Pink Friday Event on legal and healthcare pathways for same-sex couples

Mike Kung of Goldman Sachs talks to Lisa Lam about the origin of #PinkFridayPride and its significance. He also shares some good memories about the event in the past 10 years and some highlights about Hong Kong Gay Games 2023 and yesterday’s quiz night, as well as the planned LGBTQ+ choir and ESG events happening later today.

Frances Tsang – Associate in the Family team at Hugill & Ip – discusses hopes and foreseeable future of LGBTQ+ equality in Hong Kong, while reflecting on landmark cases that saw brave individuals challenging the legal system at different court levels in the past two decades.

Lisa moves forward to the core topic of the event where Alfred Ip – Partner and Head of Private Client at Hugill & Ip – and Nick Tsui – Anesthesiologist and co-founder of Alongside – discuss key considerations on Estate Planning for same-sex couples.

Video and more Hong Kong LGBTQI legal content: https://www.hugillandip.com/2024/11/pinkfridaypride-building-tomorrow-together/

Caroline McNally and Frances Irving sit down for a chat about her personal and professional life from the early days as a social worker first in Scotland then in Hong Kong and the opportunity to develop a second career as a barrister focused on family law. 

They talk about helping people during one of the most difficult periods of their lives and about managing expectations in the hope of seeing things moving forward for themselves and their children, while bearing in mind that things in life can evolve and parents can take different roles in their children s lives.

They also dig into specific cases that have influenced the law and the way courts deal with divorce cases, as well as particular examples that have left a mark on their professional life. Frances clarifies what in her view is the difference in the roles of barristers vs solicitors and a better support and mentoring system that should be created for young barristers working in family law.

They conclude talking about Hong Kong and its high number of international families which, as a result, often sees a large number of relocation cases happening when compared with other jurisdictions.

Show Notes:01:31 From Scotland to Hong Kong10:59 Becoming a good advocate14:53 The truth and “recollections may vary”17:58 Managing expectations24:12 Changing family dynamics and evolving roles28:25 LKW vs DD and the principle of equal sharing32:12 The complementary roles of barristers and solicitors40:08 Most memorable court cases46:28 The next generation of family lawyers53:44 Relocation of children

Transcript and more Family Law content: https://www.hugillandip.com/2024/10/the-barrister-series-s5e5-a-passion-for-people-and-family-law-with-frances-irving/

Alfred Ip and Kerby Lau share their experience working as a team in many contentious trusts & estate matters, touching on the initial motivation to embark on legal careers.

They go on discussing the role of administrators, executors and trustees and their duties, highlighting the possible pitfalls and ways to manage conflicts, which sometimes can potentially lead to the removal of administrators. They also discuss responsibilities related to investment strategies and asset valuation and conclude talking about the importance of proper estate planning as a necessary tool to avoid future disputes and costly litigation.

SHOW NOTES:

00:01:16 Trust and estate administration and problem-solving 00:11:39 Estate administration and fiduciary duties 00:18:29 Managing conflicts of interest in estate administration 00:24:19 Conflicts and removal of administrators 00:30:03 Assets valuation and investment strategies 00:45:54 Trustee duties and disputes amongst beneficiaries 00:55:23 Estate planning as key factor to minimize the risk of future dispute

More on Contentious Trusts & Estates: https://www.hugillandip.com/legal-services/contentious-trusts-estates/

Florence (Sai Wing) Chan speaks to our Alfred Ip about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: from the pure concept of it to the reasons why businesses need to look at DEI as a necessity to strengthen their workforce, show empathy and build appropriate policies, programs, initiatives to achieve a better and more equitable balance.

Issues can be diverse: they range from women empowerment, disability training, culture, race and to (one of the most prominent efforts) LGBTQ+ inclusion. She talks about visibility, as well as research showing the positive impact that DEI has on business efficiency, revenue growth, investor support, reduced attrition rates, etc…

Florence points out that many companies in Asia which have strong focus on DEI are international companies, while most local companies tend to include the DEI concept into “being a family” or “teamwork” and think that DEI relates to values which are more Western. There’s an urgent need to explain the concept to encourage more local business to buy in, while it is also true that attitudes and cultural nuances play a role in approaching the topic slightly differently, especially within working environments which are traditionally more reserved.

More LGBTQ content: https://www.hugillandip.com/the-hip-pride/ 

Alfred Ip and Henry Li talk about Henry’s personal story with husband Edgar Ng while touching upon legal protections – or rather the lack of – related to inheritance and housing rights in Hong Kong for same-sex couples legally married overseas.

They delve into the hurdles and (direct and indirect) discriminatory treatment connected to the lack of recognition of same-sex relationships and marriages in Hong Kong. They also walk through the history of the legal cases brought to Court by Henry and Edgar through different levels of the justice system and the striking differences with other jurisdictions (e.g. the UK) – whereas in Hong Kong couples are not given the right to form a legally binding relationship with specific (and significant) rights and obligations – towards each other and towards society.

Henry pinpoints the difficulties they went through as a couple who decided to challenge the law and the government, initially in terms of housing rights and thereafter also in terms of inheritance rights. They go on speaking about the hurdles concerning access to justice and the related emotional as well as financial costs. The emotional challenges not only burdened the couple, but also their extended family in both a private and public way. Whilst the financial costs involved the Legal Aid Department, the couple also had to dig into their own pockets. A strong, selfless and brave character needs to be at the base of a fight for obtaining further rights for same-sex couples.

More LGBTQ content: https://www.hugillandip.com/the-hip-pride/ 

Alfred Ip talks to Film Director Ray Yeung about his life story – growing up in Hong Kong and then furthering his education in the UK, where he studied law, then finding his passion in film making.

Ray talks about “叔叔 Suk Suk” which introduced the novel topic of two elderly gay men falling in love in Hong Kong, representing a minority within a minority. He goes on to talk about his latest film “從今以後 All Shall Be Well” and hearing real-life stories which inspired Ray to script the story about a lesbian couple and the family dynamics that suddenly roll out after one of the women passes away.

Ray talks about the casting and the reasons behind the choice of Maggie Li (Lin Lin), as well as the choice of portraying the characters without using a typical melodramatic way to unfold the story. He wants the audience to empathise and reflect on the family dynamics and the many shades that each character brings to the story. He wants everyone to reflect upon their own selfishness and what they would do in a similar situation, as well as questioning if there’s a more or less hidden level of homophobia.

More LGBTQ content: https://www.hugillandip.com/the-hip-pride/ 

Alfred Ip interviews Henry Tse about his life while growing up in Hong Kong as well as after moving to the UK to further his education.

Henry realised quite early in his life about his gender identity and struggle. He went through a hard time whilst studying in a religious secondary school, made more difficult as he lacked LGBTQ role models. Often, he – and other students – faced biases and confrontational behaviour, and Henry recalls treatment he received from a basketball coach. Henry finally found some peace when he went to study in the UK – he discovered more about gender identity whilst he continued to struggle mentally with his own changing body and appearance.

They chat about self-identity and fitting in with society. Henry highlights the benefits he gained by social services in the UK and how Hong Kong compares to it. The real struggle started when he moved back to Hong Kong for professional reasons. He received a lack of full recognition as a male individual and that’s when Henry decided to challenge the government on the issue of getting his gender changed on his Hong Kong identity card.

More LGBTQ content: https://www.hugillandip.com/the-hip-pride/

Raphael Wong interviews Felix Li about his calling and dedication to family law, especially in regards of children-related matters. They discuss the divorce process and the different roles of barristers and solicitors.

They go on talking about the evolution and specifics related to child custody in Hong Kong and the essential role of co-parenting and handling the relationship with other third-parties, eg. domestic helpers. They conclude delving into the issue of overseas relocation.

SHOW NOTES 00:00:3 Family law and children matters as my barrister career focus 00:11:11 Divorce settlements and the court process 00:17:22 Legal practice: the different roles of barristers, and solicitors 00:26:17 Child custody law and its evolution in Hong Kong 00:41:06 The importance of co-parenting 00:56:17 Domestic helpers 01:03:44 Child custody and extracurricular activities 01:10:51 International relocation

Adam Hugill interviews Frances Lok of Des Voeux Chambers about her path that lead her to build a strong career as a barrister in Hong Kong. They elaborate about some contentious employment matters they worked on together in the past 15 years as well as some other cases that Frances deals with, including some in the contentious probate area.

Frances also discusses her temporary appointments as a judge in the District Court and High Court of Hong Kong and development related to growing work concerning Mainland Chinese parties and arbitration.

SHOW NOTES: 04:07 A career at the Hong Kong Bar 07:15 Anton Piller cases 10:02 “Merry Christmas, Frances” and the BFAM v Mills case 13:22 Increasing number of arbitration cases 15:51 Contentious probate practice 18:16 The role as a judge

Transcripts and more on our Employment practice: https://www.hugillandip.com/2024/01/the-barrister-series-s5e2-employment-law-with-frances-lok/

Frances Tsang speaks to Azan Marwah and Alfred Ip about the role of barristers vs solicitors and the importance that each role takes in contentious proceedings in Court, especially within the Hong Kong Family court. They discuss some examples of legal matters they have worked on together, during a collaboration that goes back a long time.

They also highlight the recent growing trend of some clients who are self-represented in Court and several specifics related to pre-nuptial agreements, inheritance provisions for dependants. Azan Marwah concludes talking about his passion for public law and pro-bono work and how helping people has always driven many of his professional and personal choices.

Show Notes03:43 The role of a barrister vs the role of a solicitor 07:55 Financial statements and Form E in divorce proceedings 09:43 Where a financial claim starts and strategy 13:32 Advocacy skills and court work 19:08 Some cases we worked together 22:53 Self-representation in court 25:36 Why do pre-nuptial agreements matter? 35:09 Inheritance provisions for financial dependants 42:01 A passion for public law 45:18 Pro-bono and community service

Get transcripts and subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.hugillandip.com/2023/10/the-barrister-series-s5e1-financial-disputes-in-family-law-azan-marwah/