King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest international commercial law firm based in the Asia-Pacific.

Several of the associated banks entrusted their legal affairs to the firm, as well as a large number of leading insurance and other companies, so that Mr Malleson had always as much as he could do".

He was the second son of Sir Alfred Stephen, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 1844 to 1873.

In 2004 the firm strengthened its Beijing resources by taking on lawyers and support staff from Denton Wilde Sapte.

[8] Prior to merging with Mallesons Stephen Jacques, King & Wood was aligned with Australian law firm Gilbert + Tobin.

[15][16] In 2013 a merger was announced between King & Wood Mallesons and the UK Silver Circle firm SJ Berwin.

[17] The firm used a Swiss Verein structure, and had four financially independent partnerships: Australia; Europe and the Middle East; Hong Kong; and Mainland China, Japan and the United States.

[19] In November 2016 a memorandum was circulated to European partners of KWM outlining terms of a potential 'bail out' under which they would have to commit to a 12 month lock-in period, and provide capital to the firm.

[20] The law firms of Goodwin Procter and Covington & Burling were in discussions to hire key partners from KWM Europe.

The new European platform focused on Corporate M&A, Finance, Competition and Dispute Resolution and had more than 30 partners, together with associates and support staff.

[23][24] In 2023, KWM China announced that it would, subject to regulatory requirements, cease to operate in the UK, Europe and the Middle East by 31 October 2024, as part of a cooperation agreement reached with Eversheds Sutherland (International).

[34] The KWM School of Opportunity provides disadvantaged young people with a work placement and skills development program.

Awards and recognition include: In 2018, WorkSafe Victoria launched an investigation into the firm, following complaints of overworked staff due to the high demands of working on the Banking Royal Commission.