Dispute Resolution

We act in the full range of civil and commercial claims in the Hong Kong courts, most in the District Court and the Court of First Instance, some reaching the Court of Appeal. The work runs from commercial disputes — contracts, shareholder and partnership disagreements, debt recovery, and the cross-border injunctive relief that often goes with them — to personal claims, including personal injury, employees' compensation, and civil claims against public authorities for damages for unlawful detention, false imprisonment, and assault.

We try to resolve disputes before they become litigation, and we say so in writing to the other side early. Where settlement is not on offer, we prepare cases to be tried.

Where the question is how to structure a company or a deal rather than how to litigate one, that is advisory work: see Corporate & Commercial. Where a public body has made a decision that may be unlawful, the route is often judicial review rather than a claim for damages.