East Asia - Hong Kong

Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP

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Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP continues to gain traction in the market, with a number of notable recent hires raising the firm’s profile and providing it with enhanced resources with which to serve its client base. The litigation offering, which is led by the ‘responsive’ Jeremy Lightfoot has experienced most growth over the last 12 months, with the arrival in May 2023 of shareholder, corporate disputes and insolvency litigator Tim Haynes from Kobre & Kim, a particularly noteworthy hire. Praised for his ’superb tactical sense and excellent client skills’, Matthew Watson, who joined from Bermuda firm Cox Hallett Wilkinson Limited, is also a notable hire in light of his growing reputation at handling complex trust and commercial litigation disputes. On the transactional front, the ‘responsive, committed and completely reliable’ Michael Padarin combines a thriving corporate practice with his duties as managing partner, while James Webb  ’balances technical expertise with commercial awareness’ to provide a stellar service to clients, particularly in relation to fund finance work.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'The team is commercial and responsive.'
  • 'Michael Padarin is responsive, committed and completely reliable.'
  • 'Jeremy Lightfoot is responsive and easy to deal with.'
  • 'The exceptional James Webb is one of the leading offshore lawyers in the Asia fund finance market and balances technical expertise with commercial awareness and the ability to get a transaction across the line.'
  • 'The excellent Tim Haynes has a lot of experience in the offshore law, in particular shareholder and company disputes, as well as insolvency. He is not only very well versed in the law but also placed great emphasis on commercial and other business issues.'
  • 'Matthew Watson is very experienced in heavy trust and commercial litigation, he is a sound lawyer, has superb tactical sense, excellent client skills and is phenomenally hard-working: a great guy and a future star.'

Key clients

  • United Overseas Bank
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp
  • Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
  • OCBC Wing Hang Bank
  • CITIC Bank
  • Bank of China
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, (Hong Kong branch)
  • Fulham Company Limited
  • Bullish/Block.One
  • Marunouchi Innovation Partners Co., Ltd.,
  • Spathiphy Capital Management Limited
  • Oasis Investments II Master Fund Limited
  • Attestor Value Master Fund LP

Work highlights

  • Advised Marunouchi Innovation Partners Co., Ltd. on the successful launch of the Marunouchi Climate Tech Growth Fund L.P.
  • Advised a club of five lenders on the BVI aspects of a HK$14bn term loan facility.
  • Acts for Oasis Investments II Master Fund Limited & Attestor Value Master Fund LP in Bermuda's largest ever fair value appraisal.

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Jeremy Lightfoot

Jeremy Lightfoot

Carey Olsen

Jeremy is head of the litigation, dispute resolution and insolvency practice in Hong Kong. His practice is focused on high value and complex commercial and corporate litigation as well as insolvency and restructuring matters under the laws of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. Clients and industry peers compliment Jeremy as an "excellent strategist with first rate client handling skills" (Legal 500 Asia-Pacific) and he "is widely regarded for his sharp intellect and cherished by clients for his sophisticated charm" (Asian Legal Business). His success in handling significant cases and exceeding clients expectations has earned him the recognition as a Leading Individual in Legal 500 Asia-Pacific and as one of the Top 10 Offshore Litigators by the Asian Legal Business in 2023 (for the third consecutive year).

Michael Padarin

Michael Padarin

Carey Olsen

Michael's practice concentrates on the formation, operation and restructuring of offshore private investment funds, across the alternatives spectrum including private equity, venture, credit and secondaries funds, and their related fund sponsor vehicles. He specialises in Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda law. Michael is highly regarded for his breadth of experience advising across the spectrum from emerging managers to the most sophisticated global institutional players. Michael also represents early and later stage companies in a range of industries, including fintech, blockchain, life sciences and technology, in relation to private financings, listings, cross-border investments and other M&A transactions. He is regularly instructed by leading international firms as specialist Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands counsel on complex corporate transactions. Michael lived and worked in the Cayman Islands before returning to Hong Kong and has a wealth of experience dealing with inbound and outbound China deals. During his time in the Cayman Islands Michael acted for some of North America's largest private equity houses on both fund formation and downstream transactional work. He is one of the most experienced offshore private equity specialists in the Hong Kong market.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Michael Padarin, James Webb, Jeremy Lightfoot

Other key lawyers

Tim Haynes, Matthew Watson, Tiffy Wan, Dhanshuklal Vekaria, Xia Li