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Winnie Chow

Winnie sees her role as a problem solver, helping clients resolve their family conflicts with bespoke solutions that draw from a variety of dispute resolution options. Her practice covers a wide range of international family law matters, both mainstream as well as complex and atypical. Winnie guides her clients through turbulent times, safeguarding their interests and assisting them in reshaping their futures. She is recognized locally and internationally as a prominent voice in raising awareness of children and family issues and making a positive change in the practice of family law.

Winnie plays a leading role in seeking to improve the resolution of family conflict and has been prominent in introducing and developing Collaborative Practice and Parenting Co-ordination as other means of dispute resolution in Hong Kong. In addition, she is trained in family mediation, to act as a child consultant in child-inclusive mediation, and in private financial adjudication.  Together with her partner, Jain, they can offer child-inclusive mediation in-house.

As to her contribution to the family law arena,Winnie is a founding member and the former chairperson of the Hong Kong Collaborative Practice Group. She continues to remain on the executive committee. She is also a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. She is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and was appointed to the executive committee of IAFL as Parliamentarian in 2013, and as Vice-President between 2014 and 2018. She is an executive committee member of the Hong Kong Family Law Association; and a member of the Hong Kong Law Society’s Family Law Committee. Winnie is a case reporter of the Hong Kong Family Law Reports and a co-author of "Family Law and Practice in Hong Kong". She frequently shares her experience as a family lawyer through a number of talks in Hong Kong and overseas.

Winnie’s practice areas are:

• Adoption

• Child consultant in child-inclusive mediation

• Civil celebrant of marriages

• Claims under Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Ordinance

• Custody disputes, care and control proceedings

• Deed of Appointment of Guardians

• Deed of Family Arrangements

• Divorce

• Domestic violence relief

• Financial injunctive relief

• Financial settlements

• Hague Convention cases on parental child abduction

• Judicial separation

• Jurisdiction disputes

• Maintenance claims (including enforcement and MOREO applications)

• Parentage issues arising from human reproductive technology / surrogacy

• Parental rights and responsibilities for married and unmarried parents

• Parenting Co-Ordination

• Private Financial Adjudication

• Removal from Hong Kong jurisdiction applications

• Separation agreements

• Wardship proceedings

Amongst her public roles, Winnie is a civil celebrant of marriages. She was also a former member of the Council on Human Reproductive Technology of the Government of Hong Kong SAR and of the sub-group of the Working Group on Children in Family Proceedings, which was set up by the Chief Justice of Hong Kong to explore the feasibility of a children’s dispute resolution process in the city.

In addition, she has provided support to the Hong Kong Federation of Women Lawyers’and various child-related organizations on a pro-bono basis. 

Winnie was involved in the landmark decisions of LKW v. DD [2011] HKFLR 106 and Lai v Ling, also known as L v L (Child Removal - PRC) - [2017] HKFLR 588.  The former laid down the guiding principles for the Courts to follow in determining financial claims upon the breakdown of marriage and the latter sets out the Court of Appeal’s observations on measures which a party can take to prevent the unilateral removal of a child, or to seek to secure his or her return to Hong Kong following such a removal.

Her contribution and dedication to the family law has been recognised locally and internationally, having been ranked as one of the top ten Hong Kong family lawyers by Spear’s Magazine (Asia), as a ranked practitioner by Chambers and Partners Asia Practice Guide, and a leading lawyer by the Doyles Guide. She has been recognised and awarded on multiple occasions by The Law Society of Hong Kong for her pro bono and community services since 2009.

Winnie Chow
Tel +852 3953 3008
Fax +852 2899 2727
winnie.chow@crb.com.hk