The Hong Kong legal arm of Big Four accounting firm Deloitte has made its first partner hires since it launched in January.

Peter Chen and Danny Lau join Deloitte's affiliated firm, J. E. Jamison & Co., as partners – both from China-based Zhong Lun Law Firm.

Chen is also a certified public accountant and advises on tax matters, as well as on international trade and outbound investments. He joined Zhong Lun as a partner in 2012 from China's DeHeng Law Offices, where he was a tax partner. Between 2005 and 2010, he was a partner at Deloitte and headed the China tax desk in New York.

Lau, who is qualified to practise law in both Hong Kong and mainland China, focuses on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and general corporate commercial matters. He joined Zhong Lun in 2012 and made partner this past January.

Deloitte also has had an affiliated law firm in mainland China, Qin Li Law Firm, since 2013, which has five partners in Beijing and four partners in Shanghai, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and tax matters.

Last month, The Asian Lawyer reported that as many as 10 lawyers from Zhong Lun have been approached to join J. E. Jamison & Co., including Chen and current corporate partner Victor Yang, who served as Hong Kong office managing partner until 2017.

Patrick Yip, Deloitte China's vice-chair, told The Asian Lawyer in late November that J. E. Jamison & Co. will have 25 lawyers, including six partners, focusing on corporate and commercial matters. The only other lawyer currently at J. E. Jamison & Co. is name partner and Deloitte China general counsel James Jamison.

Meanwhile, Deloitte's Big Four rivals have already hired core partners for their own affiliated Hong Kong law firms. Since last year, EY's LC Lawyers and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Tiang & Partners have hired five partners and four partners, respectively, all from international firms; and KPMG's SF Lawyers has recruited three partners since its launch in January.