Firm Profile > Howse Williams > Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Howse Williams > The Legal 500 Rankings

Howse Williams > Firm Profile

The firm: Howse Williams is an independent Hong Kong law firm with 26 partners and a total headcount of approximately 200. As an independent Hong Kong firm, the partners are able to minimise legal and commercial conflicts of interest and act for clients in every industry sector. The partners have spent the majority of their careers in Hong Kong and have a detailed understanding of international business and business in Asia.

Areas of practice: Dispute resolution: HW handles complex multi-jurisdictional commercial cases involving sale of goods; trade finance; media law; fraud; shareholder, joint venture, intellectual property, employment, property, trust and franchise disputes; injunction proceedings; jurisdictional challenges; public inquiries; and judicial reviews.

Corporate and corporate finance: HW’s team advises clients on a diverse spectrum of practice areas in all Asian jurisdictions, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, direct investment, capital markets and securities, private equity and venture capital, shareholder/joint venture agreements, corporate restructuring/reorganisation, corporate governance and general commercial matters including operational contracts and intellectual property commercialisation.

Clinical negligence and healthcare: HW advises doctors, dentists and their indemnity providers and other healthcare professionals. It also advises private hospitals, medical group practices, corporate healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies on issues relating to the import and distribution of drugs and pharmaceutical products, drug liability claims and regulatory matters. Three members of the team (including two partners) are dual-qualified as lawyers and medical practitioners.

Shipping: HW has considerable experience in all types of wet and dry shipping litigation. The team (which includes solicitors with seagoing experience) deals with collision, salvage, wreck removal and pollution cases as well as charterparty, bill of lading and other contract of affreightment disputes. The firm advises ship-owners, P&I clubs, hull and machinery insurers, salvors, charterers and freight forwarders.

Insurance/professional indemnity: HW advises on general insurance, professional indemnity, D&O and specialised insurance lines acting for underwriters, brokers, mutual and fixed premium insurers of ships, a wide range of insurers for freight forwarders, warehouse operators, transport intermediaries, cargo owners and trade insurers. The firm also represents insurers who provide professional indemnity insurance for various professional bodies in Hong Kong.

Employment: HW provides contentious and non-contentious employment and immigration advice to both employers and employees in Hong Kong.

Family and matrimonial: HW’s cases often involve families with assets in multiple jurisidictions. The firm handles all manner of children’s issues including custody, care and control and other parenting disputes, such as access, child maintenance, paternity and schooling applications both in respect of married and unmarried couples and cohabitants.  The firm has experience in handling private adoptions; cases involving child abduction and family finances including property transfers, prenuptial agreements and separation deeds.

Fraud: HW regularly acts for victims of all types of fraud to recover misappropriated assets.  The firm is the Hong Kong representative of the International Fraud Group (IFG), an elite group of lawyers across 17 countries focussed on unravelling fraud and tracing and returning assets.

Property and building management: HW’s clients include some of the largest international real estate agencies, listed property developers, international and local building management companies, quasi government bodies, property investment funds, incorporated owners of of commercial/residential buildings, and commercial and individual landlords and tenants in Hong Kong.

Regulatory and compliance: HW’s regulatory team advises financial institutions and corporates on a wide variety of contentious and non-contentious regulatory and compliance issues.

Banking and finance: HW’s banking team has experience in a broad range of banking and finance matters, including bilateral and syndicated lending, international trade finance, project finance, acquisition finance, ship finance, general cash management and liquidity products, asset and debt recovery, security enforcement actions, banking regulation and compliance, sanctions, AML, KYC and various regulatory project and remediation work.  The team also specialise in a diverse range of trade finance matters.

Trusts, assets and wealth management: We advise ultra high net worth individuals and their families; entrepreneurs and family businesses both in Hong Kong and the PRC.  We are trusted legal advisers providing advice and support to our clients on the management of their wealth and assets, and on a wide range of inheritance and succession matters.  We have experience in establishing trusts, in particular family trusts, educational trusts and charitable trusts.  Our team includes solicitors who are full members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

Wills, probate and estate management: We handle wills, probate, estate management and general civil litigation matters.