Gillian Lam
Biography
Gillian Lam is a Senior Associate in Baker McKenzie’s Dispute Resolution Group.
Admitted in both Hong Kong and England and Wales, Gillian has acquired higher rights of audience as a solicitor advocate (civil) before the Hong Kong courts since 2017 and also became a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the same year.
She is mentioned as one of the key lawyers of Baker McKenzie in Legal 500 under two categories: Dispute Resolution: Litigation and Data Protection and Cyber Security.
Within Baker McKenzie, she is currently the APAC representative of the Women-in-Arbitration leadership team. She was a member of the Steering Committee of the International Arbitration Associate Forum from 2016 to 2021. She was a member of the Steering Committee of the International Arbitration Associate Forum from 2016 to 2021.
Gillian frequently speaks at various client seminars and CPD talks on arbitration, cyber fraud, employment and other topics (including compliance, private wealth and product liability). She also regularly contributes to various client publications on a number of topics including cyber fraud (see Cyber Fraud Recovery) and arbitration (see Global Arbitration News).
As an active advocate for diversity and inclusion as well as pro bono work within the Firm and beyond, Gillian is the Hong Kong ambassador of Arbitration Lunch Match, an international event for female arbitration practitioners from all around the world since 2021. Gillian has also obtained Individual Gold and Improvement Awards from HK Law Society under the Law Society's Pro Bono and Community Work Recognition Programme 2021 and Individual Gold Awards in 2022 and 2023.
Practice Focus
Gillian's practice focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration in Hong Kong. As a versatile dispute resolution lawyer of over a decade of experience, Gillian has handled a wide range of disputes including general commercial disputes, shareholders disputes, commercial fraud and bribery investigations, trust/private wealth litigation, defamation, product liability and contentious employment issues.
Representative Legal Matters
- Advising on and defending a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical corporation on a USD 30 million claim in ICC arbitration by a HK pharmaceutical company jointly owned by a HK listco and Shanghai listco, and commencing winding-up proceedings against the HK entity for debt owed to the Swiss entity.
- Acting for a US global pharmaceutical company in a HKIAC-administered arbitration against a Hong Kong-listed company (whose business is in China) to enforce its right as a minority shareholder under a subscription deed between the parties.
- Advising and defending a Chinese major automobile manufacturer in its arbitration disputes in Hong Kong with a potential joint venture partner from the United States under HKIAC Rules in Hong Kong (Amount claimed: USD 1.1 billion).
- Acting for a bank based in the Middle East in relation to a fraud committed through hacking into the bank's SWIFT system, causing around EUR 25 million to be transferred to various accounts in Hong Kong and mainland China. Successful recovery being 80%.
- Assisting a Japanese gaming corporation to obtain urgent injunction to restrain the wrongful declaration of default under a USD 760 million bond.
- Conducting employee investigation for a multinational insurance company in relation to misconduct/harassment issues.
- Advising a HK subsidiary of a Chinese regulated asset management company in defending an ex-employee's claim for unpaid wages and outstanding commission in breach of employment contract.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Chartered Institute of Arbitrators - Fellow
- The Law Society of Hong Kong - Member
- The Law Society of England and Wales - Member
- ArbitralWomen - Member
- HK45 (HKIAC) - Member
Corporate Responsibility
- Acted as HK ambassador to Arbitration Lunch Match (a global initiative for diversity and inclusion of arbitral women which won first runner-up for GAR Award 2022 in Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge category) and organised 6 matches in Hong Kong
- Obtained Individual Gold and Improvement Awards from HK Law Society under the Law Society's Pro Bono and Community Work Recognition Programme 2021 and Individual Gold in 2022 and 2023
- Led multijurisdictional advice for Save the Children on physical and humiliating punishment
- Contributor to various pro-bono services/advices to NGOs such as World Vision, OutRight Action International, International Bar Association and Legal Atlas Consortium for Street Children
- Educational pro-bono works (acting as arbitrator to Vis Moot (East) and a judge to ADR International Mooting Competition, ARCH Community Outreach's Hong Kong Inter-school Mock Trial Competition and International Children’s Rights Moot Court)
Admissions
- England & Wales~United Kingdom
- Hong Kong
Education
- University of Hong Kong (LL.B.)
- University of Hong Kong (P.C.LL.)
- The London School of Economics and Political Science (LL.M.)
Languages
- Cantonese
- English
- Mandarin