Hong Kong gives higher rights of audience to four more lawyers
Four additional Hong Kong lawyers have been given the go-ahead to appear in the city's courts following training and assessment, out of a total of 30 who took part in the scheme. The lawyers were named in a Law Society circular, and inlcude Allen & Overy (A&O) senior associate Kevin Kee, Ernst and Young in house attorney Regina Fan, partner Pak Hau from Hong Kong outfit Charles Chu & Kenneth Sit and sole proprietor Paul Kwong.
March 10, 2014 at 05:05 AM
2 minute read
Four additional Hong Kong lawyers have been given the go-ahead to appear in the city's courts following training and assessment, out of a total of 30 who took part in the scheme.
The lawyers were named in a Law Society circular, and include Allen & Overy (A&O) senior associate Kevin Kee, Ernst and Young in house attorney Regina Fan, partner Pak Hau from Hong Kong outfit Charles Chu & Kenneth Sit and sole proprietor Paul Kwong.
All were awarded the rights for civil cases, except Kwong who was granted higher rights of audience (HRA) in respect of criminal proceedings.
Kee is the second A&O lawyer to be awarded HRA after arbitration partner Matthew Gearing last year.
The assessment board said in February 2013 that all 30 lawyers who applied for HRA by way of assessment would be put forward for the training course, administered by the College of Law in Hong Kong, and the subsequent assessment.
But only 19 are understood to have completed the latter, and of those only four were granted the rights following what sources say was a tough process.
The approvals have been granted a year after the first 15 solicitors in Hong Kong were permitted to appear in Hong Kong courts, exempted from any training scheme. A total of 90 solicitors applied for the rights in the hopes of being excluded from assessment.
Those cleared included the city's top dispute resolution partners, such as King & Wood Mallesons partner Denis Brock, Skadden partner Paul Mitchard QC, Ashurst senior associate and former barrister Sanjay Sakhrani, Baker & McKenzie duo Gary Seib and Kareena Teh, Mayer Brown JSM partner Nicholas Hunsworth, A&O's Gearing and Sidley Austin's international arbitration practice co-chair Yang Ing Loong – who is now with Latham & Watkins.
The appointments followed legislation passed in June 2012 giving solicitors with the relevant experience the right to appear in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Court of Final Appeal.
Previously court roles had been monopolised by barristers, with litigators involved only in behind-the-scenes tasks.
It is thought that another round of lawyers applied for HRA in September 2013, though results are yet to be published.
Related: Fifteen Hong Kong lawyers win higher rights to appear in court
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