ACCRALAW’s Senior Partner Judy Hao was awarded by The Legal 500 as the Regional Leading Lawyer of the Year at its recent Southeast Asia Awards 2023. The awarding ceremony was a black-tie event held at The Pan Pacific Singapore last 11 May 2023.
The special award of Regional Leading Lawyer of the Year is a unique distinction that The Legal 500 offered for the first time in its thirty-five (35)-year history. Ms. Hao was the lone shortlisted lawyer from the Philippines.
Indeed, this award recognizes the tremendous impact of Ms. Hao’s work across the Southeast Asian region. It is also a testament to the continued growth of the Firm’s cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (“M&A”) and capital markets practice.
Ms. Hao started and built her legal career in ACCRALAW. She currently heads the Corporate and Special Projects Department. She is known for assisting clients in a variety of capital markets projects. She has advised issuers, underwriters, and investors on these matters. She is also known for assisting clients in their Real Estate Investment Trust (“REIT”) Initial Public Offering (“IPO”). In addition to her capital markets work, she continues to represent clients in M&A deals.
Among the significant projects she worked on include Megaworld’s REIT IPO, UnionBank’s issuance of Php11 Billion digital bonds, and Emperador Inc.’s secondary listing on the main board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.
The Legal 500 awards are based on its “market-leading independent research” that is “carried out by a large team of researchers who have in-depth knowledge of their jurisdictions and practice areas”.
