Lewis Silkin supports local and international companies on the full range of employment and IP law issues both in Hong Kong and across Asia Pacific.

Why work with us

Lewis Silkin works with leading businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets – their ideas, their people and their future. We call it Ideas, People, Possibilities. We support multinationals on the full range of employment and IP law issues both in Hong Kong and across Asia Pacific. Our locally licensed Hong Kong office offers high quality and cost-effective support in both Hong Kong and across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. We are rated in both of the independent legal directories; Legal 500 and Chambers.

Employment and immigration law

Lewis Silkin has one of the largest employment law teams in Hong Kong. We are highly renowned for employment and immigration law and have received global recognition with Who’s Who Legal awarding us ‘Law Firm of the Year for Labour, Employment & Pensions’.

Our advice is practical and commercial, always taking into account your end goals and we also understand cultural sensitivities and where these might impact. We advise on the full range of employment and immigration law matters including:

• day-to-day HR support
• employment documentation
• separation agreements
• employment disputes in the Labour Tribunal and the courts ofHong Kong
• restrictive covenants and team moves
• whistleblowing and discrimination claims
• transfer of business undertakings
• restructuring
• immigration applications
• employee benefits and incentives
• worker status (including worker status claims)
• advising senior executives

We also have an unrivalled international offering through our alliance Ius Laboris where we work together with our partner law firms on cross-border projects across APAC on a daily basis and we offer multinational clients a variety of models to meet their needs such as fixed-fee work on an ad hoc basis to quick query helpdesks on a regional or global basis.

We have a number of internationally headquartered firms where we have set up successful helpdesk arrangements for their APAC services where we assist with employment related matters across various jurisdictions on a regular basis.

IP law

We understand that the full spectrum of ideas come in many shapes and sizes. From new products and business models, creative pitches and novel sponsorship agreements, through to core intellectual property, data optimisation or the unique commercial contracts that underpin them. Whatever your ideas, our integrated 360 degree offering provides the specialist expertise you need to help you and your company build them into corporate strategies to support and drive key business goals, creating tangible value from your intangible assets.

Our experts advise on the full range of intellectual property rights, including patents, designs, trade marks, domain name portfolio management, copyright, database rights and confidential information. Uniquely for a law firm we have in-house patent, design, trade mark and domain name portfolio management teams, and our contentious and non-contentious transactional lawyers work closely together rather than being siloed in separate departments. This means we can deliver excellent advice and support to our clients in a joined up, efficient and cost-effective way.

We advise across a range of IP and IP-related contractual arrangements including:

• complex licensing
• IP enforcement
• manufacturing and distribution
• handling opposition, cancellation and invalidation proceedings customs recordals
• IP aspects of corporate transactions (including IP due diligence and stock exchange listings)

Data & Privacy

In today’s information-fuelled world, data can hold the key to generating competitive advantage. We don’t see data protection and privacy as a standalone issue, and regularly harness our experience in IP and employment law to address our clients’ data challenges. We advise on data and privacy issues including:

• compliance with the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO)
• filing complaints to the Commissioner for Data Privacy
• privacy policy documents
• data access requests
• terms of business
• performing audits
• handling data breaches

Commercial litigation

We litigate high value and complex commercial and company disputes at every level in the courts of Hong Kong, and make effective use of all forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution including arbitration and mediation. Our experience covers disputes relating to commercial contracts, fraud, joint venture issues, director and shareholder disputes and interim relief.