I am an employment Partner in our Hong Kong office, and have been practicing in Hong Kong since 2006.
I am qualified in Hong Kong and in England & Wales and speak both English and Cantonese. I spent my early years in Canada, and obtained my law degree and PCLL from the University of Hong Kong with one year spent on a legal exchange scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley. Having studied and lived in Hong Kong for nearly 30 years, I am familiar with the local culture and have extensive legal knowledge of employment and immigration laws.
My clients come from a wide range of industry sectors including financial services, luxury retail and tech firms. I enjoy working closely with legal, HR and senior executives to provide practical and strategic advice on a full range of employment law issues including redundancies, bonus entitlement disputes, team moves, data privacy, and complex discrimination and sexual harassment cases.
I also advise clients in relation to investigations brought by the Labour Department and the Equal Opportunities Commission. A lot of my work has an international element to it, and I work closely with colleagues in our Ius Laboris firms across Asia Pacific on regional employment law projects and navigate clients through complex cross border issues.
As part of my practice, I also provide full coverage advice on issues relating to global mobility and immigration to our corporate and senior executive clients. I advise High Net Worth Individuals, multinationals and start-ups on matters including movement of employees globally, application for visas and permanent residence, secondments and illegal working.
I speak at external seminars and provide internal client training on topical employment issues, most recently on diversity and inclusion. I have contributed articles to numerous trade publications including Asian Legal Business, Hong Kong Economic Times, HK Lawyer and HR Magazine. I was also a contributing editor to the Lexis Practical Guidance for Hong Kong employment.
To find out more about our services in Hong Kong and across Asia Pacific please click here.
Awards and recognition
- Chambers Asia-Pacific 2023 (China) "Catherine Leung really tries to understand her client's business or the particular circumstances of the issue at hand in order to provide the best and most pertinent advice possible."
- Leading Individual in Doyle’s 2022 Guide (Employment: Hong Kong)
- Chambers 2022 - She is ‘very knowledgeable’ and ‘experienced’ in employment law matters
- Chambers Asia Pacific 2021 (Employment) - "She is really one of the best lawyers I have ever worked with. She has a very engaging way of communicating with clients; she's very articulate and able to explain complex issues with clear language"
- Chambers Great China 2022 (Employment) "Catherine Leung really tries to understand her client's business or the particular circumstances of the issue at hand in order to provide the best and most pertinent advice possible."
- Legal 500 - Recommended as Next Generation Partner
- Recommended in Doyle's 2021
- Chambers Asia Pacific - “Catherine Leung is singled out as a “diligent, very responsive and attentive” lawyer. Clients enjoy working with her, praising her for offering “prompt replies and excellent, thorough advice.”
- Chambers Asia Pacific - “Catherine Leung was also involved in the Jefferies wrongful dismissal case. She is a specialist employer lawyer who attracts impressive reviews from clients, with one reporting: “We found her work ethic, knowledge and execution to be nothing short of exemplary.”
- Chambers Asia Pacific – Listed as Associate to Watch 2014 to 2016