Twenty Essex

Arbitration; Banking and financial services; Civil fraud and asset tracing; Company law; EU & Competition; Insolvency and restructuring; Jurisdiction, conflicts and enforcement

Thomas is a Barrister called to the English and Hong Kong Bars. He has a broad commercial, companies and insolvency litigation, and arbitration practice.

He was called to the English Bar in 2021 but has been practising as a Barrister in Hong Kong since 2018 (and a Hong Kong commercial litigation solicitor since 2010). His practice focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration often involving parties from the PRC and Hong Kong. He also has considerable experience in insolvency/company and Hong Kong chancery matters, and is steadily taking on offshore insolvency/company instructions (from both the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands).

He has more than a decade’s experience serving clients in Hong Kong, the Greater China Region and internationally, and is a native Chinese speaker (both Mandarin and Cantonese).

Prior to his move to the Bar, Thomas was a commercial litigator at Hogan Lovells and Clifford Chance during which time, he worked with clients directly and gained an understanding of their commercial objectives.

Thomas is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators, and is also on the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”)’s List of Arbitrators as well as the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)’s Reserve Panel of Arbitrators. He has been ranked as a Leading Junior in The Legal 500 (Hong Kong Bar – Commercial Disputes) in consecutive years.

Thomas often sits as arbitrator and has sat as a Deputy District Judge in Hong Kong (equivalent to a Deputy Circuit Judge in England and Wales) in November 2023 – January 2024.

Cantonese (native); Mandarin (fluent)