On 15 April 2025, the Hong Kong Government’s Digital Policy Office published the Hong Kong Generative Artificial Intelligence Technical and Application Guideline (“Guideline”), which aims to provide operational guidance for...more
5/15/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Data Privacy ,
Hong Kong ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
New Guidance ,
Personal Data ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management
Artificial intelligence (“AI”) has the potential to make significant changes to various aspects of the practice of law. It is possible that many lawyers will incorporate AI in doing legal work, one way or the other and to...more
From 1 May 2025, in respect of Hong Kong’s MPF scheme, the MPF offsetting mechanism will be abolished, meaning that employers no longer will be able to use the accrued benefits of their mandatory contributions under the...more
5/7/2025
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hong Kong ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
Severance Pay
The Hong Kong Government has proposed to change the “continuous contract” requirement under the Employment Ordinance (Cap 57) (“EO”) from the current “4-18” requirement to a more relaxed “4-17” or “4-68” requirement....more
What lawyers call a “battle of the forms” occurs when two parties, negotiating a contract, exchange conflicting standard terms during the contract negotiation and formation. This leads to the obvious and not uncommon dilemma:...more
4/29/2025
/ Construction Contracts ,
Construction Disputes ,
Construction Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Formation ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Hong Kong ,
Standard Form Contracts ,
Standard Forms ,
Subcontractors
In Sze Fung Engineering Limited v Trevi Construction Company Limited [2025] HKCA 278, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal (“CA”) ruled that the “back to back” wording in that case was not a “pay when paid” clause, but governed only...more
4/29/2025
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Contract Terms ,
Hong Kong ,
Pay When Paid ,
Subcontractors
In Y and Another v GI and Another [2025] HKCFI 1317[1], the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“Court”) allowed the defendant’s application for security for costs against the plaintiffs in respect of the plaintiffs’...more
Ask a trained lawyer what an “LLM” is, and what first will come to mind may be a “Master of Laws”; ask a tech-savvy teenager what an “LLM” is, and they most probably will answer “large language model”. The former may not be a...more
4/3/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Due Process ,
International Arbitration ,
Legal Operations ,
Legal Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
Risk Management ,
Transparency
In CC v AC [2025] HKCFI 855 (Date of Decision: 27 February 2025), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“Court”) dismissed an application to set aside an order to enforce an arbitral award.
The main basis of challenge...more
With the continued prevalence of the “gig economy”, a common question that arises is whether “gig workers” are employees or independent contractors of the digital platform. ...more
3/19/2025
/ Employee Definition ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Gig Economy ,
Hong Kong ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
A creditor commences winding-up proceedings against a debtor company on the basis that the company is insolvent. The petition debt relates to a dispute within the ambit of the arbitration agreement between the creditor and...more
These are exciting times for sports in Hong Kong.
With the Hong Kong team’s success at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics, the opening of the Kai Tak Sports Park and the 15th National Games (which Hong...more
On 10 February 2025, the Development Bureau (“DEVB”) issued a suite of model adjudication documents (“Model Documents”), including a set of model adjudication rules (“Model Rules”)....more
In Wang & Lee Contracting Ltd v Young Kwong Pui Trading as In Tech Engineering [2025] HKDC 66 (Date of Decision: 3 January 2025), the District Court ordered the court proceedings to be stayed and that the plaintiff’s claims...more
Adjudication has become a key tool in the construction industry, helping employers and contractors resolve disputes quickly and keep cash flowing on projects. But when insolvency enters the picture, things can get tricky —...more
2/14/2025
/ Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Hong Kong ,
Insolvency ,
Jurisdiction ,
Security of Payment Act ,
Singapore ,
Stays ,
UK
The second and third reading of the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill concluded at the Legislative Council on 18 December 2024....more
The Hong Kong Government received 37 submissions from the public in July 2024 regarding the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill (“Bill”) and held discussions with deputations from different stakeholders at a LegCo...more
10/8/2024
/ Adjudicatory Process ,
Comment Period ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Contract Terms ,
Exceptions ,
Fees ,
General Contractors ,
Hong Kong ,
Insolvency ,
Pay When Paid ,
Pending Legislation ,
Prompt Payment
In recent years, technology advancement has introduced new methods for contract formation. In particular, the rise of blockchain technology has led to the emergence of “smart contracts”, which are digital contracts which...more
9/27/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Blockchain ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Contract Terms ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Hong Kong ,
Smart Contracts ,
UK ,
UNCITRAL ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
On 16 July 2024, the Hong Kong LegCo Bills Committee which is considering the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill (“Bill”) held a meeting to receive representations and submissions on the Bill from deputations sent...more
9/26/2024
/ Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Contract Terms ,
General Contractors ,
Hong Kong ,
Insolvency ,
Pay When Paid ,
Prompt Payment ,
Subcontractors ,
Third-Party ,
UK
In Beijing Songxianghu Architectural Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd v Kitty Kam [2024] HKCFI 1657 (date of reasons for decision: 19 June 2024), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“the Court”) dismissed an application for...more
In SYL v GIF [2024] HKCFI 1324 (date of judgment: 20 May 2024), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“the Court”) set aside an Interim Award made by the arbitral tribunal (“Tribunal”) in an HKIAC-administered arbitration....more
In CMBICDHAW Investments Limited v CDH Fund V Limited Partnership & others [2024] HKCA 516 (judgment date: 10 July 2024), the Hong Kong Court of Appeal (CA) addressed an appeal regarding the Court of First Instance’s (CFI)...more
Our earlier Insight “LegCo in-house lawyers request clarifications regarding the Security of Payment Bill” reported that the Legal Service Division of the LegCo wrote a letter on 19 June 2024 to the HK Government seeking to...more
The Hong Kong Government recently submitted its proposed legislative framework to enhance protection of computer systems of critical infrastructure (“Proposal”) to the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) Panel on Security for...more
In the case of A v B & ors [2024] HKCFI 751 (date of reasons for decision: 13 March 2024) the Hong Kong court set aside an order granted to enforce an arbitral award dated 25 August 2022 made by the sole arbitrator in an...more