Warwick Haldane arrived in Hong Kong in the early 1970s, a New Zealand-qualified barrister and solicitor. He joined the Legal Department. A few years later, he set up Haldanes, a firm that has grown with Hong Kong and earned a reputation for criminal defence and has been nominated for the “Criminal Law Firm of the Year” for two decades straight.
The firm places a strong emphasis on transparency, ensuring that its clients understand the procedures they face, as well as the timeframe involved.
“Each client, be it an individual or a corporation, requires a genuine commitment to their case,” said Senior Partner Jonathan Midgley. “They need a lawyer with a heart!”
Haldanes found itself in the spotlight in the early 1980s, when the firm took on a commercial crime prosecution defending Amos Dawe, a Singaporean businessman who had been accused of being the middleman in a Soviet Union-backed scheme to acquire intelligence on the financial involvements of U.S. banks. Dawe was extradited to Hong Kong and acquitted at trial.
The case was one of the city’s first white-collar crime prosecutions. It gained worldwide attention and put Haldanes firmly on the map.
The firm has expanded over the years and, besides criminal law, its practice areas include entertainment and media corporate law, matrimonial law, as well as civil litigation.
Although Haldanes is now long established, Midgley said that a continuing focus on “hard work, skills development, and the mentorship of others” is still crucial to the firm’s ongoing success. Even as it has grown, the firm has remained tightknit and fosters a sense of belonging and friendship among colleagues. Along with all the usual resources that young lawyers employ to further their skills, they can also depend on their more senior colleagues for advice and information.
“One of our young lawyers summed it up best when he said that being with Haldanes was like playing football for Barcelona,” Midgley said. “Each player knows their role and has the support of their teammates. We like that analogy.”
He added that the firm’s mission statement has not changed in their 45 years of operations.
“We strive to provide the best defense for clients and put their interests first,” Midgley said. “Whatever the future has in store for the legal sector, it’s my aim that we will continue to serve our clients in the same way that we always have.”
Company : Haldanes
HKGCC Membership No.：HKH0923
Established：1975
Website：www.haldanes.com