Des Voeux Chambers is lauded as ‘one of the best sets in Hong Kong for commercial dispute resolution’, as well as matters pertaining to company and insolvency law. Among the silks at the set, William Wong SC is notable for his expertise in company, insolvency, and securities-related litigation. Of recent note, he acted for the plaintiffs in the Court of Appeal case of Beijing Renji Real Estate Development Group Co. Ltd v Zhu Min, which concerned cross-border enforcement and the question of when a Mainland judgment could be registrable in Hong Kong. José-Antonio Maurellet SC ’possesses profound knowledge of company law‘, and is active in a range of shareholder disputes, winding-up proceedings, and applications arising from the liquidation of companies. Frances Lok SC, who is praised as ’meticulously prepared, a strong advocate and fearsome cross examiner‘, made silk in the 2024 round and often handles winding up petitions, unfair prejudice petitions, and derivative actions for listed companies and their shareholders and directors. Rachel Lam SC Turning to the juniors, John Hui is ’a multi-disciplinary barrister‘ who is ’highly knowledgeable‘ in the area of commercial injunctions and asset recovery, as is demonstrated by his involvement in the case of Ming Yang Capital Ltd v China Vered Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd, in which he represented the plaintiff, who was seeking an injunction to restrain the defendant from processing share redemptions from a fund without the investment committee’s consent. Barrister and arbitrator Benny Lo is ’astute in terms of litigation strategy‘, with expertise in company law cases. Connie Lee ’is truly exceptional in her commercial disputes practice‘.
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Profile
Career
Dr. Benny Lo graduated from Cambridge University in Law in 2006 (with firsts in contract, equity and land) and subsequently obtained the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (with distinction) from the University of Hong Kong. He was one of the two recipients of the Charles Ching Memorial Scholarship awarded by the Hong Kong Bar Association in 2007.
Benny’s practice focuses on commercial, company, general civil and intellectual property dispute resolution and he advises clients in litigation and international arbitration matters. Of particular note is his wealth of experience in company matters covering a wide spectrum of work including winding-up petitions, shareholder disputes, derivative actions, share capital reductions, appointment of provisional liquidators and injunction applications. Given his technological background, Benny also devotes part of his practice to IP matters as well as commercial matters with an IP element (especially patents, trademarks, copyright and registered design). In recent years, he has developed a substantial practice acting as counsel in arbitrations teamed up with local and international law firms.
Apart from acting as counsel, Benny has a growing practice sitting as an international arbitrator. He is an HKIAC, SIAC, ICC, CIETAC, BAC, LCIA, WIPO, CIArb, FIBA (BAT) and AIAC arbitrator and has been engaged as sole arbitrator or co-arbitrator on commercial, commodities trading, shareholder disputes, intellectual property, maritime, professional negligence, sports and investor-state matters. His jurisdiction award on a public policy issue was concurred with by the Hong Kong High Court in Grandom Asia Holding Ltd v Henry Wai & Co (a firm) [2018] 1HKLRD 808, the first time the Hong Kong court considered the arbitrability of solicitor-client fee disputes. Recently, he was appointed as co-arbitrator in an investment treaty arbitration Jin Hae Seo v The Republic of Korea brought under the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, having sat with a former Judge of the International Court of Justice and a former member of the International Law Commission of the United Nations.
Outside of practice, Benny is also active in public service. He has been appointed by the Chief Justice of Hong Kong to sit as a Temporary Deputy Registrar of the High Court and as Deputy District Judge. He has also been appointed by the Hong Kong Government to serve on various administrative and quasi-judicial boards and tribunals.
Year of call
- 2008 (Hong Kong)
Languages
English, Cantonese
Memberships
- Temporary Deputy Registrar, High Court (2017, 2019)
- Deputy District Judge (2017)
- HKIAC (General and IP), SIAC, ICC, CIETAC, BAC, LCIA, WIPO, CIArb, FIBA (BAT) and AIAC Arbitrator
- Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- Former Visiting Lecturer (International Arbitration and Dispute Settlement postgraduate program), Tsinghua University School of Law
- HKMAAL, HKIAC and WIPO Mediator
- Chairman, Appeal Tribunal Panel (Buildings)
- Member, Liquor Licensing Board, Appeal Panel (Housing) and Fishermen Claims Appeal Board (Trawl Ban)
- Member, Asian Patent Attorneys Association
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Benny excels in incisive, no-nonsense advice and advocacy, distilling complex issues into compelling, judge-focused arguments. His reliability is unmatched with robust advice and meticulous preparation underpinning consistently strong outcomes across contract disputes.'