Helen Colquhoun

Partner

Head of Employment, Asia

Emailhelen.colquhoun@akd.partners

Call+852 2103 0840

Hong Kong

About

Helen Colquhoun is triple qualified in New York, England and Wales, and Hong Kong. She advises employers across a range of industries on both contentious and non-contentious employment issues such as investigations, restrictive covenants, risk management, acquisitions, restructuring, managing employee hiring and terminations, design of incentive schemes, and drafting contracts and handbooks. Helen frequently advises overseas employers on their operations in Hong Kong, including in relation to sensitive and/or C-suite terminations, secondments, dual contracts, enforcement of restrictive covenants, investigations and general HR matters. Helen also routinely oversees regional APAC projects that require advice on local law nuances, trends and approaches on a range of issues, including restructurings, policy roll outs and outsourcing arrangements.

As a triple qualified employment lawyer with over 18 years' experience, Helen is well-placed to provide a single source of advice for clients who require advice in more than one jurisdiction.

Helen was named Employment Lawyer of the Year by The Asia Legal Awards 2023, she was ranked as Band 2 Individual for the China chapter of Employment: Hong Kong-based (International Firms) by Chambers Asia Pacific since 2022 and as "Leading Individual" in 2025 and Next Generation Partner since 2020 for the Hong Kong chapter of Labour and Employment by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific. Helen is described in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific as 'an amazing legal partner, always making herself available for questions and providing commercially-savvy advice!' and an excellent advisor. She provides commercial, astute and pragmatic advice without overloading us with unnecessary detail. She is very finely attuned to the needs of our business and sector-specific issues.

Areas of FocusEmployment

Professional QualificationsAttorney-at-law admitted with the Supreme Court of New YorkSolicitor of the High Court of Hong KongSolicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

EXPERIENCE

Advising on senior and board level dismissals, including the dismissal of a CFO and CEO on the grounds of fraud.
Advising a Chinese entity on its expansion into Hong Kong, including preparing template dual-language employment documentation and coordinating training for the China based HR team on general Hong Kong employment matters.
Advising a US headquartered company on the termination of a C-Suite executive with dual Hong Kong/China contracts.
Assisting a UK headquartered retail company in relation to EOC and Labour Tribunal proceedings in Hong Kong, including advising on strategy, drafting witness and defence statements and conducting settlement discussions.
Advising a UK-headquartered retail on outsourcing and restructuring programme across APAC, including advising on transfers of employment, redundancies and resolution of disputes with employees.
Advising a hotel brand on the implementation and communication of cost-cutting measures across APAC, including the use of furloughs, salary cuts and redundancy programmes.
Advising a UK-based hotel group on its expansion into Hong Kong and Singapore, including advising on appropriate structuring of employment relationships, providing template documentation and coordinating immigration support.
Advising on the design, structuring and implementation of short and long term incentive and bonus plans across APAC.
Advising a US buyer on employment issues arising from acquisition of an asset management company with operations across APAC, including due diligence, negotiation of key employee contracts and harmonization of benefits.
Advising a Chinese technology company on the use of secondments and internships across 10+ locations globally, including advising on the appropriate structuring of such arrangements to address tax and dual employment risks.
Advising a European-headquartered company on termination of 20+ employees on grounds of misconduct, including advising on China and Hong Kong dual employment risks and litigation strategy.