Litigation and Dispute Resolution

The TDW Litigation and Dispute Resolution team concentrates on resolving disputes promptly and with minimum disruption to commercial relationships. We invest time and effort in mediation and related alternative dispute resolution. However, if it is inevitable, our experience in commercial litigation and dispute resolution procedures enables us to deal effectively with disputes in the various courts and tribunals of Hong Kong.

The majority of the firm's work is conducted in the High Court, including various specialised divisions, such as the Commercial List and the Construction and Arbitration List. We also conduct cases in various specialised tribunals and for various professional associations. Additionally, we handle arbitration under the Hong Kong Domestic Arbitration Rules and under the rules of various international bodies, such as the International Chamber of Commerce.

We act as process server for overseas law firms who need to conduct legal business in Hong Kong including taking depositions or evidence for use in overseas proceedings.

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Our Services

The firm acts on a wide variety of cases, many of which have involved landmark decisions. Types of litigation handled include the following:

• Administrative law and judicial review
• Banking
• Breach of contract and negligence
• Commercial conspiracy and fraud
• Construction
• Debt recovery
• Defamation
• Employment
• Injunction proceedings
• Insolvency
• Insurance
• Intellectual property
• International trade
• Investment disputes related to listed companies
• Joint venture and franchise disputes
• Landlord and tenant
• Mortgage actions
• Owner operated company and shareholder disputes
• Professional negligence
• Sale of goods and services
• Shipping
• Tax
• Trade finance
• Trusts

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Our Experience

Our lawyers' wide experience includes:

• An application for judicial review of the Securities and Futures Commission's refusal to investigate complaint lodged against a Hong Kong listed company;
• Advising the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants on disciplinary proceedings against a prominent accounting firm;
• As part of its regulatory and white collar crime work, the department is acting on an international money laundering case involving the authorities in Australia and in Hong Kong;
• The litigation department has a developing focus on minority shareholder protection which has resulted in a number of winding-up petitions based upon just and equitable grounds, including for a prominent Hong Kong toy manufacturer;
• The firm is acting on a number of disputes concerning quoted companies and intra-family disputes where typically the second or third generation of an entrepreneur's family claims different entitlements in the entrepreneur's estate; and
• Applying for and obtaining injunctive relief, including "springboard" injunctions, in respect of claims for breach of confidence, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of restrictive covenants, arising out of the whole-scale clandestine removal of the entire workforce of a business in Hong Kong owned by a group in the UK.