Ms Judy Lee > Appleby > Hong Kong, Hong Kong > Lawyer Profile
Appleby Offices
Suites 4201-03 & 12, 42/F, One Island East
Taikoo Place, 18 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
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Ms Judy Lee
Work Department
Corporate
Position
Judy Lee is a partner in the Corporate department of Appleby’s Hong Kong office. Judy practises a wide range of Bermuda, Cayman and BVI corporate law, specialising in corporate finance and investment funds. She is responsible for our corporate administration and fiduciary services business Appleby Global Services.
Judy has over 25 years of offshore and onshore experience in listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Singapore Stock Exchange as well as mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and other corporate finance transactions. Judy leads Hong Kong Capital Markets team which is recognised as one of the offshore market leaders for their specialist IPO and listing work advice in Hong Kong as well as overseas. Under her leadership, the team was able to complete consistently more than 50 listings on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2018, representing close to 40% of the market share. In addition, she has extensive experience in the structuring and setting up of Cayman investment funds in Asia. She also advises on Bermuda and Cayman court-sanctioned shareholders privatisation schemes of arrangement.
Career
Judy is the three-time winner for the ´Best in Offshore´ individual award at Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2013, 2018 and 2019 (as well as nominated as a finalist from 2013 to 2016), the ´Offshore Investment Funds Lawyer of the Year in Hong Kong Award´ at the Corporate INTL Magazine Global Awards 2014 and 2017 and the ´Women in Law Award´ at Lawyer Monthly’s Legal Awards 2016. She was nominated as a finalist for the ´Dealmaker of the Year Award´ from 2014 to 2016 and the ´Woman Lawyer of the Year Award´ in 2016 at the Asian Legal Business Hong Kong Law Awards. She has also been recognised for the third year in a row in the fourth edition of IFLR1000 Women Leaders list 2021 and is the only offshore lawyer in the Asia-Pacific region to be included. These serve as excellent endorsements to Judy’s capability and highlight her outstanding achievements in corporate and investment funds laws. Most recently, Judy has been recognised as ‘Leading Individuals’ in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020 Rankings. She was acknowledged for her ‘very commercial and efficient’ style as a leader in the office and remains as one of the market leaders in relation to offshore listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Clients commented that “Judy Lee is a very safe pair of hands and provides a high standard of work”.
Judy has been repeatedly recognised by the legal directories as one of Asia’s leading lawyers. Clients commented on Judy with “a strong corporate finance, capital markets and investment funds practice” and described her as “very hands on; sound technical knowledge and attention to details”. They noted Judy as one who “keeps her advice practical and focused, and is a pleasure to deal with” and “a very pragmatic, insightful and efficient lawyer” who offers “great commercial understanding and excellent client service”. She was singled out as one of the notable mentions in the Asian Legal Business´ Offshore Client Choice 2017 and 2018 for her strong track record for corporate and investment funds laws. She was lauded as “Judy has been exceptionally brilliant. I have nothing but good things to say about her. In the region her team provides coverage that you don´t get from other firms.” She is consistently ranked as an offshore leading individual by IFLR 1000, Legal 500 and Chambers Asia-Pacific from 2012 to 2021, with client´s commenting her “strong technical background and attention to detail”. In 2018, she has also been recognised as one of China’s Elite Top 50 Lawyers (Foreign Firms) by China Business Law Journal.
Languages
Judy speaks fluent English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Memberships
Judy is registered with the Bermuda Bar and as a foreign lawyer in Hong Kong and is admitted as a solicitor in the British Virgin Islands. She is a member of the Law Societies of England & Wales and Hong Kong.
Education
University of Hong Kong
Lawyer Rankings
Hong Kong > Offshore law firms
(Leading individuals)Acting on its own, as well as collaborating closely alongside other key offshore offices, including Bermuda, BVI and the Cayman Islands, Appleby provides ‘very responsive, practical and cost-effective advice’ directly to clients as well as in a referral capacity across a wide range of transactional, regulatory and litigation matters. In his dual role as managing partner and corporate head, David Bulley has guided the firm through a challenging market, and has been very effective in picking up a considerable volume of distressed M&A for fund clients, as well as a number of key roles advising on the offshore aspects of Chinese real estate restructurings. One of many in the office with excellent language skills, the ‘proactive and commercial’ Judy Lee is ‘popular among Chinese clients’ on the offshore advice pursuant to both debt and equity capital markets matters. The ‘very approachable and technically sound’ Fiona Chan also has exceptional language skills which she harnesses to good effect across a range of banking and finance work. Other key transactional lawyers include Vincent Chan, who is ‘approachable and knowledgeable’ on M&A and IPO matters, and Chris Cheng, who provides ‘practical insights and advice’ on both international and HKSE listings. Eliot Simpson heads up the office’s litigation team and is noted, in particular, for shareholder and corporate disputes work as well as contentious insolvency matters. Richard Grasby heads up the office’s nascent private client offering and is ‘very strong on the technical points of both trusts and the regulatory issues’.