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Timothy Haynes photo
Timothy Haynes
Lawyer
Hong Kong
ICBC Tower, 6th Floor
3 Garden Road
Central, Hong Kong
+852 2127 3298
timothy.haynes@kobrekim.com
vCard Download 
Hong Kong
ICBC Tower, 6th Floor
3 Garden Road
Central, Hong Kong
+852 2127 3298
timothy.haynes@kobrekim.com
vCard Download 

Tim Haynes advises on and litigates high value, cross-border management, shareholder, commercial, insolvency and corporate restructuring disputes, often with a nexus to Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands.  He has over twenty years’ experience representing a wide range of Asia Pacific-based clients in all aspects of commercial dispute resolution, from corporate shareholders and liquidators to high-net-worth individuals. He is particularly skilled at handling high-stakes management and shareholder disputes and other contentious matters arising out of distressed corporate and investment vehicles. In addition to being a Chartered Arbitrator, Mr. Haynes is an experienced advocate who has appeared in numerous cases before the first instance and appellate courts in both Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.   

Mr. Haynes has been recognized as a leading lawyer in multiple legal directories, with the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020 describing him as “undoubtedly the best offshore dispute resolution partner in Hong Kong” providing “very measured and strategic advice on contentious insolvency matters, as well as broader commercial disputes".  

Before joining Kobre & Kim, Mr. Haynes practiced at Walkers, where he led the firm’s insolvency and dispute resolution practice in Hong Kong. Prior to Walkers, he practiced at Baker & McKenzie, also in Hong Kong.

SERVICES

Admissions

  • Solicitor, Hong Kong
  • Solicitor of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

Education

  • Marlborough College
  • University College London, BA, Joint Honors
  • College of Law

Accolades

  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020, Leading Individual
  • Chambers Asia-Pacific 2020 (Offshore: Dispute Resolution), Recommended Lawyer
  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019, Recommended Lawyer
  • Chambers Asia-Pacific 2019 (Offshore: Dispute Resolution), Recommended Lawyer
  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2017, Recommended Lawyer
  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2017, Recommended Lawyer
  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2016, Recommended Lawyer
SERVICES

Select Engagements

Cayman Islands

  • Representation of the official liquidators in the insolvency of multiple entities in the Saad Group and in successfully defending the long-running litigation brought in the Cayman Islands by Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi & Brothers.
  • Representation of investors and others in numerous winding-up proceedings involving the Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership and companies.
  • Acted for the applicant in the first application and leading authority in the Cayman Islands to obtain free standing injunctive relief in support of foreign proceedings, under section 11A of the Grand Court (Amendment) Law 2014 of the Cayman Islands.
  • Acted for the founders and minority shareholders in a dispute over the control of Hong Kong-listed Yingde Gases. The action, which included urgent injunctive relief in the Cayman Islands, was entirely successful, with the clients resuming their key executive roles and the sale of the business.
  • Represented investors in connection with matters related to the Abraaj Group.
  • Acted for the successful plaintiff in a dispute involving PRC entities and nationals over the misappropriation of substantial dividend payments, with indemnity costs awarded in favor of the clients.
  • Advised as counsel to dissenting shareholders in relation to mergers under section 238 of the Cayman Islands’ Companies Law.
  • Represented the company in the proposed restructuring and appointment of Cayman Islands soft touch liquidators in connection with a Hong Kong listed company.
  • Acted against the founders of an alternative energy business in relation to breach of duty claims arising out of allegations of asset misappropriation from a Cayman Islands fund structure.
  • Represented institutional investors in connection with exit strategies from an exempted limited partnership and the removal of the general partner of the fund.

British Virgin Islands

  • Advised on a multi-million dollar shareholders’ dispute relating to the management and ownership of a substantial Vietnamese-based fund.
  • Acted in numerous shareholder actions concerning the control and ownership of BVI companies with business operations in Asia.
  • Represented individuals and offshore companies in an ultra-high-net-worth family dispute over a Hong Kong-listed Bermuda incorporated entity, with actions in Bermuda, Hong Kong and BVI. Each of the actions successfully concluded, with costs orders against the opposing parties.
  • Represented banks and other creditors in the winding up of numerous BVI companies.
  • Acted for BVI companies in connection with a cross-border dispute involving BVI vehicles holding business operations in Malaysia and other parts of Asia.
  • Acted for a Japanese Court-appointed trustee in Bankruptcy in successful assistance applications to the BVI Court in connection with BVI-sited property owned by the bankrupt.
  • Acted in successfully seeking letters of administration in order to take control of BVI-sited assets on behalf of an Asia-based entity.
  • Served as counsel to Winsway Enterprise Holdings Limited, a Hong Kong-listed entity in the successful sanctioning of a parallel scheme of arrangement in BVI and Hong
 

Professional & Community Involvement

  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Chartered Arbitrator, FCIARB
  • INSOL International, Member
  • International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, Member
SERVICES

Publications & Presentations

  • Author, “Walking the Tightrope Between Agreements to Arbitrate and Winding Up Proceedings: Differing Approaches in Onshore and Offshore Jurisdictions” (The Hong Kong Lawyer, July 2019)
  • Author, “Freestanding Freezing Injunctions in the BVI, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands” (The Hong Kong Lawyer, May 2016)
  • Co-Author, “Judicial Assistance to Foreign Officeholders: A Comparison of the Approaches in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands” (The Hong Kong Lawyer, June 2014)
SERVICES

Credentials

Admissions

  • Solicitor, Hong Kong
  • Solicitor of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

Education

  • Marlborough College
  • University College London, BA, Joint Honors
  • College of Law

Accolades

  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020, Leading Individual
  • Chambers Asia-Pacific 2020 (Offshore: Dispute Resolution), Recommended Lawyer
  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019, Recommended Lawyer
  • Chambers Asia-Pacific 2019 (Offshore: Dispute Resolution), Recommended Lawyer
  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2017, Recommended Lawyer
  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2017, Recommended Lawyer
  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2016, Recommended Lawyer

Engagements

Cayman Islands

  • Representation of the official liquidators in the insolvency of multiple entities in the Saad Group and in successfully defending the long-running litigation brought in the Cayman Islands by Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi & Brothers.
  • Representation of investors and others in numerous winding-up proceedings involving the Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership and companies.
  • Acted for the applicant in the first application and leading authority in the Cayman Islands to obtain free standing injunctive relief in support of foreign proceedings, under section 11A of the Grand Court (Amendment) Law 2014 of the Cayman Islands.
  • Acted for the founders and minority shareholders in a dispute over the control of Hong Kong-listed Yingde Gases. The action, which included urgent injunctive relief in the Cayman Islands, was entirely successful, with the clients resuming their key executive roles and the sale of the business.
  • Represented investors in connection with matters related to the Abraaj Group.
  • Acted for the successful plaintiff in a dispute involving PRC entities and nationals over the misappropriation of substantial dividend payments, with indemnity costs awarded in favor of the clients.
  • Advised as counsel to dissenting shareholders in relation to mergers under section 238 of the Cayman Islands’ Companies Law.
  • Represented the company in the proposed restructuring and appointment of Cayman Islands soft touch liquidators in connection with a Hong Kong listed company.
  • Acted against the founders of an alternative energy business in relation to breach of duty claims arising out of allegations of asset misappropriation from a Cayman Islands fund structure.
  • Represented institutional investors in connection with exit strategies from an exempted limited partnership and the removal of the general partner of the fund.

British Virgin Islands

  • Advised on a multi-million dollar shareholders’ dispute relating to the management and ownership of a substantial Vietnamese-based fund.
  • Acted in numerous shareholder actions concerning the control and ownership of BVI companies with business operations in Asia.
  • Represented individuals and offshore companies in an ultra-high-net-worth family dispute over a Hong Kong-listed Bermuda incorporated entity, with actions in Bermuda, Hong Kong and BVI. Each of the actions successfully concluded, with costs orders against the opposing parties.
  • Represented banks and other creditors in the winding up of numerous BVI companies.
  • Acted for BVI companies in connection with a cross-border dispute involving BVI vehicles holding business operations in Malaysia and other parts of Asia.
  • Acted for a Japanese Court-appointed trustee in Bankruptcy in successful assistance applications to the BVI Court in connection with BVI-sited property owned by the bankrupt.
  • Acted in successfully seeking letters of administration in order to take control of BVI-sited assets on behalf of an Asia-based entity.
  • Served as counsel to Winsway Enterprise Holdings Limited, a Hong Kong-listed entity in the successful sanctioning of a parallel scheme of arrangement in BVI and Hong

Professional & Community Involvement

  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Chartered Arbitrator, FCIARB
  • INSOL International, Member
  • International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, Member

Publications & Presentations

  • Author, “Walking the Tightrope Between Agreements to Arbitrate and Winding Up Proceedings: Differing Approaches in Onshore and Offshore Jurisdictions” (The Hong Kong Lawyer, July 2019)
  • Author, “Freestanding Freezing Injunctions in the BVI, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands” (The Hong Kong Lawyer, May 2016)
  • Co-Author, “Judicial Assistance to Foreign Officeholders: A Comparison of the Approaches in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands” (The Hong Kong Lawyer, June 2014)

"Undoubtedly the best offshore dispute resolution partner in Hong Kong" and "calm in a storm, a straight shooter and someone who avoids engaging in unnecessary tactics."

 

- The Legal 500

 

"A good operator who is active in the market," with an "excellent grasp of legal strategy"

 

- Chambers