27 December, 2015
Herbert Smith Freehills' Hong Kong dispute resolution team recently surveyed around 100 clients and contacts on their use of mediation as a dispute resolution tool in Hong Kong. Through direct interviews and voting via a bespoke iPad app, we have gained valuable insights on how international corporates use mediation in Hong Kong. Our research comes 5 years since mediation was put at the heart of Hong Kong's litigation landscape by Practice Direction 31 (PD 31), which effectively introduced a 'mediation step' into civil litigation proceedings in Hong Kong.
In our guide, we reveal that mediation remains under-utilised in practice, despite being widely supported and recognised as having the potential to resolve disputes in a quick, cheap and confidential way. Many clients see mediation undertaken without any real intention to settle, simply to comply with PD 31 and move on with the litigation. This is a missed opportunity to front-end the settlement of disputes. Whether you litigate, arbitrate, or have never yet been embroiled in a formal dispute, our commercially-focused guide will assist you to deploy mediation more effectively in the resolution of your disputes. The guide is of relevance to all organisations, whether or not they are based in Hong Kong.
Our ADR in Asia Pacific Guide:
- summarises seven ADR processes and their use in Asia Pacific
- contains a practical guide to help you get the most out of mediation (with an emphasis on the procedures in Hong Kong)
- summarises the outputs of our client research to enable organisations to benchmark themselves against their peers when assessing their dispute resolution options
If you would like an electronic copy of our guide, please fill out our request form (on the right of this page).
Our research in Hong Kong foreshadows an exciting global initiative which Herbert Smith Freehills is sponsoring – the Global Pound Conference (GPC) series – which will canvass thousands of stakeholders worldwide over an extensive 18-month period, on their use of ADR and other dispute resolution processes (see www.globalpoundconference.org for more details).
Please click here to be redirected to a page where you can request a copy of the guide.
For further information, please contact:
Kyle Wombolt, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
kyle.wombolt@hsf.com
