Before embarking on my legal career, I was working in the financial services industry in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong. It is important for me to have a good, practical insight into my clients’ businesses to help me to deliver practical commercial legal solutions.

Derek specialises in commercial and civil litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution. He acts for both corporate and individual clients in Hong Kong and overseas.

Prior to joining bowers.law, Derek worked for two leading independent law firms in Hong Kong.

• Acting for a minority shareholder in a duty-free goods supply business in an unfair prejudice claim against the majority shareholder
• Acting for a Claimant in an HKIAC arbitration against a Hong Kong brokerage firm for breach of a customer agreement
• Acting for an oil and natural gas business owner in a series of claims against contract counterparties and former employees in fraud and breach of trust claims
• Acting for an asset manager in a claim against his former employer for unpaid bonus payments
• Acting for numerous businesses and individual in obtaining Mareva Injunction (freezing) Orders and Norwich Pharmacal Disclosure Orders in fraud- cases
• Acting for a medium-sized Hong Kong brokerage firm in recovering funds from a client and subsequent bankruptcy proceedings
• Advising a joint venture company in a shareholders’ dispute
• Acting for the minority shareholders in a family company in an unfair prejudice claim against a majority shareholder
• Acting for a Singapore-based Buddhist organization in the successful challenge of an unlawful lease and subsequent recovery of its property
• Advising a leading Hong Kong management consultancy firm in the defence of a Labour Tribunal claim by a former employee for constructive dismissal
• Acting for an overseas law firm in a claim for fraud claim against a Hong Kong-based individual and successfully recovering funds through garnishee proceedings
• Acting for a former consultant of a Singapore-based raw material trading company against allegations of fraud, the diverting away of business opportunities and breach of duties under an employment contract
• Acting for the daughter of her deceased mother against her stepfather in a contentious probate action involving a sizeable estate with assets located in Hong Kong and the US. The dispute concerned the deceased’s capacity to execute her Will
• Acting for land occupiers against subsidiaries of Hong Kong-listed property developers in adverse possession claims
• Advising Shenzhen-based graphic designers in successfully recovering unpaid debts from a Hong Kong-based architecture firm
• Acting for a Hong Kong restaurant operator in successfully obtaining a prohibitive injunction against its landlord and reaching a settlement of the landlord / tenant dispute
• Acting for a Hong Kong company in the recovery of unlawfully occupied land in the New Territories
• Acting for a property owner in a Lands Tribunal claim to defend a claim made by an Incorporated Owners Association and successfully achieving a settlement
• Acting for a purchaser against a Hong Kong property agent in a claim concerning a failed overseas property development project and successfully reaching a settlement