Mayer Brown to drop 128-year-old iconic JSM name in Asia
Name change decision comes a decade after Mayer Brown merged with top Hong Kong firm Johnson Stokes & Master
August 30, 2018 at 01:00 PM
3 minute read
By John Kang
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
Mayer Brown's Asian arm, Mayer Brown JSM, is dropping the iconic JSM part of its firm name in English, marking the end of a 128-year-old history of one of Hong Kong's oldest and best-known law firm brands.
The change, which is confined only to the firm's brand name in English, will take effect on 1 September. The firm will continue to be known as Master Law Firm (孖士打律師行) in Chinese after the legacy Hong Kong firm Johnson Stokes & Master.
In 2008, Mayer Brown merged with Johnson Stokes & Master, a prominent Hong Kong-based firm, and has operated under Mayer Brown JSM across most of its Asian offices ever since.
The legacy JSM traces its history to 1863 through Edmund Sharp, a former lawyer in the colonial government who started one of the earliest solo practices in Hong Kong. Sharp's firm expanded and eventually adopted the name Johnson Stokes & Master in 1890.
At the time of the merger with JSM, Mayer Brown gained seven Asian offices: in Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Bangkok, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The firm subsequently closed the Guangzhou office and launched a Singapore office. In 2016, Mayer Brown JSM had 205 lawyers across its seven offices in Asia.
"We decided to change our name to Mayer Brown to align with our unified global brand, which reflects our stature as a distinctively global legal services provider," said Mayer Brown in a statement. "The name change will also eliminate any brand confusion that may exist."
The firm's name in Chinese will remain 孖士打, a Chinese transliteration of Master, as JSM is most recognised in Chinese-speaking markets, the firm statement said. The Chinese brand of Mayer Brown globally will also be 孖士打.
Lawyers in the Hong Kong office, including those from the legacy JSM, welcomed the name change, according to the firm, which said that as a global legal services provider, it is important to advise clients as one firm.
Mayer Brown is not the only firm in Hong Kong to have kept the name of a legacy firm in its name. The Hong Kong office of Pittsburgh-based Reed Smith operates as Reed Smith Richards Butler, after the legacy British firm's Hong Kong office.
In July, Miguel Zaldivar, Hogan Lovells' new Asia managing partner, told The Asian Lawyer that one of his priorities was to change the firm's brand perception in Hong Kong, a former British colony, where legacy Lovells seemed to have more lasting influence.
The decision to drop the JSM name in the English branding comes just months after former senior partner and JSM lifer Elaine Lo's exit from the firm. Lo, who joined JSM in 1979, led the negotiations for the firm to merge with Mayer Brown. Following the merger, she became head of the Asia board for the combined Mayer Brown JSM and joined the US firm's management committee.
Lo stepped down as Mayer Brown JSM's senior partner in 2016 but remained as a partner and head of its China practice until retiring from the partnership this past June. Terence Tung, a disputes partner, succeeded Lo as senior partner in 2016.
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