Hong Kong Office

Contact details

Slaughter and May
47th Floor, Jardine House
One Connaught Place, Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2521 0551
Fax: +852 2845 2125

Regulation

In Hong Kong we practise through a partnership known as Slaughter and May, whose principal place of business is at 47th Floor, Jardine House, One Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong. The partnership is regulated by The Law Society of Hong Kong.

All partners based in Hong Kong are partners of the above partnership and are solicitors of Hong Kong, and as such are regulated by The Law Society of Hong Kong. A number of the partners of the above partnership are solicitors of England and Wales and so regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. In addition, John Moore is an attorney qualified in the State of New York and regulated by the New York State Bar Association.

A copy of the Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct is available on The Law Society of Hong Kong's website, www.hklawsoc.org.hk.

A copy of the SRA Standards and Regulations is available on the Solicitors Regulation Authority's website, www.sra.org.uk. This includes the SRA Overseas Principles, which embody the key ethical requirements on firms and individuals who are involved in the provision of legal services outside England and Wales. If you think we have breached any of the SRA Overseas Principles, you can report the matter directly to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (see www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page).

An official copy of Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to New York attorneys (the “Rules of Professional Conduct”) can be obtained, in printed form only, from the New York State Department of State, Division of Administrative Rules. An unofficial version is also available on the New York State Bar Association website, https://nysba.org/attorney-resources/professional-standards/. This unofficial version includes a preamble, scope and comments which are published solely by the New York State Bar Association to provide guidance for New York attorneys in complying with the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Some of the material on this website may constitute attorney advertising for the purposes of the professional rules and regulations applicable to New York attorneys. Please note that prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Our terms and conditions

Advice is given and services are supplied by Slaughter and May on the basis of the firm's terms and conditions of business, which are available to clients by emailing terms@slaughterandmay.com. By instructing Slaughter and May, all clients of the firm agree to the firm's terms and conditions of business, subject to any amendments which the firm has expressly agreed.

No liability is accepted or responsibility assumed for advice given or services supplied to persons who are not clients of the firm, unless the firm expressly agrees otherwise.

Professional indemnity insurance

We take out and maintain professional indemnity insurance on a worldwide basis.

The primary layer of our worldwide professional indemnity insurance is with Lloyd’s Syndicate QBE 1886 (of 30 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3BD), Travelers Insurance Designated Activity Company (of One Creechurch Place, Creechurch Lane, London EC3A 5AF), Berkshire Hathaway European Insurance DAC (of 2nd Floor, 7 Grand Canal Street Lower, Dublin D02 KW81) and HDI Global Specialty SE, UK branch (of 20 Gracechurch Street London EC3V 0BG).

We also have the benefit of compulsory professional indemnity insurance provided by the Hong Kong Solicitors Indemnity Fund Limited.

Client complaints procedure

At all times, we aim to provide our clients with a professional service of the highest quality.

Any client who is unhappy with any aspect of our service is entitled to complain. We treat all complaints seriously and are committed to investigating them promptly, fairly and free of charge.

If you have any complaint, including a complaint about your bill, you should raise it in the first instance with your relationship partner or the partner responsible for the relevant matter. If that is felt to be inappropriate, or if you feel that the response of the relationship partner or the partner responsible for the matter is inadequate, you can write to Benita Yu, our Senior Partner, at 47th Floor, Jardine House, One Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong, or by using the queries@slaughterandmay.com email address.

We expect to resolve any problem to your satisfaction.

You may also be able to ask the Legal Ombudsman (“LeO”) to help you to resolve your complaint. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, LeO will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to LeO:

within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint; and
no more than one year from the date of act/omission; or
no more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

You can contact LeO by telephone on 0300 555 0333, (and if you are based outside the UK you can telephone on +44 121 245 3050); by email at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk; or by post at Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ.

LeO will only consider your complaint if, at the time you raised your complaint with Slaughter and May, you were:

an individual;
a micro-enterprise;
a charity that had an annual income net of tax of less than £1,000,000 (one million pounds sterling);
a club, association or organisation whose affairs are managed by its members, a committee or a committee of its members that had an annual income of less than £1,000,000 (one million pounds sterling); or
a trustee of a trust that had an asset value of less than £1,000,000 (one million pounds sterling).

LeO may also consider complaints made by a personal representative or beneficiary of the estate of an individual who raised a complaint with us, but had not referred it to the LeO, before they died.

If your complaint concerns acts or omissions outside England and Wales, LeO may dismiss your complaint if the circumstances do not have sufficient connection with England and Wales.

If your complaint relates to your bill, you may also be able to apply to court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.

Other complaints

If you are not a client but you nevertheless have a complaint in relation to our provision of legal services, please raise the matter with Benita Yu, our Senior Partner. You can do this by writing to her at 47th Floor, Jardine House, One Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong or by using the queries@slaughterandmay.com email address.

We will deal with any such complaint promptly, fairly and free of charge.

Client account and interest policy

Any money held on behalf of clients by the Hong Kong office is held in a client account. We pay interest on amounts held to the extent required by the Hong Kong Solicitors’ Accounts Rules from time to time.