Tanner De Witt

Family Practice

Associate

Joanne is an Associate in our Family Practice having joined the firm as a Trainee Solicitor in 2017 and was admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 2019. She was also admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2022.

Her focus at Tanner De Witt is on family and matrimonial matters. She advises on all aspects of family law matters, including nuptial agreements, divorce and separation, financial arrangements and children’s matters.

Joanne is experienced in drafting and negotiating both pre- and post-nuptial agreements. She frequently advises on financial settlement proposals upon separation and divorce, including children and spousal maintenance and applications for subsequent variations, as well as children’s custody, care and control and access arrangements and removal applications. A firm believer in settlement outside of the Court room, she regularly advises and assists clients through the mediation process, including negotiating and finalising mediated agreements. Joanne has experience assisting Joanne Brown on several collaborative practice matters, as a newer form of alternative dispute resolution in the divorce process.

She also assists the firm’s disputes team in both litigation and arbitration, and has experience in private client matters, including immigration, probate and employment-related issues. She assists with cases both in the Family Court and in the High Court of Hong Kong. She is training to become an accredited mediator in Hong Kong.

Joanne has a particular interest in matters relating to mental health law and the surrounding issues, and specifically in relation to the capacity of minors and the elderly.

Before commencing her legal career, Joanne worked as a journalist in Hong Kong, where her articles focused on global luxury trends targeted at high-net-worth individuals. She has interviewed and is experienced in working closely with many high profile and well-known individuals and understands the importance of privacy and discretion. Her work has appeared in the South China Morning Post and the International New York Times, amongst other publications. She holds a Master of Journalism from the University of Hong Kong.

English and Cantonese

Professional Memberships

Hong Kong Family Law Association The Law Society of Hong Kong The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

Other Memberships

Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong

Joanne read Law at the University of Nottingham and completed her Postgraduate Certificate in Laws at the University of Hong Kong. She is fluent in English and Cantonese and speaks conversational Mandarin.