Hong Kong SAR

Withers’ family and matrimonial practice positions itself as a formidable player in the market with the largest dedicated team in Hong Kong. The team includes specialist accredited Hong Kong lawyers, trained collaborative lawyers and English family law specialists. It has profound experience acting for high-net-worth individuals with international trusts and complex corporate assets. The firm also expanded its general litigation and international arbitration practice by hiring experienced partners and teams. Its newly established team covers a wide range of disputes across the construction, commodities, energy, financial services, healthcare and technology industries.  

Jocelyn Tsao, managing director of the Hong Kong office, leads the divorce and family team, specialising in high-profile and complex matrimonial cases, including those involving digital assets, trusts, and cross-jurisdictional issues. Joseph Chu, a partner in the litigation and arbitration team, focuses on commercial disputes, regulatory investigations, fraud recovery, and cross-border litigation, with expertise in addressing challenges in the digital economy. Partners Michael Chik and Sherlin Tung are key names of the firm’s international arbitration practice. 

The firm's commercial litigation practice is acting for an ultra-high-net-worth individual, the ultimate beneficial owner and director of a Hong Kong-headquartered multinational corporation with roots dating to the 1920s and a globally recognised position in evaporative cooling products, in a complex shareholders' and employment dispute before the Hong Kong High Court valued at over $65 million. Partner Michael Chik is leading the matter, which has escalated from an internal shareholder dispute into full-blown High Court litigation against a former director and senior executive for breach of fiduciary duties and unjust enrichment, with parallel employment proceedings successfully transferred to the High Court on the firm's application. The adverse party has since mounted unfair prejudice allegations adding a further layer of complexity, and the matter remains ongoing. 

On the international arbitration front, the firm is acting for a leading technology company in eight high-value HKIAC arbitrations seated in Hong Kong, valued at approximately $400 million, concerning disputes arising from investments in China and redemption claims. Partners Joseph Chu and Alex Ye are leading the matter, which spans related court proceedings and involves complex jurisdictional challenges across multiple fronts, with the firm also advising the client on broader strategic planning and settlement. The matter remains ongoing. 

In a landmark pro bono constitutional challenge before the Hong Kong Court of First Instance, partner Jocelyn Tsao acted for the birth mother in a case concerning the legal recognition of parenthood in same-sex families. The case arose from a same-sex couple married overseas who had conceived a child through reciprocal IVF — where the egg of one partner was fertilised and carried to term by the other — leaving only the birth mother recognised as a legal parent under Hong Kong law while the genetically linked parent had no legal standing. The firm successfully argued that this exclusion infringed the child's rights to family and privacy under the Hong Kong Bill of Rights and the Basic Law, with Justice Coleman upholding the constitutional challenge and signalling the need for legislative reform. The ruling, completed in September 2025, is regarded as a significant step forward for inclusivity and the legal recognition of modern families in Hong Kong. 

Client feedback

“Top-notch evidence preparation. Top-notch support to barrister.” – Family and matrimonial 

Billy Ko

“Highly attentive and practical.”