Hill Dickinson
(The following information was supplied by the firm)
Head of office: Damien Laracy ([email protected])
Deputy: Bryan O’Hare ([email protected])
Lawyers: 10+
Office Overview:
The Hong Kong office handles the following broad categories of work:
– corporate and commercial litigation
– international arbitration
– restructuring and insolvency
– maritime and international trade
– private client
– sanctions, compliance, regulatory and corporate governance
– construction and real estate
– insurance
– white-collar crime
– employment
– corporate and commercial non-contentious
Our client base is both global and local. Hill Dickinson’s international network includes offices in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Greece and Monaco.
The accent is on disputes. Our award-winning team in Hong Kong has established a first class reputation for their expertise in multi-jurisdictional litigation and arbitration in the areas of corporate, commercial, maritime, and insolvency.
Our arbitration experts concentrate on commercial, trade, commodities, construction and maritime cases, often on an emergency basis. We frequently handle jurisdictional challenges and applications for interim relief. We are engaged at all stages, from the drafting of arbitration agreements to the enforcement of awards.
Our restructuring and insolvency team advises the full range of stakeholders in distressed situations, advising on litigation and enforcement strategy and how to maximise value, and on applicable insolvency procedures in Hong Kong and other jurisdictions (where we are qualified to advise) and the likely outcomes, based on our decades of experience working in this field. The practice is multi-jurisdictional and usually involves working alongside other professional service providers in Hong Kong and elsewhere, including Mainland China.
We have seen an uptick recently in company liquidations and individual bankruptcies, shareholder disputes (including “quasi partnership” disputes), joint venture disputes, employee and director fraud and misfeasance, investment product mis-selling, banking and finance disputes generally as well as more routine debt/asset recovery matters; also, internet crime (business email compromise scams/CEO fraud), fraudulent sale of goods disputes and business diversion issues.
All fee earners have recent experience of conducting interim relief applications to trace, preserve and recover assets, to appoint provisional liquidators and receivers, and to obtain Anton Piller and discovery orders.
Clients consult us in respect of both contentious and non-contentious maritime and trade matters. The Hong Kong office handles all types of maritime disputes including problem loans and mortgage enforcement work for banks and shipowners, ship arrest and detention work, commodities disputes, cargo mis-delivery, loss and damage claims, charterparty disputes, claims under ship management agreements, shipbuilding and conversion disputes and casualty work generally.
We enjoy a strong reputation for Admiralty work. As a firm, we boast a large stable of seven former mariners plus technicians from the maritime industry who specialise in electronic ship data collection, interrogation and analysis, transcription and track plotting. Hill Dickinson’s wet specialists in Asia, and globally, comprise our emergency response team, which is available 24/7. They have more than 100 years of seagoing experience in aggregate and many years of experience of collisions, groundings, salvage and pollution issues. The firm advises insurers and the international group of P&I clubs, ship owners, charterers, cargo, salvors, traders, brokers and banks.
For private clients, we handle high profile disputes and advisory work for families and high net worth individuals, including shareholder disputes, real estate matters (residential, commercial, industrial) and contested probate work.
Our employment and regulatory team advises businesses, directors and employees in all situations and at all stages of the business cycle. We handle insurance cases on contentious coverage and defence issues. We also assist with regulatory inquiries and investigations by the SFC and the ICAC.
Data privacy is a growth area in which we have gained substantial expertise and profile in recent years.
Our non-contentious lawyers handle corporate services, shareholder matters, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, start ups, SMEs, trusts, offshore structures, real estate, probate, and business and asset sale and purchase matters. We also act for high net worth individuals on super yacht sale and purchase transactions.
Damien Laracy heads up the office and specialises in commercial and maritime litigation and international arbitration. He also sits as an arbitrator.
Languages spoken in our Hong Kong office include: English, Cantonese, Mandarin
Key Contacts
Head of Hong Kong Office
Damien Laracy
[email protected]
Deputy head of Hong Kong Office
Bryan O'Hare
[email protected]
Partner
Yvette Yu
[email protected]
Firm Rankings
Shipping
Band 2
8.0
Shipping: Litigation
Band 2
8.0
Leading Lawyers
Articles
disclosure of information to creditors China City Construction Holding Group Co Ltd -v- Patrick Cowley and Lui Yee Man, Joint and Several Liquidators of China City Construction (International) Co Ltd [2024] HKCFI 219 The Hong Kong Court of First Instance (the Court) has examined the issue of the scope of information required to be disclosed […]
A jurisdictional comparison Finality and ease of enforcement of arbitral awards have long been considered a major advantage of international arbitration. At the same time, it is also recognized that challenges to awards must be allowed in some circumstances (eg where the award is procured by fraud) to avoid injustice, in which case intervention by […]
The Hong Kong Court of First Instance (the Court) has examined the issue of the scope of information required to be disclosed by liquidators to creditors and whether the Court should exercise its discretion to order discovery if it is just and beneficial to do so. The Plaintiff (China City Construction Holding Group Co Ltd or […]
Three years after the signing of the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and Hong Kong SAR (the ‘Arrangement’), the Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 645) (the ‘Ordinance’) has finally come into force on 29 January 2024. […]
The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships 2009 (the Hong Kong Convention) is scheduled to come into force on 26 June 2025, having received the requisite number of ratifications in June 2023. In November 2023, we reported on the key implications of this development for the international ship scrapping […]
Back on 4 May 2023, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (the “CFA”) in Re Guy Kwok-Hung Lam [2023] HKCFA 9 delivered a ground breaking judgment in relation to whether a foreign exclusive jurisdiction clause (EJC) should be upheld in insolvency cases, upholding the Court of Appeal’s (the “CA”) judgment that, in an ordinary […]
A significant new judgment issued by the Hong Kong SAR Court of Final Appeal (the ‘CFA’) is likely to add new impetus to tactical considerations for parties where a collision results in wreck removal. The question before the court in Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) Pt Pertamina v Trevaskis Ltd and Others [2023] HKCFA 20 (STAR CENTURION c/w ANTEA 13 […]
Facts Under a trip time charter incorporating amended NYPE 1993 form wording (‘the Charterparty’), Charterers hired the vessel for the carriage of bulk cargo from India to China. Charterers agreed to pay hire of US $20,000 per day, which was payable every five days in advance. The Charterparty provided that no deductions (including for off-hire or alleged […]
Hill Dickinson’s Hong Kong Commercial and Insolvency Disputes team acted for the successful respondent in Guy Kwok-Hung Lam (Respondent) -v- Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP (Appellant) Final Appeal No.13 of 2022 (on appeal from CACV No. 393 of 2021 [2023] HKCFA 9). On 4 May 2023, the Court of Final Appeal (the highest appellate […]
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition regulator, has launched an investigation into the mattress and bed brand company Emma Sleep and whether their online sales tactics have misled consumers. Specifically, the CMA are looking into Emma Sleep’s use of countdown timers and claims that discounted prices will end soon when this may […]
The Whois system is a database containing information about domain name owners. Originally, the information was publicly available to anyone who used a Whois lookup tool. However, due to concerns about individual privacy, privacy laws now restrict the personal information that can be publicly disclosed in the Whois database. Lawyers, as well as… Read more
Bryan O’Hare, commercial and insolvency disputes partner in the Hong Kong Office, and his team, Pui Yip Leung (associate) and Wing Lui (trainee), are acting for the Debtor/Respondent in the highly anticipated upcoming appeal to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (CFA) which will be heard by a full Court comprising five Judges on […]
The price cap policy for Russian crude oil became effective on 5 December 2022. This has major implications for service providers involved in the maritime transportation of that product. The price cap The price cap has been set at US$60 per barrel by an international coalition. It includes the G7 – USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan […]
Since 2019 there has been a ‘Mutual Arrangement’ in place between Hong Kong and Mainland China to facilitate the enforcement in Mainland China of Hong Kong judgments – and vice versa. However, that Arrangement has had only limited effect due to stringent applicability requirements. They include a requirement that the relevant underlying commercial contract needed […]
Much has been written recently about perceived changes in the application of criminal law and national security law in Hong Kong. Those issues are not addressed in this article. Rather, there is an impending development in Hong Kong commercial law that demonstrates that Hong Kong continues to adopt established global commercial law practices and conventions. That […]
We understand that there is substantial interest in the policy to cap Russian oil prices, as agreed by the G7 economies (US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada), and are pleased to provide the following information on the subject: 1. G7 statement on the price cap & prohibition of services related to maritime transportation […]
Introduction A recent Civil Ruling by Mainland China’s Supreme People’s Court (in proceedings commenced in the Shanghai Maritime Court) confirms that judgments and orders of the English High Court can be recognised and enforced in Mainland China. In a nutshell, in this recent decision, the Shanghai Maritime Court had to decide: Whether there was reciprocity […]
Landmark judgment from Hong Kong Court of Appeal on the effect of exclusive jurisdiction clauses in insolvency proceedings The Hong Kong commercial and insolvency disputes team acted for the successful appellant in Guy Kwok-Hung Lam -v- Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP CACV 393/2021 [2022] HKCA 1297. On 30 August 2022, the Court of Appeal delivered a […]
Introduction 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 […]
The Hong Kong commercial and insolvency disputes team acted for the successful appellant in Guy Kwok-Hung Lam -v- Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP CACV 393/2021 [2022] HKCA 1297. On 30 August 2022, the Court of Appeal delivered a judgment dismissing a bankruptcy petition against the bankrupt debtor (the appellant) on the basis there […]
The facts The claimant C was a company carrying on business as an owner and operator of satellites. The claimant D was a company carrying on business as a satellite operator in Asia Pacific. On 15 December 2011, C and D entered into a co-operation agreement for the development and building of satellite A, which […]
With more employees working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic, the rise in email and cyber fraud scams has been appalling. Civil court proceedings can often assist victims in tracing and recovering their wrongfully stolen funds. However, these proceedings are highly time-sensitive, and email scam victims should pay close attention to the following legal issues […]
For an agent to receive a commission payment under an agency contract, the agent may need to demonstrate that they were the ‘effective cause’ of the completed transaction. Arguments about agents’ commission payments typically arise when a transaction is dealt with by several agents but only one of whom was the effective cause of the […]
Executive Summary In this article we provide an overview of the noteworthy developments in competition law in the years 2020 and 2021, including the Competition Commission’s issuance of (i) the first infringement notices; (ii) the first pecuniary penalty judgement; (iii) the first disqualification order; (iv) the first proceedings under the Second Conduct Rule; and (v) […]
Introduction In many developed common law legal systems (eg England and Wales, Canada, South Africa, Ireland), the local civil courts would not enforce, whether directly or indirectly, a foreign penal law, revenue/tax law and public law of another state, since to do so would amount to an assertion of sovereign authority by one state within […]
It is common practice to include liquidated damages clauses in a commercial contract, which acts as a pre-estimation of loss so as to provide in advance a fixed sum to be paid by way of compensation. Liquidated damages clauses may be triggered when a party to a contract is in breach of its contractual obligations. […]
The Hong Kong Personal Data Privacy Ordinance (PDPO) Amendment Bill was passed Wednesday 29 Sept 2021 (the Amendment(s)). Essentially, the Amendments cover doxxing and broader direct powers of the data privacy commissioner. Doxxing Doxxing in its broadest form relates to disclosing personal data without consent. The Amendment replaces the existing language of Art 62(2) of […]
Introduction This article examines the meaning of the phrase ‘obviously wrong’ in the context of obtaining leave to appeal an arbitral award under English and Hong Kong law. In Hong Kong, Schedule 2 of the Arbitration Ordinance Cap.609 enables those that have expressly opted in to include by reference provisions contained in Schedule 2 into […]
On 16 September 2021, the Hong Kong Court made an unprecedented ruling by recognising, for the first time, proceedings for the reorganisation of the HNA Group Co Limited (‘Company‘) commenced in Mainland China under the Mainland Enterprise Bankruptcy Law (‘Mainland Reorganisation Proceedings’) (Re HNA Group Co Limited [2021] HKCFI 2897). This will be a very welcome […]
Litigating to recover money is a long and burdensome process, and it gets worse if a win in court does not translate to getting your money back. A good litigation strategy plans backwards from an ideal end game. In this article, we explore how judgments, arbitral awards and liquidation processes can be recognised and enforced […]
China’s new personal information privacy law (PIPL) becomes effective on 1 November 2021. It significantly alters the regional and global privacy landscape, and its significance will likely be more apparent after having read this article. The readiness anxiety generated by the impending effectiveness of the GDPR in May 2018 seems fairly recent. The GDPR caused […]
Abstract If the principal office of the offshore company is situated in Mainland China, the Mainland courts may be empowered to recognise and enforce foreign arbitral awards in accordance with the New York Convention. The relevant test to determine the ‘principal office of the offshore company’ is whether there is evidence to prove that the […]
In a recent decision in the case of Arjowiggins HKK2 LTD -v- X Co, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance set aside an award on the grounds that an order made by the tribunal in a final award was beyond the parties’ pleadings. This is very significant, not only because the pro-arbitration and pro-enforcement approach […]
Chinese investor succeeded in investment arbitration against Nigeria: Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd -v- Federal Republic of Nigeria, ad hoc Arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules in London, Final Award dated 26 March 2021 and published on 27 January 2022. In Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. -v- Federal Republic of Nigeria, the London-seated arbitral tribunal, presided by […]
Introduction A recent Civil Ruling by Mainland China’s Supreme People’s Court (in proceedings commenced in the Shanghai Maritime Court) confirms that judgments and orders of the English High Court can be recognised and enforced in Mainland China. In a nutshell, in this recent decision, the Shanghai Maritime Court had to decide: Whether there was reciprocity […]
Introduction As has been widely reported in the media, there has been a period of considerable stress in the real estate sector in Mainland China with a number of high-profile property developers having reportedly either already defaulted on onshore and offshore bond repayments or are on the verge of a payment default. The current credit […]
In May 2022, our Hong Kong commercial and insolvency disputes resolution team, led by Bryan O’Hare, authored the Hong Kong section of the 2022 edition of ‘Getting the Deal Through – Dispute Resolution’. This publication provides succinct international expert analysis in key areas of law, practice, and regulation for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners and company […]
Hong Kong has moved closer towards implementing a statutory adjudication regime for the construction industry. Legislation exists for the construction industry in the United Kingdom and in six other jurisdictions to enable sub-contractors and other parties to obtain payment for their work and services. The legislation provides a procedure for resolving claims and for the […]
Introduction Hong Kong has moved yet another step closer towards implementing a statutory adjudication regime for security of payment in the construction industry. As readers will know, legislation already exists in the United Kingdom and in six other jurisdictions to enable sub-contractors and other parties in the construction industry to obtain payment for their work […]
Container freight rates and availability: with freight rates subject to volatile markets and ongoing disruption, is pricing uncertainty the new norm? Fewer industries by comparison have seen such fluctuations in demand for and supply of its services as container shipping since the implementation of COVID-19 lockdowns globally in the first quarter of 2020. The lockdowns […]
In the drive to decarbonise shipping much of the focus centres on reducing carbon emissions created on board vessels, reinforcing a perception that shipping only happens at sea and overlooking the critically important role of ports in supply chains and their associated responsibilities in relation to decarbonisation. Ports are vital in the shipping chain and, […]
Press Releases
International commercial law firm Hill Dickinson is celebrating rapid growth across South East Asia through the addition of 13 new hires into its Hong Kong and Singapore offices. The appointments strengthen the firm’s maritime, commercial disputes and transactional offering. The Hong Kong office welcomes 10 lateral hires from Ince & Co, including asset finance partners […]
Hill Dickinson’s Hong Kong Commercial and Insolvency Disputes team acted for the successful client in Guy Kwok-Hung Lam (respondent) -v- Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP (appellant) Final Appeal No.13 of 2022 (on appeal from CACV No. 393 of 2021 [2023] HKCFA 9). On 4 May 2023, the Court of Final Appeal (the highest appellate court […]
HDHK acted for a sophisticated trader who dealt in a high volume of crypto derivatives on a prominent crypto currency exchange at a price perceived to be attractive. The trades resulted in a paper profit of around HK$310m within two months. However, the said exchange then unilaterally adjusted its customer ledger and withdrew the entire […]
Hill Dickinson Hong Kong wins recognition for Shipping and Dispute Resolution in first Chambers 2023 Greater China guide Law firm Hill Dickinson’s Hong Kong office has received recognition for both its Shipping and Disputes Resolution practices in Chambers and Partners’ Greater China Region Guide 2023. Published on 13 January 2023, the firm achieves Band 3 ranking for Shipping: […]