Firm Friends
Leadership, legacy and the alumni litmus test – Ben Hammond, Hong Kong Managing Partner, Ashurst
By his own admission, Ben Hammond "fell into law due to a vague sense of competition". He was studying English language and literature at Oxford when his best friend, who was doing the same, managed to land a summer holiday job at Slaughter and May. Not one to be outdone, Ben secured a winter placement at the same firm.
Ben trained with Slaughter and May and initially qualified as a tax lawyer before transitioning to regulatory law during the global financial crisis. There he found his legal calling, simply because regulatory law combines the cerebral challenge of financial regulation with the opportunity to facilitate business.
After working for a decade in London, Ben started looking for new opportunities. When the opportunity arose to move to Ashurst in Hong Kong and establish a Financial Services Regulatory practice, it was the beginning of the adventure he’d been hoping for.
The appeal of Hong Kong
Ben’s opportunity to establish the practice fit right in with the entrepreneurial activity he encountered in Hong Kong.
"I really enjoy London, but I love the possibilities Hong Kong offers," said Ben. "Before we moved here, I had been to Hong Kong to meet the local team and look for an apartment. I remember talking to one of the senior associates who said he wouldn’t be around when I got back because he was going to start a bank! That’s not the sort of conversation you have in London."
The idea of moving to Hong Kong also appealed to Ben’s cultural curiosity: "Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan ever-changing city that’s often misunderstood. While many people who call Hong Kong home come from (or have generational connections with) Mainland China, there’s also an incredibly diverse mix of people from around the world who live here. I was surprised to discover my own Jewish heritage has a long-standing presence in Hong Kong. In fact, the Ohel Leah Synagogue is more than 120 years old." He added, "Hong Kong itself is so often misrepresented as being a concrete jungle. In reality, it’s also a place of mountains, parks, palm trees and beaches. On weekends, my wife and I often take our three children to rural South Lantau where buffalo can be seen roaming on the roads."
.jpg?rev=697fc00e6bb84ff49351704e0210e8ee)
(Ben at the finish line, Happy Valley Racecourse, Hong Kong)
Witnessing change…
Ben’s seen a lot of change over the past decade, including from 2021 in his role as Hong Kong Managing Partner.
The office has grown exponentially in size and market reputation, notably in its highly regarded Finance, Disputes and Corporate practices. Ben’s also been pleased to see the office cement its identity as a Hong Kong firm that is part of an international firm. This is reflected in the number of people choosing to spend their entire career at the firm, by the increasing prevalence of home-grown promotions over lateral hires, and the fact that Cantonese, Mandarin and English are all spoken at work.
During this time, Ben has also seen the Hong Kong market change significantly. "When I arrived 10 years ago, Hong Kong was often seen as a stepping stone into China for the UK, the US and Australia, and vice versa. Now, globalisation is no longer a linear narrative, and Hong Kong as a hub reflects that, as new axes of trade open up with regions such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia."
Ben has also advised on several market-changing deals, including advising HSBC as platform provider to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on the world's first multicurrency digital bond offering. In February 2023, he advised Goldman Sachs as platform provider when the Hong Kong Government issued the first-ever sovereign tokenised green bond, which was groundbreaking globally.
"Digitalisation will continue to transform the way we work. Distributed ledger technology is enabling markets to respond to the demands of business now being done at speed across jurisdictions and time zones, with greater ease and improved regulatory oversight," said Ben. "While transformation creates many opportunities, the speed of change we’re witnessing can be disconcerting for younger lawyers who are establishing their careers. I think the most important thing they can do, regardless of their area of expertise, is to hone their judgement skills, because that’s where a lawyer’s value will always lie," he added.
In recognition of this type of cutting-edge work, and our other innovation initiatives, Ashurst was named the Most Innovative Law Firm in Asia-Pacific (headquartered outside Asia-Pacific) at the FT Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers Awards 2025 for the second year in a row.
…and valuing the important constants
Ben credits Ashurst with giving him the opportunity, trust and freedom to build the practice and to be part of the partnership’s collective effort in shaping the Hong Kong office and contributing to its significant growth. Ben’s also grateful to have worked with so many great clients and colleagues along the way.
(Ben (left) with Jini Lee at 2024 Hong Kong alumni reunion celebrating the office relocation to Jardine House)
As a leader, Ben supports people in similar ways: "I think it’s important to empower people, while giving them clear guardrails in terms of how we go about our business. If I can support people to take their career in the direction they want, they’ll enjoy what they do. And that’s good for everyone. I also think it’s really important to be a good role model, to be honest with people and to have fun together," said Ben.
"At the end of the day, employment relationships should be fulfilling, not merely transactional. So, if valuing the time we spend together as colleagues really means something, it should mean something outside the employment relationship too," said Ben.
He went on to say, "Our alumni are the truthtellers in this space. I was uplifted at a recent alumni event, because so many smiling people chose to come back and spend their evening with us despite having worked a full day – and the dismal weather outside. If I could choose my legacy, it would be that the meaningful relationships we have developed both with each other and with our clients remain part of the firm’s DNA."
