Professional Practice

Vanessa is actively developing a broad civil and criminal practice. She has been involved in matters concerning company law, civil and criminal fraud, commercial disputes, injunctive relief, securities and regulatory matters, cross-border disputes, and domestic and international arbitration.

Vanessa joined Chambers after completing her pupillage with Mr. Adrian Lai JP, Ms. Sabrina Ho, Mr. Joseph Lee, Mr. Jeffrey Tam, Ms. Annie Lai and Mr. Raymond Lau.

Educated in Hong Kong and the Netherlands, Vanessa worked during her studies as a Teaching cum Research Assistant to Prof. dr. Marten Zwanenburg at the University of Amsterdam. She was awarded a number of scholarships, including the HKSAR Government Scholarship.

Vanessa has considerable international moot court experience, having served as coach and guest judge for teams from Europe, Central Asia, Mainland China and Hong Kong. She has also been regularly invited to sit as a judge in international moot court competitions.

Before joining the Bar, Vanessa worked at a multinational professional services company and interned at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in the Dispute Resolution Services Department.

Vanessa accepts instructions in all areas of Chambers’ work.

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Call/Rights of Audience
  • Hong Kong (2025)
Education
  • Master of Laws (International and Transnational Criminal Law), The University of Amsterdam
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Laws, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Juris Doctor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Master of Arts (Comparative Literature), The University of Hong Kong
  • Bachelor of Arts (Language Studies), The Education University of Hong Kong
Professional Qualifications & Appointments

Appointments:

  • Expert, World Animal Justice (France)

 

International Moot Court Experience:

International Arbitration

  • Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Vis Vienna) – Arbitrator (2025); Guest Judge (2024)
  • Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Vis East) – Arbitrator (2026, 2025)
  • FDI Moot Shenzhen – Guest Judge (2025)
  • CIETAC Cup International Commercial Arbitration Moot – Guest Judge (2025); Coach (2024)

Public International Law

  • Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (HK Qualifying Rounds) – National Administrator (2025 – present), Guest Judge (2024)
  • Asia Cup International Law Moot – Coach (2024)
  • Leiden-Sarin International Air Law Moot Court Competition – Guest Judge (2026)

International Humanitarian Law

  • Frits Kalshoven International Humanitarian Law Competition (The Netherlands and Belgian Red Cross) – Guest Judge (2026, 2025); Co-Coach (2024)
  • Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot (Asia-Pacific Version) – Judge (2026); Guest Judge (2024); Student Coach (2023); Researcher (2022)
  • Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Young Moot – Legal Coach (2026, 2025)

International Criminal Law

  • Nuremberg Moot Competition – Coach (2024); Oralist (2023)
  • International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition (Chinese) – Judge (2026); Student Coach (2023)
  • International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition (English) – Researcher (2024); Student Coach (2023)
Publications, Lectures & Seminars

Lectures and Seminars:

  • International Environmental Law, International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2025)
  • Problem-Based Learning Workshop of Hong Kong Company Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2025)
  • Approaching International Criminal Law, East China University of Political Science and Law, China (2024)
  • Modes of Liability in International Criminal Law, Maqsut Narikayev University, Kazakhstan (2024)
  • Crimes Against Animals – Victims of Atrocities, World Animal Justice, France (2024)
  • Matrix of Public International Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2024)

 

Articles:

  • “Veils of Uncertainty: “Contribution” in Article 25(3)(c) and Article 25(3)(d) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court”, Melbourne Doctoral Forum on Legal Theory, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne (2024)
  • “Beyond the Matrix of Algorithms: Challenges of The Current International Criminal Law Framework and Accountability for Autonomous Weapons Systems”, Machine Lawyering Conference, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • “The Trans-National Cybercrime Court: Towards a New Harmonisation of Cyber Law Regime in ASEAN”, International Cybersecurity Law Review, Vol. 4 Issue 4 (6 December 2023), Legal Cooperation, Harmonization and Unification: An ASEAN Perspective’ Online Conference, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne
  • “ChatGPT by OpenAI: The End of Litigation Lawyers?” (26 January 2023), SSRN (Cited by Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration’s guide AI Decision-Making and the Courts (Dec 2023); Reported by Hong Kong Law Society and Japanese media outlets; also recommended by Suffolk University Boston and Loyola University Chicago as Scholarly Articles)
  • “Lifting the Veil of Law and Medicine – Public Health and its Legal Education”, Directions in Legal Education Conference 2022, The Chinese University of Hong Kong