The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) names Joanne Lau, a Hong Kong-based partner at Allen & Overy, as its new secretary-general, effective on 26 February 2024, after the departure of Mariel Dimsey.
Dimsey, who assumed the role as HKIAC secretary-general in August 2022, will return to CMS as the managing partner in the Hong Kong office. In October 2023, she announced on LinkedIn her resignation from the HKIAC position for personal reasons.
Lau joined Allen & Overy in 2012 and was promoted to partner in 2021. Her expertise lies in international arbitration, with a focus on disputes in M&A, joint ventures, private equity, complex financial products, and energy and infrastructure.
She is experienced in managing multijurisdictional commercial and investment arbitrations under the rules of the HKIAC, the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.
From 2020 to 2022, Lau served as co-chair of HK45, an organisation of young arbitration practitioners under the auspices of the HKIAC, and was a member of the HKIAC Proceedings Committee.
In 2022, the HKIAC handled 344 arbitration cases, marking a 10-year high. Hong Kong’s Secretary for Justice, Paul Lam, said that more than half of those cases involved contracts entered into after 2020, demonstrating the city’s continued appeal as a venue for commercial dispute resolution for investors.
The SIAC, another prominent arbitration institution, handled 357 arbitration cases in 2022, slightly surpassing Hong Kong’s caseload. However, the SIAC set a record for the first quarter of 2023 by handling 332 arbitration cases, but HKIAC data is not available.
