Details
Damien is an experienced litigator and arbitrator who has practiced law for more than 30 years. He is admitted to the Superior Courts of New Zealand, England and Wales, and Hong Kong.
His practice involves advising on almost all aspects of domestic and international business, including complex corporate and commercial matters, shareholders and joint venture disputes, insolvency and asset recovery, commercial fraud, international trade, sale of goods and maritime disputes, and urgent interim relief applications.
Damien also serves private clients and high net worth individuals (HNWI’s), advising in relation to family and probate issues, asset protection and recovery, fraud and defamation.
He represents clients and stakeholders in a wide variety of industries and sectors, such as trade and transport, financial and professional services, consumer products and foodstuffs, mining and resources, real estate and retail, leisure and luxury.
Damien also sits as an arbitrator and is on the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre’s (HKIAC) Panel of Arbitrators. He is a fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (FHKIArb).
Outside of the office, Damien sits on the General Committee of the Hong Kong Football Club and is a Full Member of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Further details
-
Experience
- Regularly sitting as an arbitrator, as well as receiving party appointments as Counsel. Advising in connection with, or participating in, international arbitrations under the following rules: HKIAC, CIETAC, ICC, UNCITRAL, HKMAG, LMAA, SCMA, SIAC. The subject matter of these arbitrations has included international trade and transport disputes, financial and professional services disputes, infrastructure projects, business mergers and acquisitions, shareholder agreements, loan agreements, wreck removal agreements, and real estate projects.
- Involvement in numerous international trade and maritime disputes involving sale of goods, charterparties, bills of lading and ship mortgages.
- Handling marine casualty litigation and arbitration matters. These have included loss of life following collisions, oil pollution, limitation and general average issues, and complex forum non conveniens applications.
- Winning a significant arbitration in Hong Kong for a listed commodities trader against a Chinese state-owned entity. This led to one of the earliest instances of recognition of a non-Mainland Chinese arbitration award (non CIETAC) in the PRC.
- Advising in relation to detention and sale of luxury yachts by way of injunction or arrest.
- Advising clients and insurers in relation to liability cover, including in respect of public liability exposure, transport and casualty cover, business disruption, and product recall claims.
- Representing a prominent Chinese businessman as proxy at Board meetings in Hong Kong and in Mainland China during a particularly acrimonious shareholders’ dispute relating to a NASDAQ-listed corporation.
- Making a successful recovery in Bitcoin against a prominent crypto trading platform after it froze our client’s “fiat” profits following an allegation of disruptive trading.
- Acting for a high profile South Asian billionaire in relation to a shareholders’ dispute in Hong Kong. Damien’s team won the 25-day High Court trial.
- Acting for a major European bank in six High Court litigation matters to successfully recover proceeds of internet fraud in Hong Kong.
- Working closely with Chinese lawyers and commercial investigators to recover proceeds of business diversion in China. The local representative of our US client had set up a competing factory in the same Southern Chinese city.
- Acting for a multinational United States consumer goods distributor suing Hong Kong vendors in respect of defective facemasks produced by Mainland Chinese factories.
- Acting for an investment bank currency trader in conjunction with his former employer in connection with global LIBOR-fixing investigations initiated by the United States Department of Justice.
- Acting for a senior mining company executive in respect of a dispute arising out of a ‘Mining Services Agreement’ concerning gold mining in Mongolia. Damien obtained an injunction preventing a hostile Board from convening a meeting to pass resolutions adverse to his client.
- Damien successfully sued Aeroflot on behalf of Hong Kong families following a tragic air crash in Siberia in March 1994. 63 passengers and 12 aircrew died. It was subsequently revealed by the “black box” cockpit voice recorder that the co-pilot’s 15-year-old son had disengaged the autopilot.
-
Affiliations
- Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIarb)
- Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (FHKIarb)
- Member of Panel of Arbitrators of the Law Society of Hong Kong
- Full Member of the Hong Kong Maritime Arbitration Group (HKMAG)
- Committee member of the ICC-HK ADR and Arbitration Committee
- Panel Member of China Maritime Arbitration Commission (CMAC)
- Panel Member of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA)
- Member of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Panel of Arbitrators
- Panel Member Arbitrator of the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA)
- Member of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (formerly the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration) Panel of Arbitrators
- Panel Arbitrator of the Centre for Arbitration & Consultancy Development (India)
- Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) database of arbitrators
- Member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)
- Committee member of the Inter Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) Maritime Committee (former Deputy Chair)
- Member of International Bar Association
- Sits on the Board of the Hong Kong Association of New York
Damien Laracy's Expertise
Commercial
We provide advice on a wide range of commercial agreements from trading agreements, outsourcing and other trading contracts and specialist projects. We have specialist experience in h...
Dispute resolution
We can help you resolve business disputes through negotiation, mediation, arbitration or litigation. Our aim is to achieve resolution quickly and efficiently and to minimise the impac...
Employment law
Getting employment issues right is crucial for any business. By understanding your organisation and marketplace, and providing practical, solutions-based advice, our experts guide HR ...
Intellectual property
Use our expertise in trade marks, copyright, design right and patents to protect your intellectual property (IP). We understand what a valuable asset IP is to your business and can he...
Private client
Our goal is simple – to help you safeguard and enhance your wealth. By taking time to understand you and your financial and family circumstances we can offer clear, practical advice o...
Property and construction law
From planning and construction to buying, selling and managing investments, our award-winning specialist lawyers can help with all aspects of property legal services. Our large practi...
Shipping
From dealing with everyday contracts to major incident emergency responses, our shipping and offshore specialists can help. With one of the largest maritime practices in the field, yo...
Yachts
Superyacht owners expect the best – that is why so many turn to us as the acknowledged market leader for legal services to the superyacht industry. Financiers, brokers, project manage...
