Michelle specialises in construction disputes and project life advice and support for contractor and consultant clients.
Michelle has over 15 years' experience of advising Chinese and international clients on contracts, claims, disputes as well as transactional matters. Her experience spans across a range of sectors including power (thermal & hydro), rail (heavy, high-speed, metro), roads, energy (FPSO, tanks, receiving terminals, pipelines), petrochemicals, and other building/accommodation projects.
Michelle assists both Chinese and international clients in court litigation, arbitration and mediation in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Sweden and other Southeast Asian and African nations.
Michelle speaks regularly on dispute management and dispute resolution seminars in China for both contractor and employer clients.
Publications
- Choice of Governing Law in PPP Contracts Portfolio, CHINCA Magazine, June 2018 (Co-author: Huailiang Liu, General Counsel, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co.,Ltd.; Ellen Zhang, Partner, Beijing)
Background
Michelle is qualified to practice in Hong Kong and England and Wales and is fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
- advising and representing a Chinese SOE in a Hong Kong-seated arbitration over a terminated transportation project in Southeast Asia, including advising on the strategy and court submissions relating to various pieces of associated litigation to the highest court of that Southeast Asian jurisdiction
- advising a specialist contractor on its involvement in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Project, providing full project lifecycle advice as well as support in the preparation and negotiation of claims
- advising a Chinese SOE contractor on the full project lifecycle of its EPC contract to construct a hydroelectric power plant in Asia
- devising compatible multi-tiered dispute resolution mechanisms for all the project contracts of a Chinese SOE’s investment and implementation of that African nation’s first ever privately invested power plant project
- acting for and advising a Chinese SOE contractor on the conclusion of its involvement in projects in Sudan and the associated disputes arising from it, including representing the client in mediation and arbitration
- advising a rising firm of architects from Europe on all its China-related matters since its entry into China in 2012
