Barristers in Hong Kong can provide a host of legal services to foreign registered lawyers, overseas law firms and lay clients.
Split professions in Hong Kong
Hong Kong inherited the common law tradition of a split profession from the British colonial rule. Lawyers are split into two distinct professions: barristers and solicitors.
Why engage barristers?
While solicitors are mainly client-facing, barristers are experts in litigation, advocacy, and providing specialised legal advice especially in complex cases. Unlike solicitors, barristers are all sole-proprietors. Cab-rank rule also ensures barristers’ independence even in high-profile or controversial cases. Barristers also uniquely enjoyed unlimited rights of audience in all levels of court. See Role of Counsel for more details.
What can barristers do for those in other jurisdictions?
Hong Kong barristers can provide a host of legal services to law firms and lay clients situated outside of the jurisdiction, e.g.:
- Arbitration, mediation, and adjudication work
- Advise on Hong Kong law
- Advise on instituting or defending legal proceedings in Hong Kong
- Advise on merits of cases
- Representation in the Magistracy on behalf of an absent defendant
- Observing and reporting on a local proceeding (also known as a “watching brief”)
A Hong Kong barrister may undertake work directly for overseas lawyers or lay clients in some circumstances. Otherwise, a local firm of instructing solicitors is required.
Foreign Lawyers and Overseas Instructions
Pursuant to Chapter 13 of the Code of Conduct of the Bar Association of Hong Kong, barristers can accept direct overseas instructions from any person for arbitration, mediation, and adjudication work, as well as watching briefs. Otherwise, the following conditions must be satisfied for direct engagement:
- the instructions emanate from outside Hong Kong (except from a registered foreign lawyer in Hong Kong);
- the work is not in a matter in which proceedings by way of litigation in Hong Kong have been instituted;
- the work does not involve the drafting of documents for the purpose of, or in connection with, the institution of litigation in Hong Kong other than a letter before proceedings;
- the work does not involve the performance in Hong Kong of substantial administrative work not normally performed by a practising barrister in Hong Kong; and
- the work is not conveyancing or work usually performed exclusively by solicitors.
More about barristers in Hong Kong
To learn more about the role and work of barristers, the Bar Association of Hong Kong has a dedicated page on this issue.