US firm
Davis Polk
One of Wall Street's oldest firms, whose Hong Kong office is one of its largest anywhere outside the US and runs US securities law alongside Hong Kong law on the IPOs that take China's technology and biotech companies public on the HKEX.
- Category
- US firm
- Origin
- New York, founded 1849
- HK presence
- In Hong Kong since 1993; one of the firm's largest offices outside the US, with 50+ lawyers across Hong Kong, US and English law
- HK strengths
- Hong Kong and US IPOs, equity & debt capital markets, US securities, M&A
The Hong Kong practice
What does Davis Polk's Hong Kong office actually do?
Davis Polk opened in Hong Kong in 1993, one of the first Wall Street firms to plant a flag in the city. Today it is one of the firm's largest offices outside the United States, with more than fifty lawyers admitted to practise Hong Kong, US and English law from the same floor. That combination is the point of the office. When a mainland Chinese company wants to list in Hong Kong and reach US institutional investors on the same deal, this is a firm built to run both sides of it. Source ↗
The work is concentrated in equity capital markets, and Legal 500 ranks the Hong Kong equity practice in its top tier. The client base is China's technology and life-sciences names: AI model developers, autonomous-driving companies, chip designers and drug-discovery firms raising money on the HKEX, usually through a Rule 144A and Regulation S structure that pulls in international money. Around that IPO engine sit US-listed follow-ons, block trades, high-yield and investment-grade debt, and M&A. In 2025, LSEG ranked it the number-one international law firm advising issuers on Asia IPOs and common stock offerings. Source ↗ Source ↗
For a junior, that market position sets the work. On a capital markets seat you sit close to live listings: running due diligence, drafting and verifying prospectus sections, and building disclosure that has to satisfy both HKEX rules and US securities law, alongside the banks and the company on drafting calls. It is document-heavy, deadline-driven work. Because the office is lean and the deals are large, juniors here tend to get real responsibility early.
Summer programme & trainee route
How do you get into Davis Polk Hong Kong?
Davis Polk recruits into Hong Kong through two doors, and they are not the doors most Magic Circle applicants know. There is no mass undergraduate vacation scheme here. The firm runs a US-style summer associate programme and a separate Hong Kong trainee solicitor route.
The China summer programme is the higher-profile one, and it comes with a hard gate. It is aimed at rising second-year law-school (2L) students who are fluent in written and spoken Mandarin and who want to qualify into the Hong Kong or Beijing office after graduation. Summer associates work on live corporate, dispute resolution and regulatory matters, are each matched with a partner mentor and an associate liaison, and can split the summer between the two offices. Pay follows the US model: the firm publishes an annualised Asia summer salary of US$225,000, prorated for the weeks worked. You apply direct, with a CV, transcript and cover letter to the firm's recruiting team, rather than through a long online form. Source ↗
The second route is the Hong Kong trainee solicitor programme, a two-year training contract for candidates qualifying as Hong Kong solicitors through the PCLL. Be clear-eyed about its shape: the firm promises trainees early responsibility and meaningful work, but it lists trainee solicitors on its careers site alongside lateral hires rather than under its student programmes, and there is no published annual deadline — a small door you knock on, not a campaign you wait for. On selection the firm is consistent about the basics: a strong academic record, precise commercial motivation, and, given the client base, Chinese language ability is a genuine advantage on either route. Source ↗
Watch out
Application windows move every cycle, and Davis Polk's Asia recruiting runs on its own timetable rather than the Magic Circle calendar. Check the Elite Pathfinder deadline tracker instead of last year's date, and if you land a summer place, the Vacation Scheme Academy covers how to turn it into an offer.
Recent matters worth knowing
Which recent deals has Davis Polk's Hong Kong office run?
These are the matters the Hong Kong office has publicly led or advised on, and they cluster where it is strongest: headline HKEX IPOs for China's AI, chip and biotech names, most run under Rule 144A and Regulation S. They are the raw material for a good interview answer.
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Montage Technology's ~HK$7.04bn HKEX IPOFeb 2026
Davis Polk acted as Hong Kong and US counsel to Montage Technology, a Shanghai STAR Market-listed memory-interconnect chip designer, on its roughly HK$7.04bn (US$900m) global offering and Hong Kong listing under Rule 144A and Regulation S, the largest Hong Kong IPO by a Chinese semiconductor company in two decades. Source ↗
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MiniMax Group's ~HK$4.82bn HKEX IPOJan 2026
The firm advised AI large-language-model developer MiniMax as issuer's Hong Kong and US counsel on its roughly HK$4.82bn (US$620m) Hong Kong listing, reported as the largest IPO to date by an AI foundation-model company, with the retail tranche oversubscribed more than 1,800 times. Source ↗ Source ↗
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Insilico Medicine's ~HK$2.28bn HKEX IPODec 2025
Davis Polk was Hong Kong and US legal adviser to Insilico Medicine, an AI-driven drug-discovery company, on its HK$2.28bn Main Board listing on 30 December 2025, the largest Hong Kong biotech IPO of the year and the first AI-driven biotech company to list on the Main Board under the exchange's Rule 8.05 profit test. Source ↗ Source ↗
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Pony AI's ~HK$6.71bn dual-primary HK listingNov 2025
The firm advised autonomous-driving company Pony AI on its dual-primary Hong Kong listing, alongside its existing Nasdaq listing, in reliance on Regulation S, raising about HK$6.71bn. A clean example of the office's US-listed-plus-Hong-Kong work. Source ↗ Source ↗
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Horizon Robotics' ~HK$5.4bn HKEX IPOOct 2024
Davis Polk acted as Hong Kong and US legal adviser to Horizon Robotics, a China advanced-driver-assistance chip and software maker, on its roughly HK$5.41bn (US$696m) listing, the largest tech IPO in Hong Kong in 2024. Source ↗ Source ↗
Insider tip
Naming a deal is not enough; you have to explain the US-law angle behind it, so build the framework in our commercial awareness guide. Weekly breakdowns of deals exactly like these, what happened, why it happened, and how to use it in an interview, are what the paid Weekly News Digest delivers.
Interview & selection intel
What does the Davis Polk Hong Kong selection process look like?
Davis Polk publishes far less about its Hong Kong hiring than a Magic Circle firm does, and there is no public assessment-centre format to reverse-engineer. What is clear is the shape of the front door. For the summer route you apply by CV, transcript and cover letter to the firm's Asia recruiting team, not through a psychometric funnel, and Mandarin fluency is checked early rather than treated as a bonus.
On the interviews themselves, weigh second-hand accounts carefully, because most public Davis Polk interview reports come from its US offices. Candidates there describe a conversational style with few or no technical questions, weighted heavily toward motivation: why Davis Polk specifically, which practice areas interest you, why law. Expect that same logic in Hong Kong, sharpened by two local questions. Why a US firm's securities practice rather than a UK or local firm, and whether you genuinely follow the China capital markets story that fills the office's deal list. Partners here run lean teams on large deals, so they are hiring for judgement and precision, and a rehearsed, generic answer reads badly. Our guide to the Hong Kong vacation scheme interview walks through how these conversations actually run.
How to stand out
How do you stand out for Davis Polk Hong Kong?
Davis Polk screens on the written application first, so your edge is clean paper, a Hong Kong listing you can explain with the US-law angle, and a rehearsed motivation interview that uses any language advantage. Here is where to put your preparation.
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1Win on the written application. Davis Polk screens on a CV, transcript and cover letter before anyone meets you, so the paper is the real filter. Every line has to pass the "So What" test: achievements and evidence of commercial motivation, not a list of modules and duties, and our guide to the top mistakes on HK applications shows the lines to cut. Building that case is the core of the Law Firm Application Academy.
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2Walk in able to talk about a Hong Kong listing with the US-law angle. This office is built on IPOs that run under Rule 144A and Regulation S, so be able to explain a recent HKEX listing cold: who was on it, why the company wanted US investors, where the risk sat. Build that structured deal analysis in the Online Case Study Centre, keep current through the Weekly News Digest, and rehearse full assessment days at the Mock Assessment Centre.
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3Rehearse the motivation interview out loud, and use any language edge. The conversational interview rewards a precise answer to why a US securities practice, why Hong Kong, why this firm, and it punishes a generic one. If you have written and spoken Mandarin, make it visible, because it is a genuine gate for the China route. Pressure-test all of it through in-person coaching before you sit in front of a partner.
Quick answers
Davis Polk Hong Kong, in five questions
How do you get into Davis Polk Hong Kong?
Through two routes, not the usual Magic Circle vacation scheme. Davis Polk runs a US-style China summer associate programme and a separate Hong Kong trainee solicitor route. There is no mass undergraduate vacation scheme.
Does Davis Polk require Mandarin for the Hong Kong summer programme?
Yes. The China summer programme is aimed at rising second-year law-school (2L) students who are fluent in written and spoken Mandarin and who want to qualify into the Hong Kong or Beijing office after graduation.
What does the Davis Polk Hong Kong summer programme pay?
Pay follows the US model: the firm publishes an annualised Asia summer salary of US$225,000, prorated for the weeks worked.
What does the Davis Polk Hong Kong trainee route look like?
It is a two-year training contract for candidates qualifying as Hong Kong solicitors through the PCLL. The firm promises early responsibility and meaningful work, but it lists trainee solicitors alongside lateral hires rather than running an annual graduate campaign, so treat it as a small, direct-application door.
What does Davis Polk look for in Hong Kong applicants?
A strong academic record and precise commercial motivation. Given the client base, Chinese language ability is a genuine advantage on either route, and Mandarin fluency is a hard gate for the China summer programme.