Mark Side

Mark Side was born in England, studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University. Mark is a commercial litigation solicitor and mediator.

Mark was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1986 and worked in the City of London before moving to Hong Kong in 1992.

After qualifying as a solicitor in Hong Kong, Mark worked at two City of London international law firms. Before joining Tanner De Witt in 2000, Mark headed the litigation department of one of Hong Kong's largest law firms.

Mark has conducted one of the largest cases in Hong Kong concerning the extent of a barrister's professional duty, which generated litigation in Hong Kong, England and various courts in the United States of America. For a number of years Mark conducted litigation in Hong Kong for a major Chinese bank and handled cases concerning letters of credit and the extent of a banker's duty of care to non-customers.

Mark has extensive commercial litigation experience in both the UK and HK and has worked on restrictive covenant cases involving departing partners of law firms. Mark acts for shareholders, main contractors, financial companies, public companies and accountants.

A part of Mark's work is for the Law Society's Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the Disciplinary Committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and involves the hearing of professional negligence complaints within these professions.

Mark and his team also advises on non-contentious matters such as on contract terms and employment matters, in particular on termination of employment contracts and on the enforceability of restrictive covenants.

Mark is a CEDR accredited mediator (see the website at www.CEDR.com). In recent years Mark has also operated as a mediator and as a solicitor to parties involved in mediations. As a mediator he has served in cases involving:-

1. a prominent Italian fashion designer and a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council;
2. a partnership dispute for a recently established Hong Kong law firm;
3. a claim concerning the sale and purchase of shares in a shipping company;
4. a dispute between toy manufacturers and a departing senior executive;
5. solicitors terminating a long-running partnership;
6. solicitors seeking to settle judgment debts without recourse to bankruptcy.

As a solicitor to parties in mediation, Mark has worked with financial intermediates, derivative traders and Sindhi export companies.

Mark acts as Supervising Solicitor for the execution of an Anton Piller Order and Mareva Injunctions.

• Conducting one of the largest cases in Hong Kong concerning a barrister's professional duty, which generated litigation in Hong Kong, England and various courts in the United States of America.
• For a number of years he has conducted litigation for a major PRC bank and handled cases concerning letters of credit and the extent of a banker's duty of care to customers.
• Conducting landmark employment action in Hong Kong acting for departed partner of a well-known Hong Kong firm.
• Acting for the board of directors in a Hong Kong public company abandoned by chairman involved in cross-border investigations for fraud. Obtaining the appointment of Receivers for the public company and advising on the management of the public company to date.
• Successfully obtaining judgment in favour of siblings deprived of their deceased father's valuable estate. The action involved the interpretation of the testamentary document and forged company documents.

• Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong
• Oxford and Cambridge Society
• Royal Asiatic Society

Over the last few years Mark has given talks and presentations in Hong Kong and Asia on commercial litigation, including:

• Litigation Tactics
• The Strategic Use of Litigation Procedures
• Mareva injunctions

Mark is listed as a leading individual for dispute resolution in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 2009/2010 edition, which says: "Tanner De Witt's renowned litigator Mark Side is valued by clients, who instruct the 'well-rounded' practice in negligence claims and insolvency matters...".

Asia Pacific Legal 500 2007/2008: "Tanner De Witt has a fine standing in Hong Kong thanks to the prominence of Mark Side, a veteran of numerous high-profile cases."