News Archive 2007

9 December 2007

The Flying Kukris held their annual Minis Rugby Festival at Community Sports, Ma Tso Lung near Sheung Shui in New Territories, playing host to youth rugby teams from around Hong Kong.

8 December 2007

G4S Union 7s

The Tanner De Witt Nomads had both teams playing in their respective finals at Hong Kong Stadium.

Tanner De Witt Nomads II, which is playing in the 7th division, lost their final 17 - 5. Nerves got the best of the young squad and, even though they outplayed the opposition for most of the match, it didn't translate into tries. Tanner De Witt Nomads I, the fourth-division team, had a convincing win over Gai Wu "J", with the greatest point differential of the day. The final score was 52-0. So far Tanner De Witt Nomads I has won both the 7s tournament and 10s tournament this year and is looking to follow it up with winning the 15s this season.

29 - 30 November 2007

Ian De Witt spoke at the second annual Euromoney Greater China & North Asia: Emerging Asset Management Markets - Regulation & Compliance seminar. Ian's presentation was on Updates on Duties and Obligations of Financial Advisers.

19 November 2007

Ian De Witt and Kenneth Choy presented a briefing on IP and trading in mainland China to the South East Trade Mission and the Leeds Legal Mission at the British Consulate-General, Hong Kong.

17 November 2007

We congratulate Carmen Chow, a former Trainee Solicitor at the firm, on her admission as a Solicitor of the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Carmen is pictured with friends and former colleagues after the ceremony.

9 - 11 November 2007

Tanner De Witt sponsored a team taking part in Oxfam Trailwalker 2007.

Oxfam Trailwalker is one of the largest fundraising sports events in Hong Kong. Since 1986, more than 54,000 participants have raised over HK$240 million to support Oxfam's various poverty alleviation and emergency relief projects in Africa and Asia, including Hong Kong and mainland China.

Oxfam Trailwalker is a challenging event in which participants form teams of four to complete the 100km MacLehose Trail within a 48-hour time limit.

5 - 6 November 2007

Tanner De Witt sponsored the 11th Beijing - Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium, which took place in Beijing. Ian De Witt presented a lunchtime talk at the event.

31 October 2007

Ian De Witt, along with Roxanne Ismail of Temple Chambers, spoke on Insolvency Litigation: Actions against Directors and Others for Asset Recovery.

29 October 2007

Ian De Witt presented a CPD seminar on Mis-selling and Related Issues - Duties and Obligations of Independent Financial Advisors Explored.

17 October 2007

Ian De Witt gave a presentation at the International Bar Association Annual Conference 2007 in Singapore.

Ian spoke at the Travel and Leisure session on the subject Show me the miles - loyalty programmes.

The conference also saw the launch of Chambers Asia 2008, the inaugural Asian edition of the Chambers guides to the legal profession, in which Tanner De Witt is ranked (details here).

11 October 2007

Nicholas Longley spoke at the Insurance Institute of Hong Kong on Construction Insurance.

30 September 2007

Ken Choy won the State Bar of California 2.5K Power Walk. He is pictured here with his trophy and wearing his Tanner De Witt T-shirt.

25 September 2007

Ian De Witt, along with Bruno Arboit of Baker Tilly Hong Kong, spoke at a lunchtime Austcham seminar on China's new Enterprise Bankruptcy Law.

From the flyer:

China’s new Enterprise Bankruptcy Law came into effect on 1 June 2007 replacing a multitude of different legislation which had become increasingly inadequate to meet the demands of China’s growing economy.

The new law aims to protect creditors of bankrupt enterprises and the people who work in them and will apply to all kinds of enterprises and financial institutions, whether state owned or private.

480 executives from the mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia were surveyed recently and nearly three quarters said that they expected to increase investment in the Chinese mainland over the next three years after the introduction of the bankruptcy law because of increased transparency and the protection that the new law offers them.

What you will learn:

• What are the main features of the new law?
• How does the new law address some of the problems encountered in the old legislation?
• How does the new law address problems or issues encountered by foreign creditors or foreign joint venture parties?

25 September 2007

Tanner De Witt took part in Dress Special Day, a fundraising event in aid of the Community Chest of Hong Kong.

18 September 2007

Ian De Witt and Paul Westover presented separate sessions at the Legal Lab ALB Workshop Series 2007. Ian's talk was on Insolvency while Paul's covered Directors' Liabilities.

15 September 2007

Tanner De Witt had two 2-person teams competing in City Chase Hong Kong. City Chase is an urban adventure that requires participants to exhibit teamwork, resourcefulness, determination and the ability to make decisions on the fly as they search for ChasePoints scattered in unknown locations throughout the city.

TDW Chasers finished in 5 hours 20 minutes, TDW X in 6 hours.

10 September 2007

We welcome Vivian Cheng, who joins us as a Trainee Solicitor. She holds an LLM from University College London.

9 September 2007

The Sixth Asia Cup Women's Hockey Championship, sponsored by Tanner De Witt, was won by Japan, beating Korea 7-6 in a final that went all the way down to a penalty stroke competition.

3 September 2007

We welcome Naveen Qureshi, who joins us as a Trainee Solicitor. She holds an LLB from University College London.

1 - 9 September 2007

Tanner De Witt is sponsoring the Sixth Asia Cup Women's Hockey Championship, which is taking place at the King's Park Hockey Ground.

This prestigious event is the biggest hockey tournament that has ever been held in Hong Kong and is the largest ever Asia Cup (Asian Championship) with the nine top teams in Asia taking part. The participating nations include China, Japan, Korea and India, ranked 5th, 6th, 10th and 13th in the world respectively, making this a truly world class event. Hong Kong, ranked 6th in Asia, will be looking to improve its world ranking when it takes the field against Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Singapore and Thailand.

We have designed a new banner for the event, which you can see below.

1 September 2007

Tanner De Witt once again sponsored the “Fourth Inaugural International Invitational Fat Boys Tens” rugby tournament in Angeles City, Philippines. As in previous years, the money raised went towards the Bahay Bata Center for Street Children in Angeles City and the Philippines Rugby Union Development Fund. Last year's Fat Boys Tens raised HK$200,000 for the twin causes.

31 August – 3 September 2007

Tanner De Witt had a presence at the Guangzhou Fair 2007 together with the Hong Kong Chamber of Small and Medium Business. The fair took place at the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

29 August 2007

We welcome back Laura Fei to the firm, who joins us in the Corporate and Commercial group as a Paralegal to assist us in our work in the PRC. Laura was with us earlier in the year under the Lord Chancellor's Training Scheme. We are very pleased that she is working with us again.

28 July 2007

Tanner De Witt sponsored the July Movie & Tea event of the Russian Club in Hong Kong. The movie shown was Zateryannaya Diaspora (“The Lost Community”), a documentary on the lives of ethnic Russians living in Xinjiang (新疆) autonomous region in the far northwest of China, also known as Chinese Turkestan or East Turkestan.

11 July 2007

Greg Payne gave a seminar on Civil Justice Reform in Hong Kong to Ferrier Hodgson.

3 - 5 July 2007

Tanner De Witt exhibited at the Hong Kong Licensing Show 2007 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

25 June 2007

We welcome Prudence Tai to the firm, who joins us as a Trainee Solicitor. Her initial seat is in the Corporate and Commercial department.

18 June 2007

We welcome Anthony Hill to the firm, who joins us as a Consultant. Anthony brings broad experience in insolvency and restructuring and litigation and dispute resolution.

Press release

13 June 2007

The construction team was fortunate to be invited to visit Stonecutters Bridge, currently being constructed by the Maeda-Hitachi-Yokogawa-Hsin Chong Joint Venture. Stonecutters Bridge is a high-level cable-stayed bridge which will span the approximately 900-metre-wide Rambler Channel in Hong Kong. When complete, Stonecutters Bridge will connect Nam Wan Kok, Tsing Yi Island and Stonecutters Island and will be the longest cable-stayed span in the world, until the Sutong Bridge, on the Yangtze River in China, is completed.

TDW's construction team was given a guided tour of the bridge works by Project Manager, Brian West. Brian has been involved in managing bridge construction works in many countries around the world and was brought in specifically to head this challenging bridge engineering project in Hong Kong.

Nick Longley and his team wish to thank Brian for giving up his valuable time to show them around the site, which provided everyone with an insight into the technical and logistical challenges posed by this project. The construction team is very much looking forward to making a return visit when the bridge deck construction is at a more advanced stage.

11 June 2007

Tanner De Witt was a Silver Sponsor of the Lighthouse Club seminar entitled “Construction Industry Council – New Beginning For Tang”, which took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

From the seminar programme:

Following the criticisms and recommendations of the Hong Kong Construction Industry in the Tang Report published in 2001, the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board (“PCICB”) was established on 28th September 2001 to spearhead industry reforms and to propagate a new culture of change. Many in the industry would say that the reforms since Tang have not gone far enough and that many of the recommendations of Tang have yet to be properly implemented. The Construction Industry Council (“CIC”) was established on 1st February 2007 to take over the work of the now dissolved PCICB and is expected to give new impetus to the recommendations of Tang. This is a unique opportunity for all those who are involved in the Construction Industry to listen to experienced practitioners, representing various sectors of the construction industry, who will be giving their views on what has been done since the Tang Report to improve the performance of the Construction Industry and what further improvements need to be done under the leadership of the CIC. This seminar will also provide an opportunity for the CIC to tell the Industry how the CIC is structured and financed and of its plans for improving the performance of the Construction Industry and to obtain valuable feedback from the Industry through the speakers and delegates who participate in what is likely to be a lively debate during the discussion sessions during the day.

Seminar Programme (40KB)

6 June 2007

Ken Choy was a member of the panel at the first Angel Investment Group organised by the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, which took place at the Hong Kong Club. The presenters were entrepreneurs from Hong Kong involved in businesses which included luxury brand distributorship, juice bars in China and wine events in Hong Kong.

1 June 2007

Tanner De Witt has an advertisement in FCC FLASH Finnair Edition 2007, a magazine of the Finnish Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong. Copies of the magazine are distributed in Finnair flights from Helsinki to Hong Kong and Finnair's lounges at Helsinki and Hong Kong airports.

14 May 2007

Ian De Witt addressed a morning briefing to a group of Welsh companies participating in a Wales Trade International mission to Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta, led by Mike Thomas, Regional Manager - Asia Pacific International Business Wales.

The briefing, at the British Consulate-General Hong Kong, was led by Ian Bailey, Trade Commissioner, and included presentations from The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

11 May 2007

Tanner De Witt sponsored 7 Valley RFC touch teams in the HKTTRA (Hong Kong Touch and Tag Rugby Association) Summer Touch and Tag Competition, which ran every Saturday from 12 May to 23 June 2007 at Happy Valley rugby pitch.

4 May 2007

Ken Choy (centre, with Karen Cheng) accepts a token of appreciation from Ricky Lam, Director of Exhibitions of the Hong Kong Jewelry Manufacturers' Association

Ken Choy and Karen Cheng gave a talk to the Hong Kong Jewelry Manufacturers' Association on the ATA Carnet, the US government's international customs document for the temporary importation of goods. The talk included:

• What is a Carnet?
  • Passport for goods
  • Who issues a carnet bond?
  • How is it used?
• Customs Clearance and Carnet
  • Under HK law
  • Under US law
• Rights of individual if detained by US Customs authorities
  • What should one do if detained?
  • What should one expect if detained?
  • Legal advice available if detained
  • Procedure for return of seized goods

25 April 2007

PLC Cross-border Restructuring and Insolvency Handbook 2007/08 recommends Ian De Witt and Robin Darton for restructuring and insolvency.

The Handbook will be officially launched at the IBA 13th Annual Global Insolvency and Restructuring Conference on 13-15 May 2007 in Zürich, Switzerland.

24 April 2007

We welcome Laura Fei, who is joining us for a secondment of 2 months. Laura is a PRC lawyer who is participating in The Lord Chancellor’s Training Scheme, which is a UK-based training scheme specifically for PRC lawyers and is designed to give them experience of the common law system.

Laura qualified as a Chinese lawyer in 2000. Her experience is mainly in the field of corporate commercial law covering a wide range of commercial transactions including advising on foreign direct investment, setting up joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions.

Laura holds an LLB from Shanghai University and a Masters degree in International Commercial Law from the University of Aberdeen. Prior to her placement at Tanner De Witt she was placed at an English solicitors' firm based in Cambridge and at a barristers' Chambers in London.

20 April 2007

Paul Westover and Karen Cheng presented a LexisNexis course on Essential Due Diligence for M&A. The course covered:

• What is due diligence?
• Who conducts due diligence?
• Why conduct legal due diligence?
• Why is legal due diligence an important part of the acquisition?
• When is it conducted?
• How is due diligence conducted?
  • Assets
  • Intellectual Property
  • Litigation and other liabilities
  • Corporate records
  • Financial and tax records
  • Employees
• Sample due diligence report
• Use of precedents/templates
• Specific examples of where due diligence can go wrong

15 April 2007

Ken Choy took part in the annual MTR Hong Kong Race Walking event, which saw top Race Walking athletes from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines participate in the Men's and Women's Elite competitions.

MTR Hong Kong Race Walking has raised more than $2 million for the Hospital Authority Health InfoWorld's “Better Health for a Better Hong Kong” health education campaign to organise educational activities for better health for Hong Kong's working population.

31 March 2007

We congratulate Eden Wu on her admission as a Solicitor of the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Eden is pictured with Mark Side after the ceremony.

28 March 2007

Kenneth Choy gave a talk on Intellectual Property to year-2 and graduating students of the Higher Diploma of Advertising, Packaging & Branding at the Vocational Training Council.

28 March 2007

Robin Darton presented a lunch seminar to the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants Insolvency Interest Group on the topic Section 221 Examinations. The talk included discussion of the need for powers to examine; background to provisions of the legislation; making the application; scope of powers to examine / investigate; limits on use of information; protection of examinees; sanctions for non-compliance; extraterritoriality - examinees overseas; recognition - examiner from overseas; room for improvement / reform.

26 March 2007

Nicholas Longley was one of the presenters at the 4th Annual Contract Management Conference taking place at the Mövenpick Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 25 to 29 March 2007. Nick's talk, entitled Assessing Insurance Covers For Operators and Contractors included discussion of analysing your insurance needs, perils and pitfalls of your policy and limitations to your cover.

Conference programme (240KB)

19 March 2007

We welcome Edmond Leung to the firm. He is working in the Corporate and Commercial department.

12-21 March 2007

The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2007 included Man Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai, the iconic Gore Vidal, legendary Jan Morris, renowned actress and chef Madhur Jaffrey, adventurer Simon Winchester and bestselling novelist Amy Tan.

Tanner De Witt is supporting the Man Asian Literary Prize 2007, which will be awarded for the first time in the autumn of 2007 for an “Asian novel unpublished in English” and each twelve months thereafter.

Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2007

11 March 2007

Tanner De Witt sponsored a team in the Outward Bound Adventure Race 2007. Adventure Race is an annual fund-raising event of Outward Bound Hong Kong. The aim of the race is to provide an opportunity for participants to challenge themselves physically and mentally, as well as developing their teamwork, leadership and problem-solving skills. This year, the aim was to raise HK$1M, which will be used to assist underprivileged youth to take part on Outward Bound courses to help their personal growth.

The race is 20km, disciplines being on- and off-trail running, kayaking, swimming, orienteering and “other unexpected challenges” on the way from Shek O to Stanley. Team Tanner De Witt consisted of four hardy individuals, including one TDW staff member. They finished in a respectable fifth place in the Open Mixed category.

8 February 2007

Tanner De Witt was a finalist for Legal Business Awards 2007 Asia Pacific Firm of the Year at a ceremony held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London. Nick Longley and Ian De Witt (above) were in attendance.

20 January 2007

Tanner De Witt was among the 29 law firms and university departments represented at the 2007 Hong Kong Law Fair, which attracted hundreds of students looking for training contracts with law firms. This was the first year that Tanner De Witt has participated in the event. Tanner De Witt trainee solicitors Carmen, Stephanie and Alice were assisted by Paul and Russell.

18 January 2007

Nicholas Longley was the speaker at a seminar on Claims, Variations and Quantum Meruit, jointly hosted by the Lighthouse Club Young Members Club and the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS) Junior Organisation. The HKIS donated the seminar fees to the Lighthouse Club. In total HK$6,006 was raised.

12 January 2007

Russell Bennett presented an Update on Employment Law which included discussion of the Race Discrimination Bill and recent decisions on:

• Quantum of awards in discrimination cases
• Post-termination restrictions
• Garden leave