Deacons hosts 13th World Services Group (WSG) Annual Meeting in Hong Kong

Over 10^th to 12^th September, Deacons hosted the 2014 WSG Annual Meeting which was the first time to be held in Asia.  The conference was well attended by over 105 WSG delegates from 70 different jurisdictions.

A member of WSG since 2004, this was the firm’s first chance to host an Annual Meeting, a significant opportunity to consolidate our relationships with fellow WSG member firms.

On 10^th September, Senior Partner Lilian Chiang and Executive Partner Keith Cole and other Deacons’ partners and consultants welcomed all the registered delegates and guests with a cocktail reception at the Hong Kong Club.

The following day, Lilian Chiang opened the conference with a welcome speech and gave an overview of the meeting programme. Then Tony Williams (Principal, Jomati Consultants LLP) spoke on the topic “The Advance of Global Verein Firms – Threats and Opportunities” and was followed by Tony Reiss (Founding Principal, Sherwood PSF Consulting) who presented “The Leadership Challenge in Service Firms”. Next, Justice Kemal Bokhary was introduced by Gavin Nesbitt and he discussed “The Past, Present and Future of the Rule of Law in Hong Kong”. Gavin Nesbitt alsopresented in a later panel discussion on the “Liberalisation of Asian Legal Markets”. 

On 12 September, Chiann Bao (Secretary-General, Hong Kong International Arbitration Center) discussed arbitration in Hong Kong, while Nick Moore facilitated and presented a panel discussion on, “Branding the Independent Firm”. He was followed by Jason Wright (Managing Director of Asia Kroll) who concluded the conference by talking about “Managing Challenges of Conducting Business in China”. 

Highlights of the event included a dinner at SKY100 Observation Deck where the delegates were impressed by the 360-degree views of the territory and the splendid city skyline.

Click the link here to view the conference programme.