Baker McKenzie is praised for combining local expertise with pragmatic advice, underpinned by its ability to coordinate across the firm’s international network. The team regularly handles cross-border compliance projects, global investigations, and corporate support alongside M&A mandates. ‘Always on top of what is going on in the employment landscape’, Tess Lumsdaine is a key resource to clients on training and compliance, as well as contentious matters, which frequently include intricate multi-jurisdictional investigations. Drawing upon many years’ experience of handling Greater China matters, the ‘insightful and dependable’ Jonathan Isaacs, who co-heads the team alongside Lumsdaine, is also instructed by multinational clients navigating the complexities of the local market. The ‘outstanding’ Roberta Chan regularly handles contentious employment matters as part of her broad litigation offering and is a key member of the team that also includes Ken Ng, whose litigation focus includes the enforcement of post-termination restrictive covenants, and Sonia Wong, whose broad employment offering encompasses advisory, corporate support and litigation expertise.

The ‘knowledgeable and responsive’ team at Deacons provides ‘practical and useful advice’ to regional and international employers, including those within the financial services and education sectors, across a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment matters. Vastly experienced team head Cynthia Chung adds value on corporate support matters by dint of her previous experience as an M&A lawyer, and also excels at handling disputes before the employment tribunal and courts, and on large-scale internal investigations into employee conduct. Elsie Chan has a ‘solutions-oriented’ approach to representing employers in discrimination and harassment litigation, as well as internal investigations. Other key members of the team include trilingual partner Helen Liao, who excels at advising Chinese SOEs and international financial institutions on disputes and employment contract work, and Stephanie Yip, who is well-versed across both non-contentious and contentious matters.

Recently enhanced by the return of Joe Choy in July 2025 from Eversheds Sutherland, Johnson Stokes & Master maintains a broad and deep employment offering which is lauded for its ability to bring a  ‘strategic and pragmatic approach’ to employers across a mix of contentious, corporate support and advisory work. ‘Technically excellent’ team head Hong Tran leads from the front, providing invaluable compliance/risk management advice to large regional and multinational corporates, as well as regularly defending them in litigation. Praised for his ‘very proactive attitude’ and ‘exceptional legal acumen’, LJ Kwok is also very skilled at handling a myriad of employment litigation, as well as excelling at recruitment and termination issues. Although he has now retired from the partnership, the vastly experienced Duncan Abate still handles fee-earning work in his senior consultancy role, with Choy also adding increased bandwidth due to his niche focus on occupational retirement scheme work for large employers. Jennifer Tam left the firm in April 2025.

Led from Hong Kong by Wendy Wong, Simmons & Simmons is well-equipped to handle a wide variety of contentious and non-contentious work for employers involving multi-jurisdictional APAC and broader global issues. Wong, who combines ‘strategic insight with deep legal expertise’, regularly advises on complex terminations involving the “clawback” of deferred compensation and disputes involving allegations of discrimination and sexual harassment. Splitting her time between Hong Kong and Singapore, the vastly experienced Fiona Loughrey has tremendous gravitas throughout APAC, with work spanning discrimination and wrongful dismissal claims, data privacy issues and negotiating employment contracts and separations. The arrival of Jennifer Tam from Johnson Stokes & Master in May 2025 further enhances the team’s capabilities particularly for sensitive workplace investigations and employment litigation.

Led from Hong Kong by Diana Purdy and able to leverage the expertise of employment specialists in other key global offices throughout APAC, Europe and the Middle East, Bird & Bird is a popular choice among regional and multinational employers to advise across a myriad of both local and multi-jurisdictional employment issues. Clients span many industry sectors, with Purdy adding commercial insight for financial institutions as a result of her stint in-house at a large global bank. Nathalie Sit regularly provides vital support to Purdy on employment litigation relating to allegations of discrimination claims and breaches of restrictive covenants, as well as internal investigations into employees’ misconduct.

Led from Hong Kong by the ‘exceptional’ Helen Colquhoun and able to lean into employment specialists spread across the firm’s APAC network, DLA Piper delivers local and cross-border employment support across a wide array of domestic and international matters, including strategic guidance, board-level advisory services, risk and change management, and routine day-to-day HR advice. Colquhoun is particularly adept at helping large employers on sensitive matters including internal investigations with regard to culture and conduct, as well as senior executive terminations. Wundy Lee is also a key contact, who as part of her broad practice has developed particular skill at advising on cross-border matters, including redundancy exercises for employers with offices throughout APAC.

Skilled at handling work for employees and employers, the ‘solutions-driven’ team at Howse Williams has significant experience representing clients from both a respondent and claimant perspective. Appreciated for her ‘sensible, grounded and proactive advice’, team head Patricia Yeung handles an increasing number of disputes within the financial services sector involving complex issues regarding compensation packages and incentive plans. Yeung also handles advisory work, including in the context of team moves, while on the litigation front, the vastly experienced Michael Withington brings ‘thoughtful and practical’ advice to bear for clients in tribunal and High Court hearings, as well as for employers and statutory bodies on internal investigations and disciplinary proceedings.

The ‘very skilled and knowledgeable’ team at Lewis Silkin effectively advises the firm’s global employer base on their APAC employment and mobility needs, as well as continuing to pick up an increasing number of mandates for local clients. Team head Catherine Leung is particularly skilled at handling multi-jurisdictional mandates for large global financial institutions, professional services firms and technology companies, handling employment issues associated with corporate restructuring, investigations, global redundancies, M&A and all aspects of HR matters. On the contentious front, the ‘top-notch’ Jezamine Fewins has handled numerous high-profile reported cases relating to the enforcement of post-termination restrictive covenants.

Combining ‘strong technical expertise’ with a ‘high level of professionalism’, RPC provides ‘clear and practical advice’ to clients across the full employment life-cycle, from hiring and advice on contractual terms/policies through to guidance on post-termination restrictions and disciplinary action and proceedings. Team head Andrea Randall is a ‘safe pair of hands’ for both employers and employees and is noted, in particular, for her skill at handling high-stakes investigations/disputes for financial services clients – combining deep knowledge of SFC regulations and black letter employment law. Yuki Chiu also ‘consistently delivers high-quality advice’ and has played a key role assisting Randall in several major pieces of litigation.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP‘s Hong Kong office is particularly well-placed to represent large multinational companies on their ad-hoc and ongoing APAC employment law needs. The scope of this work runs the gamut throughout the employment life-cycle, from acquisition of workers, ongoing operational concerns and termination of employees’ contracts. Team head Kathryn Weaver is well-versed at handling international employment matters, providing additional commercial insight as a result of several in-house stints at large corporations. Drawing upon ‘deep knowledge of the APAC employment landscape’, Hong Kong and Singapore-qualified practitioner Rebecca Lim is also a key contact on cross-border matters, including litigation, workplace investigations, corporate transactional issues and employee incentives.

Under the expert leadership of Russell Bennett, Tanner De Witt has gained most market acclaim for its skill at handling contentious matters for regional and multinational employers, including in the context of alleged breaches of restrictive covenants/non-compete clauses. A number of these cases arise out of the financial services sector, and also frequently bring to the fore issues related to complex remuneration/incentive agreements. As well as handling employer work, Bennett is skilled at helping senior executives negotiate separation agreements involving multi-jurisdictional remuneration schemes. Mark Chiu is adept at handling contentious matters, including discrimination and harassment claims, as well as possessing a non-contentious offering which includes employment contract and handbook drafting and reviews.

Now housed within its broader overarching litigation function, Clifford Chance’s employment team is currently best-suited to advising employers on contentious matters. Many of these matters are for institutional bank and fund clients of the firm and frequently involve both core employment issues as well as regulatory scrutiny, an area that Jonathan Wong is particularly adept. ‘Very responsive’ senior associate Helen Fu has ‘solid technical knowledge on Hong Kong employment issues’, both from a contentious and non-contentious perspective, including assisting financial institutions on the drafting/updating of their incentive arrangements.

Combining “black-letter” law expertise with strategic business insight, Dentons Hong Kong is well-positioned to deliver ‘tailored legal solutions that align with clients’ business goals’ across a wide range of domestic and cross-border employment law matters. Leveraging a ‘very broad and deep vault of subject matter expertise’, team head Jenny Zhuang excels at providing ‘well-informed and strategic advice’ to large multinational employers, ranging from advice on team moves through to the enforcement, by injunctive relief, of post-termination restrictive covenants. Head of the overarching litigation group, Richard Keady regularly handles employment disputes, particularly those involving an overlapping regulatory component. Linda Ngan is praised for her ‘calm, analytical approach’ and has a focus on advising on the employment law advice pursuant to large M&A projects.

The ‘commercially-minded’ team at Gall provides ‘practical advice’ to clients across a wide array of predominantly contentious employment matters. Although the firm advises employers, it is best-known for its work for senior executives in the financial services sector. Co-heads Nick Gall and Felda Yeung are ‘strong advocates for their clients’, with Yeung particularly skilled at advising on bonus claims and the validity and enforceability of post-termination restrictions.

Independent Hong Kong-based law firm Hugill & Ip has a strong reputation among employers and employees, as well as frequently picking up referral work from international law firms to advise on the local law employment aspects of cross-border matters. Founding partner Adam Hugill represents clients across a range of matters, from employee transfers and team moves to workplace discrimination/harassment cases. Although clients are from a range of industry sectors, Hugill is particularly active in the financial services sector where he has represented numerous senior executives in unpaid bonus claims.

Led from Hong Kong by the ’empathetic and strategic’ Joshua Li and frequently working alongside lawyers in other practice areas and international offices, Linklaters stands out for its ability to provide a collaborative approach to multinational corporates across a broad spectrum of cross-border employment matters. This work runs the gamut from strategic workforce restructuring and employment support on M&A transactions and IPOs, through to employment litigation and investigations, including advice on sensitive whistle-blowing and discrimination matters. Li, who is at the forefront of most of this work, is also highly skilled at advising on complex employee incentive plans and is appreciated for his ‘strategic acuity, calm authority, and exceptional client rapport’.

 

Clyde & Co LLP advises an employer-focused client base across a range of matters, including contentious team moves and disputes involving restrictive covenants. Team head Simon McConnell is key to this work, with many of the clients coming from the insurance sector, where McConnell has a particularly deep knowledge.

CMS Hong Kong LLP acts both independently and as part of its extensive global platform on a range of contentious and non-contentious matters for employers from the TMT, healthcare, finance and fashion sectors. Team head Jonathan Chu is particularly adept at handling employment-related IP issues, including as it relates to the theft of confidential information, data privacy and the infringement of the employers’ IPR.

Eversheds Sutherland's practice in Hong Kong is led by Mark Hughes who handles contentious employment work, including for financial services clients, as part of his overarching litigation offering. Joe Choy  left the firm in July 2025.

Under the leadership of the ‘highly experienced and knowledgeable’ Stephanie Chiu, Freshfields provides ‘practical solutions’ to large institutional firmwide clients, including many within the financial services and asset management sectors. Although the team handles a considerable amount of standalone advisory work, many of the matters are handled in collaboration with the firm’s M&A and capital markets teams, including as it relates to the establishment of equity incentives for companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP maintains a solid employment capability under the umbrella of the office’s broader dispute resolution function. Litigator Rachael Shek is the main contact in Hong Kong and has experience handling discrimination and restrictive covenant cases for employers, as well as regularly working alongside the firm’s financial services regulatory team on internal investigations involving banks and asset managers. Shek also often collaborates with Singapore-based employment head Fatim Jumabhoy on strategic pan-Asian matters.

Kennedys handles a considerable volume of contentious and non-contentious work for employees and employers as part of the firm’s overarching corporate and commercial practice. Team head and managing partner Richard Bates handles much of this work, including for core insurance clients of the firm.

With significant employment expertise across the firm’s corporate and litigation functions, in particular, King & Wood Mallesons‘s multidisciplinary offering provides ‘pragmatic solutions’ to regional and international employers across a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters.The team is particularly well-placed to advise SOEs on employment issues with regard to their Hong Kong operations and for international employers entering the Mainland. As part of his broad litigation offering, Peter Bullock provides ‘balanced and sometimes robust’ advice to employers on, inter alia, restrictive covenant and sexual harassment employment issues.

Minter Ellison provides ‘client-centric, responsive and strategic’ advice to an employer-focused client base, providing ‘forward-thinking guidance on regulatory and employment challenges’. Leveraging their overarching litigation smarts, co-heads Desmond Liaw and Jonathan Green, are best-known for their expertise across a range of contentious employment work, from internal investigations into employee misconduct to the defence of unlawful termination claims.                    .

Oldham, Li & Nie handles a mix of standalone Hong Kong employment work alongside advice to international clients on the local law implications of doing business in Hong Kong. Under the leadership of Anna Chan, the team is skilled at advising start-ups on their employment needs, and also regularly represents senior employees of financial services entities across a range of disputes, including in the context of alleged unfair dismissal and issues related to remuneration packages.

Led by ‘outstanding’ commercial litigator Ian Childs, Stephenson Harwood is noted for its ability to provide ‘practical and precise legal advice’ to employees and employers across a wide array of employment disputes, ranging from high-value cases involving alleged outstanding bonus payments and sexual harassment claims. The firm also handles advisory and transactional work under the umbrella of the broader corporate and finance offering, including recruitment matters, employment terms and benefits and employment policies.