Career Talk at City University of Hong Kong
Denis Chang’s Chambers strives to nurture the next generation of legal talent.
On 29 February 2024, Hectar Pun SC, Jeffrey Tam, Flora Lam and Matthew Suen delivered a career talk at the invitation of the School of Law at City University of Hong Kong. The topic was titled “Inside & Outside of the Courtroom”.
Mr Pun SC traced the development of the legal rights of members of the LGBT community through a series of landmark judicial review applications (in which he acted for the applicants) and which laid the foundation for and culminated in the recent judgment by the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in Sham Tsz Kit v Secretary for Justice [2023] HKCFA 28, (2023) 26 HKCFAR 385 on the Government’s constitutional duty to provide for legal recognition of same-sex relationship.
Our speakers also shared their professional journey of developing their career as barristers.
Denis Chang’s Chambers is grateful to the CityU School of Law, Prof. Scarlet Fung and her Students’ Professional Development and Public Service Programme team for their invitation.
Hectar Pun, SC
“Hectar always delivers high-quality advice in a short amount of time. He conducts clear and concise advocacy, thinks quickly on his feet, and can always answer questions from the bench impressively.”
Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2024, Administrative and Public Law — Leading Silks
Hectar’s practice spans many areas including constitutional and administrative law, human rights law, immigration law, criminal law, land law, company law and commercial law. He appears regularly on behalf of applicants in major judicial review proceedings. He is ranked in Chambers and Partners as well as The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2023 as a “Leading Silk” in Administrative and Constitutional Law.
Hectar has acted for the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, legislative councillors, district councillors, demonstrators, police officers, prisoners, refugees and asylum seekers, tenants of public housing estates, homosexuals, transsexuals, the disabled and the underprivileged, etc.
Visit Hectar’s profile for more details.
Jeffrey Tam
“Jeffrey Tam of Denis Chang’s Chambers has a broad public law practice that spans issues relating to broadcasting, elections, police powers, housing policy and the National Security Law”
“We handled a very high-profile case; he’s a rising star.”
Chambers and Partners Greater China Region Guide 2024, Administrative & Public Law — Juniors, Band 2
Jeffrey Tam, FHKIArb, attended St. Anne’s College at the University of Oxford for a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) on a scholarship after reading law at the City University of Hong Kong. He is also named as a “Leading Junior” for Administrative and Public Law in Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2022-2024.
Visit Jeffrey’s profile for more details.
Flora Lam
“Flora is very detail-oriented and creative in formulating legal arguments. As for advocacy, she can make good use of the evidence to strengthen her client’s case and to impress the judges.”
Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2024, Labour and Employment — Rising Star
Flora joined Denis Chang’s Chambers in 2018 upon completion of her pupillage with Mr. Derek Chan SC, Mr. Frederick Chan, Mr. Robin D’Souza and Mr. Jeffrey Tam. She is developing a broad civil and criminal practice, and has experience in areas including company law, commercial disputes, defamation, probate, trusts, adverse possession, personal injuries, and public law.
In the realm of personal injuries, Flora is regularly instructed to handle a wide variety of matters including employees’ compensation cases. Recently, in Kwok Kam Sing, Deceased, and in her own capacity v Daily Joy Investment Limited & Employees Compensation Assistance Fund Board [2022] HKDC 269, Flora acted as sole advocate for the Employees Compensation Assistance Fund Board, which intervened in the assessment of quantum and succeeded in obtaining a costs order against the employer.
In Kan Che Shing v Hop On Management Company Limited & Anor., DCPI 393/2016 (with Mr. Gary Chung), she successfully defended the defendant against the plaintiff’s claim for personal injuries in the workplace and successfully claimed for contribution against the third-party.
View Flora’s profile for further details.
Matthew Suen
Matthew is developing a broad civil practice across the full range of commercial litigation, international arbitration and advisory work. He is comfortable working in counsel teams of various sizes or alone and has appeared as sole counsel in the High Court and the District Court.
Before joining the Bar, Matthew had a stint at one of China’s top Red Circle Firms where he acquired practical experiences in China-related cross-border arbitration. As barrister, Matthew has been instructed to act – as junior counsel or sole counsel – for clients in commercial arbitrations under the auspices of major arbitral institutions in Asia, including HKIAC, SIAC and CIETAC (HK). During limited practice, he successfully defended a US corporation as sole HK counsel (instructed by PRC lawyers) against a CISG-governed contractual claim in an SIAC arbitration.
Matthew read law in Hong Kong and mainland China. He holds a Master of Laws degree in PRC Civil and Commercial Law from Peking University. He served pupillage with Mr Hectar Pun SC, Mr Adrian Lai JP, Dr Benny Lo, Mr Randy Shek and Mr Richard Yip before commencing full practice in 2022. Matthew was named a Charles Ching Scholar by the Hong Kong Bar Association in the same year.
Please see Matthew’s profile for more details.
This article was first published on 1 March 2024.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice and seeks to set out the general principles of the law. Detailed advice should therefore be sought from a legal professional relating to the individual merits and facts of a particular case. The photographs which appear in this article are included for decorative purposes only and should not be taken as a depiction of any matter to which the case is related. The views and opinions expressed in this article/material are solely those of the members authoring it and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Denis Chang’s Chambers, or of any other member or members of Denis Chang’s Chambers.