Nathan specialises in civil litigation with expertise in commercial and company disputes, contentious probate, land-related litigation and finance-related regulatory matters.
His commercial experience covers shareholder disputes, breach of fiduciary duties, unfair prejudice and winding up petitions, multiple-jurisdictions contracts, and single / multiple derivative actions. His land-related work encompasses adverse possession, repossession of land, restrictive covenants, easement, right of way, illegal structures and tenancy. He also handles judicial review applications.
Selected case experience:
- Acting for a listed company to prosecute former directors and parties acting in concert, a Chinese state-owned enterprise listed in Hong Kong and a Taiwan listed company, for breach of fiduciary duties and misappropriation of funds with court proceedings in multiple jurisdictions involving winding up petition in Cayman Island and contempt proceedings in Hong Kong; and seeking a claim for over RMB1,000 million
- Acting for an investor to seek claim against international private bank on mis-selling of high-risk foreign exchange derivative products involving bond mandate, provision of investment advice, assessment of risk appetite and Code of Conduct issued by Securities and Future Commission
- Acting for creditor or debtor (company or individual) in insolvency proceedings involving cross-border and multi-jurisdictional issues, local and overseas listed companies, dealing with liquidator or trustee-in-bankruptcy in their investigations
- Acting for corporate or individual victims of fraud, for example stealing of employer’s funds, forgery of accounting documents, identity theft, cyber fraud, investment fraud and romance scams, to liaise with the Hong Kong Police and commercial banks (local and overseas), and to commence court proceedings to freeze the relevant bank accounts and to trace and recover the funds
- Acting for a hotel owner successfully applying for urgent asset freezing injunction and disclosure order in aid of overseas proceedings in England in a dispute over hotel management agreement; and subsequently successfully enforcing the foreign judgment in Hong Kong and opposing an interpleader summons
- Acting for a Belgium listed company successfully seeking urgent asset freezing injunction, disclosure order and bankers’ book order in a claim for tort of deceit, wrongful receipt and dishonest assistance over fraudulent transactions; and assisting the Hong Kong Police in investigations for conspiracy and money laundering
- Acting for a minority shareholder in a multiple derivative action against the chairman of a listed company for breach of fiduciary duties and successfully obtaining costs indemnity order for the minority shareholder and equitable compensation on behalf of the listed company
- Acting for a listed company in an arbitration at Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre arising out of a sale agreement in respect of a property in Shanghai valued at over RMB600 million against a US investment fund
- Acting for celebrities and individuals over defamation claims, misuse of private information and breach of confidence, involving urgent injunction, anonymity order, cross-border issues, and complicated relationships between family members
- Acting for an executor to successfully defend a high-profile contentious probate to set aside the Will of a business tycoon involving overseas trust, overseas conservatorship proceedings, psychiatric and neurological experts on mental capacity, dementia, undue influence, safe deposit box, branches of the family, legitimacy of a child, family office and a large number of witnesses at trial
- Acting for listed property developers or occupiers in respect of adverse possession claim, involving urgent injunction, removal of illegal structure, and engagement of the Bailiff Office and Hong Kong Police to recover possession
- Acting for individual in claim for interest in property on common intention constructive trust, resulting trust (making financial contributions to the property) and/or proprietary estoppel
- Acting for a listed property developer in a dispute relating to a project to construct a golf academy involving successfully obtaining an injunction against the occupying villagers obstructing and interfering with the use of land and right of way to the site in connection with a protest
- Acting for property owners, incorporated owners or property developers in disputes cover building management involving negligence, nuisance, delineation of car parking spaces, and breach of Deed of Mutual Covenants
- Acting for individual Certified Public Accountants (CPA), firms of auditors, listed companies, listed company directors (including independent non-executive directors), securities agents or account holders in respect of finance-related investigations and interviews carried out by Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) and Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) involving Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards (HKFRS), Hong Kong Accounting Standards (HKAS), Hong Kong Standards on Auditing, Professional Accountants Ordinance, Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, Listing Rules, Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the Securities and Futures Commissions
As a Solicitor Advocate, Nathan has been granted higher rights of audience in respect of civil proceedings before all courts in Hong Kong including Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal and Court of Final Appeal.
Nathan is a qualified accountant obtaining fellowship status with Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and has experience in the fields of accounting and auditing, and corporate finance and investment banking. Applying his accountancy and banking knowledge, he is competent to analyse commercial matters with a financial angle and in cost-effective manner.
Professional and Community Services:
Nathan is a member of the Civil Litigation Committee, Standing Committee on External Affairs and Greater Bay Area Lawyers Sub-Committee of The Law Society of Hong Kong. He has also been appointed as a member of the Appeal Panel (Housing) established under Housing Ordinance as a statutory body and involved in determining appeals lodged against the termination of lease agreement between the Housing Authority and tenants.
He frequently gives continuing professional development (CPD) and community talks on various topics such as fraud and asset tracing and law on succession. He also writes legal articles and records legal videos on a wide variety of issues such as tenancy matters, incorporation and dissolution of companies, employment disputes, for example “Choosing a Venue on Arbitration” published in China Business Law Journal. As pro bono work, he provides free legal advice in events organised by The Law Society of Hong Kong and Home Affairs Department of the Government of Hong Kong.
He regularly serves as moot court judge, debate judge and debate coach for different organisations, for example moot court judge for International Moot Competition organised by The Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA), and debate judge for RTHK Inter-Collegiate Debate Competition and Joint School Chinese Debating Competition.
