Temple Chambers continues to enjoy an established reputation at the commercial Bar in Hong Kong. At the most senior end, Charles Manzoni SC – who is also a member of 39 Essex Chambers in London – has a busy and varied practice, acting mainly in matters concerning international litigation, arbitration and mediation across a broad spectrum of commercial work, predominantly focused on construction and technology. Bernard Man SC, a fluent Putonghua speaker, possesses a wide commercial disputes. Abraham Chan SC is acting for multiple defendants in Real Estate Finance Fund v Alan Sun & Others a complex and large scale commercial and liquidator recovery action, and Alexander Stock SC’s practice includes arbitration, banking, company law, insurance, professional negligence (auditors, solicitors, banks, brokers) and shareholders disputes. Queenie Lau SC took silk in the 2024 round.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Temple is the best - strongest resources to draw from, even if Senior Counsel is busy, the silks are able to pull in strong juniors to support.'
- 'Outstanding and leading Chambers in Hong Kong, crammed full of exceptional talent and some of the finest legal minds in Hong Kong.'
- 'Temple Chambers are highly regarded in Hong Kong.'
- 'Temple is a very good set of chambers.'
- 'Very deep bench; always able to provide suitable barrister for cases. It provides very good training to legal community.'
- 'No doubt Temple Chambers is top of the market with talented and well respected members of the Bar.'
- 'Temple is my go-to set for commercial and banking disputes, with a number of quality junior and excellent senior counsel.'
- 'Temple Chambers is the top set of barristers in Hong Kong.'
Silks
Leading Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
1
Victor Dawes SC
Temple Chambers 'Victor is one of the top barristers in Hong Kong on commercial and companies litigation and arbitration. He is very client-friendly, easy to be approached, pragmatic and solution-oriented.'
1
Charles Hollander KC
Temple Chambers 'Pure class - a vastly experienced, nimble advocate with excellent technical skills and instincts.'
1
Victor Joffe SC
Temple Chambers ‘Excellent knowledge, what he doesn't know about shareholders disputes is not worth knowing about. He has excellent communication skills and is very approachable. Highly recommended for difficult commercial cases.'
1
Charles Manzoni SC
Temple Chambers ‘Charlie commands the respect of the Hong Kong judiciary. He is an excellent advocate, and able to forcefully push points in a measured and polite way that few other counsel would be able to achieve.'
1
Bernard Man SC
Temple Chambers ‘Bernard is in a league of his own. He is widely regarded as one of the best advocates and astute legal minds in the Hong Kong Bar.’
2
Abraham Chan SC
Temple Chambers 'Abraham has excellent advocacy skills. He is a formidable advocate who fights for clients' interests unreservedly. He is easy to work with and responsive. He has lots to offer on litigation strategy.'
2
Jonathan Chang SC
Temple Chambers 'Jonathan is an excellent advocate and cross-examiner. He is able to get to the core of complex issues and present complicated facts in a simple and persuasive way. His advice on strategy is commercial and practical.'
2
Alexander Stock SC
Temple Chambers ‘Alex is a top notch advocate in Hong Kong and commands a lot of respect in court. He is very good at anticipating potential questions from the court, and a very safe pair of hands when it comes to complex commercial litigation matters.’
3
Laurence Li SC
Temple Chambers 'Laurence's advocacy is simply excellent as he is very clear, persuasive and he can lead one though a very complex case but he has the knack of making everything very digestible and easy to understand. He will then zone in on his arguments and he will be very persuasive.'
3
Eva Sit SC
Temple Chambers 'Technically very strong; skilled court room advocate; hard working, user friendly, responsive and robust.'
3
Richard Khaw SC
Temple Chambers 'Richard has strong commercial sense and good instinct. He's able to distill complicated factual issues into elegant arguments and present the same in a manner that is easily understood. His ability to converse with clients in Mandarin is a particular asset.'
2023 Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
Anthony Chan SC
Temple Chambers ‘Anthony is an excellent and highly popular barrister. He commands the respect of the court and his opponents with his unfailing courtesy and his judgement. He is quite simply a class act.’
Juniors
Leading Juniors
Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.
1
Tim Parker
Temple Chambers ‘He is intellectually outstanding: he is a superb lawyer and tactically smart beyond his years. He produces beautifully drafted documents, and excellent legal research, and he’s an absolute delight to work with. A total star.’
1
Bonnie Cheng
Temple Chambers ‘Bonnie is one of the most sought-after junior counsel. She is absolutely top-notch when it comes to handling difficult and complex cases. Her work is second to none, and is consistently of the highest standard. She is effective, thorough and articulate, both in oral and written presentation. She has great rapport with the court, which marks her as a perfect choice for junior counsel.’
2
Justin Ho
Temple Chambers 'Justin is hardworking and you can tell from his confidence in court that he is always fully prepared. This makes him a reliable advocate who never dodges any difficult questions from the bench.'
2
Martin Ho
Temple Chambers 'Martin is extremely diligent and knowledgeable. He is highly responsive and is very easy with work with.'
2
James Man
Temple Chambers 'James is a highly thoughtful advocate and gives serious consideration to lay-clients hopes for outcomes. He is prepared to argue cases across various merits bases in order to achieve the outcome. His advocacy skills are excellent and he is well able to persuade arbitrators of his views - even in circumstances where the legal position may be less than favorable.'
2
Elizabeth Cheung
Temple Chambers ‘Elizabeth is extremely detail orientated. Whether she is leading a junior or being led by a senior counsel, Elizabeth will review all the papers which are put before her. This makes her an excellent advocate and very good on her feet when she is before the judge.’
2
Val Chow
Temple Chambers ‘Val is one of the brightest and best advocates – he is highly intelligent, extremely knowledgeable, responsive and is on top of all aspects of client matters. He has a reputation among many as the brightest and the go-to for almost any legal question.’
2
3
Astina Au
Temple Chambers ‘Astina is responsive and diligent, yet practical. She has rich experience in both simple and complex cases. She delivers quality advice and advocacy at reasonable rates. She is my go-to senior junior barrister.’
Rising stars
Rising stars at the Bar are defined as barristers between four and eight years’ call who are seen as up-and-coming members of the Bar in their respective practice areas by clients and peers alike. They will already be instructed in high-profile, complex, and high-value contentious and non-contentious matters, working with and opposite more experienced leading counsel.
Danny Tang
Temple Chambers 'Incredibly incisive, offers strong legal analysis and submissions, and has a tremendous work ethic. Danny adds high value to cases, and is incredibly sought after in the market. A true rising star.’