Commercial Disputes

By way of example, he has completed two substantial commercial arbitrations, one ICC arbitration in Singapore under the laws of Thailand relating to a joint venture for the production of eucalyptus pulp; and the other an LCIA arbitration under the laws of New York relating to an IT royalties arrangement; he has acted for Hanson plc in relation to an interference by a pipeline with its aggregates dredging operation in the North Sea; he has acted on behalf of Danone for the purpose of obtaining a Norwich Pharmacal order to support economic tort proceedings in California (Danone Asia PTE Ltd v SB Chow & Co); he has successfully opposed the disqualification of an arbitrator for bias in an UNCITRAL arbitration (Jung Science Information Technology Co Ltd v ZTE Corpn);  he has successfully opposed an UNCITRAL award being set aside for procedural unfairness; he has acted for a hedge fund in a BVI case in relation to a hotel project joint venture on the mainland of China; he has acted in a case which deals with the principles relating to contempt of court in the context of a Mareva injunction (Gill v Darroch); and has appeared in the Court of Appeal of Samoa on the issue of whether the confidentiality provisions of the companies legislation can be overridden by Norwich Pharmacal principles.  He has frequently been instructed in cases involving commercial litigation interim remedies (Mareva, Chabra, Anton Piller and Norwich Pharmacal applications).

Real Estate

His work includes general conveyancing disputes, issues in relation to commercial leases, rent reviews, break options, overage, easements, restrictive covenants, contaminated land, adverse possession and the Electronic Communications Code.

By way of example, he has been instructed in Lennox Lewis v Eliades (extent of beneficial interest, and the law of set-off); for Barclays Bank in Barclays Bank v Savile Estates (time of essence in rent review clause); in relation to one of the seminal cases on the Trusts of Land Act 1996 (The Mortgage Corporation v Shaire); on a standard form covenant in a Crown Lease in Hong Kong, where issues of waiver and estoppel arose (Expressluck Development Ltd v Secretary For Justice [2007] HK CFI 754); in relation to the interpretation of a building covenant (Jarvis Homes v Marshall, Court of Appeal); on the issue of whether a property transaction or a trust can be struck down as a sham (Westworld Ltd v Azulay and Nightingale Mayfair v Mehta); in Howard De Walden Estates v Malekshad (leasehold enfranchisement, House of Lords); in J Alston & Sons Ltd v BOCM Paul (adverse possession by licensee); and in Mitchell v Watkinson (whether an unincorporated association can adversely possess).

Professional Negligence

His expertise includes claims against solicitors, surveyors, auditors, project managers, and quantity surveyors.  He has been one of the contributing editors of Professional Negligence and Liability, and is contributing the chapters relating to solicitors', valuers' and accountants' negligence for the next edition of the publication 'Lender Claims'.

He has been in some of the leading authorities including Platform Home Loans v Oyston (valuers’ negligence, damages, House of Lords); Mortgage Express v Bowerman (extent of solicitor’s duty to a lending institution); Zwebner v The Mortgage Corporation (solicitor’s liability on an undertaking); Paratus v Countrywide Surveyors (effect of securitisation on a professional negligence claim, margin of error and contributory negligence); and D B Bank v Edmunds & Co (extent to which solicitors can be held liable for breach of trust in a conveyancing transaction).

Company and Insolvency

He has frequently being instructed in litigation related to shareholders’ disputes, derivative actions, joint ventures and the lawfulness of shareholder and board resolutions.

Most recently he appeared successfully in Re E Realisations 2020 Ltd in obtaining relief for administrators from strict compliance with their obligations when obtaining consent from creditors for renewal of their term in office,and also in obtaining permission from the court for an extension of the period of administration.

He has acted for HSBC in the Akai liquidation (Kong Wah Holdings Ltd v HSBC); in the long running Macro litigation (unfair prejudice, rights of pre-emption); Rosshill Properties (receivership); Lord v Sinai Securities (test for transaction at an undervalue); and Greenhaven Motors (the sanctioning of a compromise).

He has acted in an HKIAC arbitration relating to the triggering of "buy out" provisions for “material breach” of a shareholders’ agreement.

He has appeared in the only reported case on costs in a double derivative action in an offshore (St Vincent) trusts context. 

He has acted succesfully in an appeal in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal dealing with the threshold requirements of a derivative action in the BVI (Basab Inc).

He has acted for the offshore shareholders in the long-running shareholders' dispute relating to one of Hong Kong's terrestrial TV channels, ATV. 

He has appeared in the Court of Appeal in Samoa on the issue of whether the confidentiality provisions of the local companies legislation can be overridden by Norwich Pharmacal principles.