Matthew Watson > Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP > Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong > Lawyer Profile

Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP Offices

Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP
Suites 3610-13, Jardine House
1 Connaught Place
Central
Hong Kong SAR
Hong Kong
Visit website 852 3628 9000 852 3628 9090

Matthew Watson

Matthew Watson photo
+852 3628 9034 matthew.watson@careyolsen.com View profile View profile

Position

Matthew is a Partner in our Dispute Resolution and Litigation practice in the Hong Kong office.

His practice is focused on acting for high-net-worth clients and major corporations in insolvency and restructuring contexts, as well as high value and complex commercial, corporate, trust and estate litigation under the law of Bermuda.

Matthew is highly recommended by peers and clients and is ranked in leading legal directories Chambers and the Legal 500, where he has been described as, “an absolute delight to work with: incredibly hard-working, excellent commercial brain, superb attention to detail and a first-rate lawyer.” Other client testimonials praise his “superb tactical litigation skill” and “unwavering dedication to excellence and total commitment to the case”. Matthew is also one of the leading private client professionals ranked in the Global Private Client Elite.

Career

Prior to relocating to join Carey Olsen as a Partner in its Hong Kong office, Matthew was a Director of a leading Bermuda commercial law firm. During his time practising in Bermuda, he was involved in many of the island’s largest contentious disputes, often involving billion-dollar sums. His experience included appearing before the Supreme Court of Bermuda and Court of Appeal of Bermuda.

Matthew began his legal career practising in Victoria, Australia for a commercial law firm.

Languages

English

Lawyer Rankings

Foreign-based expertise > Leading firms

(Next Generation Partners)

Matthew Watson – Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP

Overview

Leveraging the expertise throughout its UK and Asia offices, Carey Olsen’s ‘incredibly responsive and effective’ global Caribbean-focused practice draws on ‘deep reservoirs of expertise and experience’ to field ‘the A-Team of all offshore practices operating today’. The firm’s team is spread across its London, Hong Kong and Singapore offices, covering Bermuda, BVI and Cayman law with particular experience in corporate, finance, funds and insolvency work, and litigation.

For more information on specific regions, please click on the tabs below.

  • Asia
  • UK
Acting for ‘a stellar array of clients drawn from across the Asia Pacific region and beyond, which underscores the firm’s status as the best of the best’, Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP utilises the expertise of managing partner Michael Padarin as a go-to name for fund issues, including the formation, operation and restructuring of funds, particularly those with Cayman law elements. Jeremy Lightfoot leads the litigation practice in Hong Kong and is praised as ‘an outstanding litigation lawyer and an impressive critical thinker’; the litigation team was further bolstered in mid-2023 with the recruitments of Tim Haynes and Matthew Watson, who focus on Cayman and Bermuda issues, respectively. In Carey Olsen Singapore LLP, managing partner Anthony McKenzie also leads the corporate practice, while James Noble, who is praised as ‘quite simply the best of the best’, heads up the litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice. Tom Katsaros is the primary contact in the jurisdiction for investment fund work, and litigator Helen Wang is singled out as ‘very experienced with great cross-jurisdictional knowledge and analysis’.
Key names in Carey Olsen LLP’s London office include managing partner Jasmine Amaria, who focuses on corporate, fund and finance work with a Cayman or BVI aspect, acting for clients in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Richard Brown is singled out by clients as ‘superb as a lawyer, as a litigator and as a strategist’, and provides ‘a seamless service that is second to none’; he is the primary contact for dispute resolution advice and insolvency issues involving BVI law and was further admitted as a registered associate of the Bermuda Bar in 2023. Counsel Sheba Raza is also a key name to note and ‘always feels part of the team she is working with’.

Hong Kong > Offshore law firms

Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP continues to gain traction in the market, with a number of notable recent hires raising the firm’s profile and providing it with enhanced resources with which to serve its client base. The litigation offering, which is led by the ‘responsive’ Jeremy Lightfoot has experienced most growth over the last 12 months, with the arrival in May 2023 of shareholder, corporate disputes and insolvency litigator Tim Haynes from Kobre & Kim, a particularly noteworthy hire. Praised for his ‘superb tactical sense and excellent client skills’, Matthew Watson, who joined from Bermuda firm Cox Hallett Wilkinson Limited, is also a notable hire in light of his growing reputation at handling complex trust and commercial litigation disputes. On the transactional front, the ‘responsive, committed and completely reliable’ Michael Padarin combines a thriving corporate practice with his duties as managing partner, while James Webb  ‘balances technical expertise with commercial awareness’ to provide a stellar service to clients, particularly in relation to fund finance work.

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