Herbert Smith Freehills has secured an important judgment from the Hong Kong Court of Appeal, C v D [2022] HKCA 729, regarding escalation clauses – contractual provisions which require negotiation or mediation before either party can begin formal proceedings. These clauses are intended to promote the efficient resolution of disputes, but often lead to costly … Read more

On 17 March 2022, the Shanghai Maritime Court of PRC (the “SMC“) issued a milestone ruling ((2018) Hu 72 Xie Wai Ren No.1) with the approval by the Supreme People’s Court of the PRC (the “SPC“), allowing for the recognition and enforcement of an English Court judgment based on the principle of reciprocity for the … Read more

Hong Kong has officially published a Bill that would allow lawyers to agree outcome-based fees for arbitration work in the territory. If, as expected, the Bill passes into law later this year, it will allow lawyers in and outside Hong Kong to agree fees based on their clients’ success in the arbitration. This is a sea-change for … Read more

Ahead of the city-wide compulsory universal testing planned for later this month, and following the announcements by the Hong Kong Government to put in place employment laws that permit no jab, no job policies and sick leave for employees subject to mandatory testing, quarantine or isolation, (covered in our previous alert), the Employment (Amendment) Bill … Read more

Following the increase in COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government has announced a series of tightening measures on 8 February 2022. This alert provides an overview of the latest employer-related measures which have been proposed. Vaccine pass soon to be launched extended to six additional categories of premises From mid-February 2022 entry … Read more

The Supreme People’s Court of China (SPC) has recently released Rules of Online Litigation of the People’s Court of China (Rules). The Rules are judicial interpretations formulated by the SPC binding on courts in Mainland China and will come into effect on 1 August 2021. Background As the digital economy in China continues to grow, … Read more

From 28 June 2021, Singapore will permit third-party funding of proceedings in the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), domestic arbitration proceedings and related mediation proceedings. Before this, Singapore permitted third-party funding for international arbitration proceedings and related court and mediation proceedings only (as reported in our blog post of January 2017). In making these changes, … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has secured an important victory in Hong Kong proceedings with far-reaching consequences for arbitration disputes around the world. Many commercial contracts contain “escalation clauses” requiring parties to take certain steps before formal arbitration begins – such as a requirement to “negotiate in good faith” before starting arbitration. Previously, failure to comply with … Read more