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

Disruption, downturn and recovery tend to generate more disputes – and in Asia Pacific cross-jurisdiction operations and investments increase that risk. Our 2021 Guide to Dispute Resolution in Asia Pacific is your roadmap to potential problems in these fast-changing times, especially for those new to the region’s complex legal landscape. From the basics of each … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has launched the 8th edition of its guide, “Dispute resolution and governing law clauses for China-related commercial contracts‎”. Better known as “The Dragon Book“, this practical guide explains how Mainland Chinese law affects parties’ choice of law and dispute resolution in China-related contracts.‎ Join us for a launch webinar on Wednesday 9 … Read more

On 2 August 2019, the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court of Zhejiang Province (Wenzhou Court) issued the Civil Ruling (2017) Zhe 03 Xie Wai Ren No. 7 (the Wenzhou Court Ruling) to recognise Judgement No. S139/2012 (Judgment) rendered by the Singapore High Court (Singapore Court) on 15 February 2013 (Oceanside Development Group Ltd. v. Chen Tongkao … Read more

In Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited v Wisdom Top International Limited [2020] HKCFI 322, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance considered whether an asymmetric jurisdiction clause (AJC) would be regarded as an exclusive jurisdiction clause under the Mainland Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Ordinance). Read more

In Hong Ziyun v Chan Kwan Ming [2019] HKCFI 2125, the Court of First Instance considered the relevant jurisdiction applicable to a host of related loan documents where only one of the documents contained an express jurisdiction clause (in favour of the court of Xiamen in Mainland China). The defendants applied for a stay of … Read more

In Re A Civil Matter Now Pending in United States District Court for the Western District of Washington [2019] HKCFI 1738 , the Hong Kong Court of First Instance rejected two letters of request (the “LORs“) from the Washington Federal Court seeking to compel two distressed debt investors to give evidence. The general principle is … Read more

  Click here for a sneak preview With the launch of this new Guide, our market-leading litigation team has wrapped up a three-year project during which it produced eight issues of the Contract Disputes Practical Guide series for Hong Kong, an initiative that has been hugely popular with clients in the territory. We have also … Read more