice of law
• Graduates of top Chinese and foreign law schools with excellent academic credentials
• Ability to work effectively in a competitive environment
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Excellent verbal and writing skills in Chinese and English

Interns

Our internship program aims to attract talents to join us as regular associates. All interns will be exposed to different practice groups and assigned to real legal work under guidance of experienced lawyers during their internship. The purpose is to acquaint the interns with the people, practice and culture of the firm to help them prepare to transition from academic studies to the practice of law.

Application procedures

• Our HR team will evaluate the credentials, experience and skill sets of each candidate.
• Our HR team will conduct a phone interview with each candidate.
• The phone interview will be followed by a second interview with a partner practicing in the area in which the candidate has expressed interest.
• A written test will be conducted either online or in our office.
• Once a hiring decision is made, our HR team will inform the candidate of the decision.

Salary and benefits: We offer competitive salary and compensation packages to all our professionals and other employees. We provide all our professionals with better social insurances and other benefits than the market norm.

Lateral recruitment

Typical profile of lateral recruits

• Highly motivated individuals with excellent academic credentials and strong commitment to excellence.
• Prior experience with a reputable law firm or organisation with favourable references.
• Excellent verbal and writing skills in Chinese and English.

Recruitment contacts

Beijing:             hr.bj@hankunlaw.com

Shanghai:         hr.sh@hankunlaw.com

Shenzhen:        hr.sz@hankunlaw.com

Haikou:             hr.hn@hankunlaw.com

Wuhan:             hr.wh@hankunlaw.com

Hong Kong:       hr.hk@hankunlaw.com