The Legal 500 2018 rankings are announced for Asia Pacific

Tanner De Witt is very pleased to be recommended again this year in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific Guide 2018 for its four main practice areas; corporate and commercial, labour and employment, restructuring and insolvency and litigation and dispute resolution. We are very proud to announce that Ian De Witt, Robin Darton and Kim Boreham have retained their leading individual ranking, while solicitor Sunny Hathiramani continues to be recognised as next generation lawyer for our top tier Restructuring and Insolvency Practice. The full rankings can be found here.

Dispute resolution: litigation – ranked: tier 3

Tanner De Witt’s practice includes litigators Mark Side, Pamela Mak and Jeff Lane. Mak is ‘careful to avoid any unnecessary litigation’, and the whole team is praised for ‘not shying away from the difficult-to-hear facts’. Recent highlights include bringing six concurrent actions for a PRC-based energy sector businessman against his former employees for allegedly transferring his assets to themselves and others without consent; the assets are currently being recovered in Hong Kong, BVI and PRC. Other work included acting for an offshore firm in an ICAC investigation.

Restructuring and insolvency – ranked: tier 1

An ‘established player in the Hong Kong market’, Tanner De Witt leverages strong ties with professional services firms including PwC and FTI Consulting and also generates a significant amount of referral work from international law firms to advise on the Hong Kong aspects of cross-border mandates. Particularly recommended at the contentious end of the market, the two-partner team is active across a range of industry sectors and across the spectrum of insolvency-related litigation including acting in winding-up proceedings, appointments of provisional liquidators, claims against directors, claims against auditors, and fraud and asset tracing. The ‘very experienced’ Robin Darton is advising the liquidators of the Hong Kong subsidiary of Singaporean conglomerate Dragon Technology Distribution on the validity of and interplay between various receivables financing arrangements and other security arrangements established between the debtor and numerous lenders. Darton also continues to act for the liquidators of the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of OW Bunker in its high-profile collapse. The ‘excellent’ Ian De Witt is also recommended, while at an associate level Sunny Hathiramani has a burgeoning reputation and is frequently involved in many of the highest-profile matters handled by the team.

Employment – ranked: tier 2

Deeply embedded in the local market, Tanner De Witt’s five-strong team picks up direct instructions and referral work on behalf of many local employers and employees, where the firm is best-known for its ‘excellent employment litigation capability’. The team excels at handling work within the financial services sector and is representing a fund management company in an internal investigation relating to the summary dismissal of a senior executive following alleged breaches of duty and misuse of confidential information. Russell Bennett handles a range of employment litigation within the financial services sector and as well as core work in relation to bonuses and termination entitlements, is also well versed in handling the increasing overlap between employment and financial services regulatory matters. Kim Boreham is the other partner within the team and is noted, in particular, for her ‘expertise in injunction work’, which regularly sees her involved in big-ticket litigation.

Corporate (including M&A) – ranked: tier 6

Tanner De Witt is ‘one of the few independent Hong Kong law firms that can manage international clients well’, and its excellent reputation is underpinned by a sizeable international network of referral firms. Tim Drew is ‘responsive, experienced, pragmatic and client-friendly’. Also recommended are River Stone and Caroline De Souza, who provide ‘solid advice in a reasonable period of time’ and have ‘a great attitude to service’. Noted for its mid-market focus, the team handles a broad cross-section of matters, including M&A, joint ventures, corporate reorganisations and private equity transactions. In addition to acting for Hong Kong-based businesses, the firm also assists clients overseas with operations in China and elsewhere in Asia; foodpanda, Equiom Group, Delifrance and King Fook all feature on the roster. Drew jointly leads the practice with the highly regarded Eddie Look and Edmond Leung.

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