Twenty Essex welcomes Thomas Wong

February 7, 2023
Following his successful completion of a reduced period of pupillage with Chambers, Thomas Wong has joined Twenty Essex. His practice will continue to focus on commercial litigation and international arbitration, including in England, Hong Kong and Singapore. Thomas is a Barrister called to the English and Hong Kong Bars. He was called to the English Bar in 2021, but has been practising as a Barrister in Hong Kong since 2018, and a Hong Kong commercial litigation solicitor since 2010. His practice focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration, often involving parties from China and Hong Kong. He also has considerable experience in Hong Kong Chancery and insolvency matters. Thomas has more than a decade’s experience serving clients in Hong Kong, the Greater China Region and internationally, and is a native Chinese speaker (both Mandarin and Cantonese). Prior to his move to the Bar, he was a commercial litigator at Hogan Lovells and Clifford Chance, where he worked directly with clients and gained an understanding of their commercial objectives. Thomas is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators. He often sits as arbitrator, and will sit as a Deputy District Judge in Hong Kong later in 2023. “We are delighted to welcome Thomas as a new member of Twenty Essex. Thomas is a highly experienced litigator who we have every confidence will continue to build on his practice at the Bar in Hong Kong, now in and from London. His addition to Chambers is a perfect fit for our ever-growing practice in and from the Far East,” said Twenty Essex co-Heads Philip Edey KC...

Remodelling The Legal Workforce

December 20, 2022
Simmons & Simmons Adaptive introduces us to their Alternative Legal Service Offering in Hong Kong Simmons & Simmons is one of the latest law firms to establish an alternative legal service offering in Hong Kong – Simmons & Simmons Adaptive. Their flexible resourcing model aims to connect the best lawyers and business professionals with best-fit client assignments. We sat down with Sarah Thompson (Partner and Global Head of Adaptive), Victoria Moore (Hong Kong Resourcing Manager) and Jonathan Hammond (Partner and Head of Asia) to discuss. What prompted the move to HK? Sarah: Adaptive launched in the UK in 2014 and our reason for the initial launch is no different to our reason for setting up in Hong Kong (and why we’re looking at other jurisdictions as well) – our clients struggle with resourcing and increasingly look to their partner law firms to offer a solution. Simmons & Simmons, as a law firm, no longer just does law. We are expected to be a business partner and to solve many more things for our clients. Adaptive was the brainchild of Jonathan. We had been seeing our clients become leaner, needing to do more with less, and having more project work. You need only to look at the regulatory space and the sheer number of projects over the last five years to really understand that cry for help: “We need quality resources!” We have that same issue in our own firm – how do we access the right people, where and when we need them?  At the same time, we were recognizing that talent was changing. How people want to work,...

Bringing the In-House Counsel Community together in Hong Kong, again.

December 16, 2022
A look into the Hong Kong In-House Community Congress, 2022   On 15 November 2022, we were once again able to meet in person for the 24th annual Hong Kong In-House Community Congress at the J.W. Marriott, Hong Kong. The day presented a refreshing reminder of the value of face-to-face interaction as we delved into various topics of interest to our in-house community. The congress was also available to join via Zoom.  The event brought together a mix of top in-house lawyers, CEOs, compliance professionals and company directors operating in both the public and private sectors in Hong Kong.  Together with the In-House Community team, co-hosts Debevoise & Plimpton, the Maples Group, Simmons & Simmons Adaptive and Robert Walters facilitated a day of learning and teasing out of difficult topics common to those in the profession. The day kicked off with opening remarks from In-House Community publisher, Rahul Prakash, who also moderated a panel discussion on Budget Management for the In-House Legal Department. Panelists Shih-Jern Liang (General Counsel, Ralph Lauren), Kevin So (General Counsel, Arcadis) and Stanley Lui (Legal Director, TI Fluid Systems) (with additional pre-panel input from Amy Ang, General Counsel, CBRE) offered their learned insights on scoping for internal budgets and managing predictable costs whilst preparing for those unforeseen.  We further extend our thanks to various partners that offered workshops for our attendees, all presenting valuable takeaways to shape future practice: Debevoise and Plimpton (with Counsel Philip Rohlik and International Counsel Samuel Fung) workshopped on SFC and US SEC Enforcement Priorities Simmons & Simmons Adaptive (with Partner and Head of Adaptive Sarah James) presented on the Rise...

Getting to know… Joe Liu

November 28, 2022
From London and The Hague, to Singapore and Hong Kong – Liu leverages on his international experience as he forges a new path as independent arbitrator 1.  Can you please share with us a little of your background prior to joining the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), and what your time spent there was like? I started my career at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. I then did two internships at the High Court of Hong Kong and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. After completing the internships, I joined Allen & Overy (A&O)’s Hong Kong office as part of their Global Arbitration Group. During my time at A&O, I was appointed as a member of the HKIAC Rules Revision Committee which was tasked for with drafting the 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules. With that experience, I joined the HKIAC in 2014 and began my eight years of journey at the institution.     I had a hand in many aspects of HKIAC’s operations including case management supervision, rules drafting, corporate governance and business development. There was no fixed description of my role at the HKIAC and my work every day was different and interesting. I spearheaded many of the HKIAC’s initiatives and drafted some of their practice notes and guidelines.  It was an invaluable opportunity to gain insights on the institution’s internal management and practice and to work with many talented people.  2.  What prompted your recent move to being an independent arbitrator and how have you found the transition thus far? Can you tell us a little about your new practice? Having worked in private practice and...

Outcome Related Fee Structure Arrangement for Arbitration in Hong Kong

November 24, 2022
A win-win solution for legal practitioners and clients 1. Introduction 1.1 Why introduce ORFSA in Hong Kong? Until recently, Solicitors in Hong Kong were prohibited from charging outcome related fees in arbitration.  On 17 December 2020, the Outcome Related Fee Structures for Arbitration Sub-committee of the Law Reform Commission (Sub-committee) published a consultation paper proposing changes to the law in Hong Kong to enable lawyers to use Outcome Related Fee Structures (ORFS) for arbitration in Hong Kong and elsewhere, with the objective of enabling Hong Kong to compete on a level playing field with other leading arbitral seats where some form of ORFS is permitted, thereby maintaining Hong Kong’s status as one of the World’s premier arbitration venues. On 15 December 2021, the Law Reform Commission (Commission) released a report on ORFS for Arbitration recommending that Hong Kong law be amended by lifting the prohibition on the use of Outcome Related Fee Structure Agreements (ORFSA)1 for arbitration taking place in and outside Hong Kong and elsewhere.  The Sub-committee believed that such fee arrangements were attractive to clients for many reasons, such as financial management, access to justice and a general idea that lawyers in Hong Kong would be willing to share the risk inherent in arbitrating.  Moreover, after Hong’ Kong’s close competitors, London and Singapore, implemented their own version of ORFSA, it was expected that Hong Kong to do the same.  1.2 Introducing ORFSA in Hong Kong2 On 30 March 2022, following the Commission’s recommendation, the Arbitration and Legal Practitioners Legislation (Outcome Related Fee Structures for Arbitration) (Amendment) Bill was introduced by the Legislative Council. ORFSA was incorporated into Hong Kong’s...