Upon divorce, the Hong Kong Court has the power to make orders for financial provision between spouses. In making such orders, the Court has a duty to consider various matters which are set out in Section 7(1) of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Ordinance, Cap. 192 (“MPPO”) including the parties’ financial resources and all the other relevant circumstances of the case.
Executive Partner Caroline McNally and Associate Catherine Tso recently represented the husband in Hong Kong’s first private financial adjudication. The dispute was resolved under the Hong Kong Private Financial Adjudication (“PFA”) pilot scheme which was introduced in 2015 and is similar to arbitration in that parties sign an agreement to have the financial aspect of their divorce proceedings adjudicated by a jointly appointed family specialist practitioner, outside the formal court proceedings.
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Gall has contributed an article on Remote Hearings in Hong Kong’s High Court During COVID-19 to Lexis Nexis’ “The New Normal Guide 2020”. In the article, Nick Gall, Felda Yeung and Kritika Sethia explore the use of technology in court proceedings, including key considerations and challenges.
Gall has been recognised as a Small and Midsized Firm on ALB’s inaugural Trailblazers 2020 List. The list demonstrates innovation and boldness in law firms’ responses to the challenges brought on by COVID-19 where they showcase originality, leadership, impact and cutting-edge diversity and inclusion initiatives that set them apart.
Nick Gall was quoted extensively in a feature in ALB’s August 2020 issue exploring how the pandemic has sped up the adoption of technology, including in the disputes hearing process. He shared his experience advising the plaintiff in Hong Kong’s first telephonic hearing in Cyberworks Audio Video Technology Limited v Mei Ah (HK) Company Limited & Ors and was quoted saying “if this is the ‘new normal’ then lawyers and clients will have to learn to collaborate and change the way they usually work together.”
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen an overwhelming demand worldwide for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which includes respirators, surgical masks, gloves and face shields. Regrettably, unscrupulous traders never miss an opportunity to capitalise on public fears and concerns. Amid these difficult times, there has been a surge of fraud schemes associated with PPE transactions all around the globe. In Hong Kong, over 1,600 reports of online mask scams were received by the Hong Kong Police between January and March this year, consisting of more than 3,000 individual victims and local companies involving a total of HK$48.2 million. It has also been reported that fraudulent mask schemes totalling US$799 million were uncovered in United States in the last few months, and similar patterns have been observed across the Europe.
Nick Gall is featured in the latest Asian Legal Business “ALB Conversations” - an in-depth Q&A with leaders of law firms across Asia.
The Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 (“Bill”) was passed by the Legislative Council on 9 July 2020. The Bill seeks to amend the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) “to extend the statutory maternity leave by 4 weeks; to introduce a cap on the maternity leave pay in respect of the extension of maternity leave; to shorten the period of pregnancy mentioned in the definition of miscarriage; to allow a certificate of attendance to be accepted as proof in respect of entitlement to sickness allowance for a day on which a female employee attends a medical examination in relation to her pregnancy; and to provide for transitional and related matters.” The details of the amendments to the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) have been have been discussed in our previous article which can be accessed here.
In a column for Hong Kong Lawyer, Ashima shares her experiences of being part of an all women’s dragon boat team called ‘Yes She Can’, the benefits and challenges of paddling, and the importance of finding time to unwind.