Lawrence Ma

Personal Bio

Job Title: Barrister

Areas of Expertise:

Lawrence Ma has been a practising barrister of the High Court of Hong Kong since 2008 and currently is the Head of the Foundation Chambers in Hong Kong. He qualified as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, as well as the High Court of Australia. He is also qualified as a lawyer of the Great Bay Area in the People’s Republic of China.

He has dual jurisdiction experience in commercial litigations in both Australia and in Hong Kong. For years in practice, Lawrence has accumulated substantial experience in drafting pleadings and in advising on suitable cause of action and grounds of appeal. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators since 2002 and an associate member of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators. Lawrence is also a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners since 2009. He was appointed a panel member of the Hong Kong Mediation Centre since 2011 and appointed as the Chairman of the Finance and Banking Committee by the International Dispute Resolution and Risk Management Institute (IDRRMI) in 2021.

He is a Council Member of the China Law Society since 2013, a Council Member of the Chinese Judicial Studies Association since 2016 and a Council Member of the Chinese Overseas Friendship Association since 2019. He also serves as a member of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference since 2012. He is an adjunct professor of the Nankai University law school since 2003. In 2021, he is appointed a Chairman of the Buildings Appeal Tribunal and in the same year, he became a member by nomination of the Hong Kong Election Committee representing the Hong Kong Legal Subsector.

Lawrence has published extensively in the area of equity and trusts law.

Lawrence was practising at the Queensland Bar and the New South Wales Bar for 12 years before passing the Overseas Barristers Qualifying Examination in 2007 and then to commence practising at the Hong Kong Bar in 2008.

Domestic Arbitration

• New Generation Pty Ltd v Wood Products Australia Pty Ltd (New South Wales District Court arbitration, 2001) [Sale of Goods – merchantable quality – evidence – tactical shift of burden]

International Arbitration

• The Republic of the Philippines v The People’s Republic of China (PCA Case Nº 2013-19) [South China Sea Arbitration – Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - jurisdiction dispute whether the PRC was properly joint as a party – Amicus Curiae Submission]

• Re South China Sea Arbitration; ex parte China Australia Legal Exchange Foundation (International Court of Justice, 19 July 2016)