DeHeng Law Offices

The firm traces back to January 1993 when the Ministry of Justice launched the China Law Office. Big changes had been brewing in the country's legal service market when the firm was founded. Until 1992, all law firms had been state owned.

Naming dispute

A branch in Qingdao was opened in December 1993 called China Law Office Qingdao DeHeng Law Firm. The branch parted ways with China Law Office in 1995 and went by the name Deheng Law Firm. The Beijing-based head office also changed its name in 1995, becoming DeHeng Law Offices. The similar names caused confusion and led to a long running dispute. While the former Qingdao branch on separating changed one of the Chinese characters in its former parent's name to distinguish itself, the pinyin transliteration of the changed character is still "heng". The resulting name was different when written in Chinese characters but still identical when rendered in pinyin and sounding similar in spoken Chinese to the name of DeHeng Law Offices. As of 2017 the former Qingdao branch brands itself as Beijing DHH Law Firm rather than Deheng Law Firm.

Trial of the century

Criminal defense lawyers of DeHeng played a key role in the 2013 trial of Bo Xilai, a former paramount leader within the Communist Party, who was tried for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power in what was dubbed the trial of the century. DeHeng served as defense counsel with Li Guifang, a partner of the firm, appointed as chief defense attorney. The Wall Street Journal described DeHeng's role as acting as an "intermediary" that facilitated between Mr. Bo, his relatives and prosecutors the negotiation of "an outcome acceptable to all sides in the run-up to the trial—and to help ensure that the trial itself goes according to plan".

Global growth

The firm has considered a "tie-up" with an international law firm. David Chen, a managing partner of the firm and head of cross border transactions, in an interview with legal trade publication Legal Week in February 2015, suggested the firm was considering options for a merger to support outbound investments and mergers. The Chinese legal market had at the time witnessed two mergers between domestic firms and foreign firms with the merger of King & Wood and Mallesons Stephen Jaques to form King & Wood Mallesons in 2012 and the combination of Dacheng Law Offices and Dentons in early 2015.