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Legal Updates

  • Legal Update: Importance of Contemporaneous Records in Defending Against Discrimination Claim

    In a recent decision of Guting, Joan Sarmiento, Deceased v Choy Chiu Yee Rita [2024] HKDC 747 handed down by the District Court, an employer was successful in defending against a disability discrimination claim by a domestic helper. It appears from the judgment that the…Read More

  • The Court of Final Appeal Revisits The Approach of an Appellate Court in Magistracy Appeals

    On 3 April 2024, the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) (the highest court in Hong Kong) handed down its judgment in HKSAR v Hui Lai Ki [2024] HKCFA 7 clarifying the correct approach to be adopted by an appellate court for an appeal by way…Read More

  • Marriage Equality in Hong Kong: Progress and Next Steps

    Pride Month aims to raise awareness around equality and celebrating our LGBTQIA+ people and communities and to raise awareness of issues that affect them and steer conversation and action towards positive change. Recently in celebration of Pride Month, ten LGBTQIA+ couples tied the knot in…Read More

  • Legal update: Privy Council’s decision in Sian Participation Corp (In Liquidation) v. Halimeda International Ltd – are we back to square one?

    This note updates a series of Tanner De Witt articles on the interaction between dispute resolution clauses and the Court’s insolvency jurisdiction. The previous articles are: The update arises because of the widely reported Privy Council decision in Re Sian Participation Corp[1] that the English…Read More

  • Tanner De Witt Successfully Defends Former Director Against Fraud and Conspiracy Charges in a White-Collar Crime Trial

    In a significant white-collar criminal trial of Hong Kong, Tanner De Witt secured the acquittal of Mr. Leslie Harry Swann. The case revolved around the activities of a concrete compression test lab operated by a multinational company, where Mr. Swann served as a project director. This lab was…Read More

  • Insider Dealing – The case against Segantii Capital Management Limited and certain officers

    On 2 May 2024, the Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) announced that it has commenced criminal proceedings against Segantii Capital Management Limited (“Segantii”), its director and chief investment officer Mr Simon Sadler, and former trader Mr Daniel La Rocca (together, the “Officers”) for the offence…Read More

  • Legal Update: Standish v Standish [2024] EWCA Civ 567

    The decision in the case of Standish v Standish, Court of Appeal, England & Wales, concerns a high-profile divorce settlement and primarily concerns pre-marital contributions to the asset pool. In an unprecedented move, the Court of Appeal reduced the award to the Wife by GBP20…Read More

  • Press release: Tanner De Witt Announces Partner Jeff Lane’s Retirement from Partnership to a Consultant Role

    Hong Kong, 31 May 2024 — Tanner De Witt, a leading Hong Kong law firm, announces the retirement of Partner Jeff Lane from the partnership as of 31 May 2024 but is also pleased to announce that Jeff Lane will continue with the firm in a…Read More

  • DAO and the Law: The Future

    Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) are an emerging method for organising community based activities using blockchain technology. In the final article in this series exploring legal issues related to DAOs in Hong Kong, Pádraig Walsh from the Digital Services and Fintech practice of Tanner De Witt…Read More

  • Stop resisting! Solicitors must deliver up the client files of its former insolvent client to the liquidators.

    In what can only be described as a regretful sequence of events, a firm of solicitors was ordered to pay indemnity costs for unreasonably refusing to deliver up its former client’s files to the liquidators where no lien was claimed.  Legal practitioners should bear in…Read More

  • Tanner De Witt’s Family Practice ranked and Joanne Brown recognised as Leading Family and Divorce Lawyer in 2024 Doyle’s Guide Hong Kong.

    Another great achievement for Joanne Brown and her Family practice, being recognised as a “Leading Family and Divorce Lawyer” and “Recommended Family and Divorce Law Firm” by the Doyle’s Guide Hong Kong 2024.

  • DAOs and the law: Enforcement

    Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) are an emerging method for organising community based activities using blockchain technology. In the fourth of a series of articles exploring legal issues related to DAOs in Hong Kong, Pádraig Walsh and Shirley Kong from the Digital Services and Fintech practice…Read More