Fiona was one of the first lawyers in Hong Kong to specialise in employment law. She has been living and working in Hong Kong since 1987, and established the award-winning Simmons & Simmons Hong Kong/China employment practice, which she has led since 1999.
Fiona advises on all aspects of the employment relationship, including hiring strategies; negotiation of employment terms and contract drafting; protection of confidential information, and enforcement of, and issues relating to, business protection restrictions; dispute resolution and litigation, including applying for and defending applications for injunctions; privacy and data protection; the employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and share option/stock purchase schemes; and audits of human resources procedures. Fiona also has particular experience in dealing with the defence of equal opportunities and discrimination claims.
Fiona has received a number of awards during her near three decades in the legal profession, including most recently being named Best in Labour and Employment at The Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law awards (2011). In December 2010, she was named (out of lawyers practising in all disciplines) as External Lawyer of the Year, in the Asian-Counsel In-House Community Awards determined by votes of in-house counsel. She has for many years been ranked as a Leading Individual in her field by Chambers Asia (most recently in the 2012 edition) and Asia Pacific Legal 500 (most recently in the 2011/2012 edition). She has been named as a Leading [Labour] Lawyer in Hong Kong by the Euromoney Expert Guide to Labour and Employment Lawyers (most recently in the 2012 edition) and was named a Leading Individual by PLC Which lawyer? Yearbook 2012. The Simmons & Simmons employment team under her leadership has been named Employment Law Firm of the Year by Asian Legal Business Awards eight times in the last 10 years. It was also named Employment Firm of the Year by Asian-Counsel In-House Community Awards four times in the last five years (2007, 2009 to 2011). The group has consistently been ranked by Chambers Asia as a band one firm for employment since rankings began (2008 to 2012). The group has also been ranked by Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a tier one firm for its Hong Kong employment practice (2002/03 to 2011/12 editions inclusive) and for its PRC employment practice (2009/2010).
Fiona has been chair of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association's employment and immigration law committee since 2009. She is a member of the American Bar Association and was a panelist at that association's meetings in 2007 (Washington DC), 2008 (Brussels), and 2010 (New York).
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