Paul Hastings

The Hong Kong practice

What does Paul Hastings' Hong Kong office actually do?

Paul Hastings arrived in Hong Kong in 2002, merging with Koo & Partners, a local firm of around 100 lawyers, to open its first office in Asia. From the Bank of China Tower it now runs Hong Kong law and, on internationally marketed deals, US securities law, under Greater China chair and founding partner Raymond Li. Source ↗ The centre of gravity is equity capital markets, and in particular the Hong Kong IPO: the A and H share listings that bring mainland-listed companies onto the HKEX and open them to international money.

The scale is real. The firm's Greater China capital markets team runs to more than 60 professionals Source ↗, and in 2025 the office advised on 13 significant Hong Kong listings, several of them among the year's largest A+H offerings (below). Legal 500 ranks the Hong Kong capital markets (equity) practice among the foreign firms in the market. Source ↗ Around that IPO flow sit M&A, private equity, international arbitration and a regulatory and compliance practice.

That market position sets the work a junior touches. Because the office is built on high-volume capital markets deals, an intern or trainee here sits close to live listings: running due diligence, drafting and verifying prospectus sections, and building disclosure that has to hold up against both HKEX rules and, on the internationally offered tranches, US securities law. It is document-heavy, deadline-driven work, and the sheer number of deals means you see a lot of transactions in a short stretch.

Trainee & vacation scheme programme

How do you get into Paul Hastings Hong Kong?

One structural fact decides everything else. In Hong Kong, Paul Hastings does not take direct applications for its traineeship. The firm says it plainly: it does not accept direct applications for the traineeship, and all traineeship applications go through its internship. So the internship is the only door. The firm runs both summer and winter internship programmes, and the two-year training contract is offered to interns who perform. Source ↗

The firm targets penultimate-year law undergraduates and asks for at least a solid 2:1 or equivalent in law, high proficiency in English and good Chinese, plus the softer qualities it spells out: business acumen, communication, teamwork, a client-service focus, ambition and drive. You apply by emailing a cover letter, CV and transcripts to the Hong Kong recruiting team rather than working through a long online form. There is also a distinctive side entrance: the Paul Hastings Innovation Prize, a 1,000-word essay competition for penultimate-year University of Hong Kong law students, whose winners take a cash prize and a summer internship that can convert into a traineeship. Source ↗

Read those requirements against the deal list and the priorities are obvious. Given the client base, Chinese language is a genuine advantage, and the firm is hiring interns it can picture drafting and verifying on a live IPO within weeks.

Recent matters worth knowing

Which recent deals has Paul Hastings' Hong Kong office run?

These are the deals the Hong Kong office has publicly advised on, and they are the raw material for a good interview answer. They cluster where the office is strongest: A+H share listings and other Hong Kong IPOs by mainland companies.

1. BenQ Hospital's ~HK$626m HKEX IPODec 2025

   Paul Hastings acted for the joint sponsors, advising CICC and Citigroup and other underwriters on the roughly HK$626m (US$80m) global offering and Hong Kong listing of BenQ BM Holding, a private for-profit general hospital group in mainland China. Source ↗

2. Lens Technology's ~US$611m HKEX IPOJul 2025

   The firm advised the underwriters, including CITIC Securities and Merrill Lynch, on the roughly US$611m Hong Kong listing of Lens Technology, a Shenzhen-listed precision-manufacturing supplier to the smart-device industry. One of the year's larger A+H offerings, its Hong Kong public offering was oversubscribed more than 460 times. Source ↗

3. Fortior Technology's ~HK$2.2bn HKEX IPOJul 2025

   Paul Hastings advised Fortior Technology, a Shanghai STAR Market-listed integrated-circuit designer that makes motor-control chips, as issuer's counsel on its roughly HK$2.2bn (US$289m) A+H global offering and Hong Kong listing, drafting the prospectus. Source ↗

4. Haitian's ~US$1.3bn HKEX IPOJun 2025

   The firm acted for the joint sponsors and underwriters, including CICC, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, on the US$1.3bn Hong Kong listing of Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food, China's leading condiments maker. The deal created the first A+H dual-listed company in the PRC condiments industry and was one of the largest A+H IPOs on the HKEX in 2025. Source ↗

5. China Resources Beverage's ~US$650m HKEX IPOOct 2024

   Paul Hastings advised UBS, BOCI, CITIC Securities and Merrill Lynch as joint sponsors, and other underwriters, on the US$650m Hong Kong listing of China Resources Beverage, the packaged drinking water and soft-drinks group behind the C'estbon brand. Source ↗

Interview & selection intel

What does the Paul Hastings Hong Kong selection process look like?

Paul Hastings publishes little about how it interviews in Hong Kong, and there is no public assessment-centre format to reverse-engineer. What is clear is the shape of the front door. You apply by email, and selection runs through the internship rather than a single assessment day. The internship is the assessment. You are on the floor for weeks, and the traineeship offer follows from how you performed and how the partners you worked for rated you.

On the interviews around that, weigh second-hand accounts carefully. For a US firm's Hong Kong capital markets practice at this level, they test motivation (why a US firm's capital markets practice, why Hong Kong, why this firm rather than a Magic Circle or local option), commercial awareness anchored in the IPO market that fills the office's deal list, and language, because English and Chinese are both treated as essential here rather than a bonus. Since the internship work is document-heavy and runs to deadline, partners are also reading for precision and stamina, and on lean teams running large deals a rehearsed, generic answer stands out for the wrong reasons. 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 Paul Hastings Hong Kong?

Because there is no direct traineeship application and the internship is the assessment, your edge is a written application that wins the internship, cold deal knowledge, and a language edge. Here is where to put your preparation.

• 1Win the internship on paper first. There is no direct traineeship application, so everything rests on the CV, cover letter and transcript you email in. Every line has to pass the "So What" test: achievements and evidence of commercial motivation, not a list of modules and duties. Our guide to the top mistakes on HK applications shows the fixes, and building that case is the core of the Law Firm Application Academy.

• 2Walk in able to talk about a Hong Kong A+H IPO cold. This office runs on listings that bring mainland-listed companies onto the HKEX, so be able to explain a recent one without notes: who was on it, why the company wanted a Hong Kong listing and international investors, where the risk sat. Build that structured deal analysis in the Online Case Study Centre, stay current through the Weekly News Digest, and rehearse full assessment days at the Mock Assessment Centre.

• 3Treat the internship as one long interview, and use your language edge. The traineeship is decided on the placement, so every drafting task and every partner conversation is the assessment. Rehearse your motivation answers, why this firm, why capital markets, why Hong Kong, out loud, make both your English and your Chinese visible, and pressure-test all of it through in-person coaching before you start.

Quick answers

Paul Hastings Hong Kong, in five questions