Temple Chambers gets a former Essex Court Chambers QC in Hong Kong

Temple Chambers gets a former Essex Court Chambers QC in Hong Kong

Jern-Fei Ng QC leaves the sanctions-hit Essex Court Chambers to broaden his Asian practice

Jern-Fei Ng QC, a former Essex Court Chambers silk, has joined Temple Chambers in Hong Kong in a bid to broaden his Asian practice.

Ng will practise as an arbitrator at Temple Chambers, one of Hong Kong's leading commercial sets while maintaining his counsel practice at 7 Bedford Row in London.

He is among the four QCs with strong Asia connections to quit the Chinese sanctions-hit Essex Court this year.

While practising in Hong Kong as an arbitrator, Ng will maintain his active counsel practice elsewhere in Asia as well as London, including in litigation before courts where he is admitted to practice, and in arbitration, leveraging his fluency in Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and Bahasa.

Ng's joins forces with some of Hong Kong's leading lights in international arbitration, including Rimsky Yuen SC, the former Secretary for Justice of the Special Administrative Region and a co-chair of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC).

"The geographical epicentre of my work as counsel and arbitrator has increasingly shifted eastward," Ng said, adding that his decision to establish an arbitrator practice in Hong Kong reflected his belief in the SAR as "one of China's leading commercial and dispute resolution hubs".

Ng focuses on disputes involving international investors, Chinese state-owned enterprises, as well as Hong Kong and mainland corporates. The move will expand his practice within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, earmarked as a key region for economic expansion by China.

Ng said he would continue his existing relationships with HKIAC, as well as the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration.

He added that he would also continue his work in Singapore where he was recently appointed to the board of directors of Maxwell Chambers, besides being active within the Singapore Academy of Law, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and Malaysia's Asian International Arbitration Centre.