Marie Kwok
Of counsel
Marie Kwok is a dispute resolution lawyer based in Hong Kong. She specialises in commercial litigation, professional negligence, regulatory, insurance, employment and insolvency work.
Marie has advised corporate clients, banks, their directors and employees on a number of regulatory investigations, looking at a wide range of issues involving complex ever-vexing privilege and secrecy issues, insurance and employment issues.
Marie has advised prominent insurers on their insurance policies and relevant regulatory matters, as well as employers and employees on employment, including termination, holiday leave/pay, work place handbook and guidelines. She has also advised the Trustee of Lehman Brothers Inc in relation to the applications taken out by the liquidators of various Lehman Brothers entities in Hong Kong, together with other insolvency matters, advising insolvency practitioners, creditors and corporates.
Marie read law at the University of Sydney and was qualified in the NSW, Australia and Hong Kong.
Selected client work
- Advising a co-executor of an estate of a prominent tycoon on the duties of an executor in investigating the scope of and safeguarding the Estate’s assets; dealing with conflict of interest issues of a fellow executor and advising on a Beddoe application and instructing Leading Counsel in relation to these matters. The Estate’s assets include a group of companies. The client is a shareholder and director of most of the companies and we are advising the client on his rights in respect of the management of the affairs of those companies by the other directors.
- Acting for various investors including major private equity funds to advise them on their rights and remedies in relation to defaults of term and convertible loans by their portfolio company which is engaged in the advertising business on public transport in China, which resulted in the appointment of receivers by the lender.
- Advising corporate clients and their directors on a number of Securities and Futures Commission investigations, looking at a wide range of issues under the Securities and Futures Ordinance involving complex cross-border issues including ever-vexing privilege and secrecy issues, as well as matters in respect of Stock Exchange, Independent Commission Against Corruption and Commercial Crimes Bureau inquiries.
- advising a majority shareholder of a Hong Kong joint venture in relation to an application for winding up the joint venture on just and equitable grounds, as well as a separate derivative action to recover loss arising from the unauthorised acts undertaken by the other shareholder (including unauthorised sale of assets and unauthorised creation of charges) and the illegal transfer of his shares to the other shareholder.
- Advising prominent insurers on their insurance policies and relevant regulatory matters.
- advising the Trustee of Lehman Brothers Inc in relation to the applications taken out by the liquidators of various Lehman Brothers entities in Hong Kong.
- advising a money lender (formerly a restricted licenced bank) in respect of (i) a dispute with its parent company on the ownership of the investments in a Eurolcear account (involving conflicts of law and trust issues); and (ii) the winding-up petition presented by its ultimate shareholder.
- advising liquidators of a subsidiary of a listed company generally, including proceedings under section 221 of the Companies Ordinance against its former auditors; proceedings against related companies claiming for sale proceeds; misfeasance proceedings against shadow directors.
- acting for a listed property developer in proceedings against another listed company and obtained judgment for HK$105 million in a joint venture dispute in respect of the construction and operation of a hotel complex in Malaysia.
- acting for one of the leading accounting firm in its defence of a complex audit negligence claim.