Rosita Lau
Rosita is a partner of the 150 years old international law firm Ince & Co. She has over 20 years of experience in transportation law (covering the sea, the land, and the air), specializing in all aspects of dry shipping, aviation, logistics, insurance, international trade, and personal injury law. She has won many awards and has been repeatedly voted by clients and commentaries as a leading lawyer.
She studied law in England and holds a Master of Law Degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science of the University of London with a Mark of Merits. She is admitted to practice in four jurisdictions, namely, England and Wales, Australia ACT, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
She acts for international shipowners, charterers, ship managers, P&I clubs, ports and terminal operators, freight forwarders, cargo interest, and logistic operators. She is an LMAA Support Member, advises and acts for clients in litigation at all levels of court and in international and domestic arbitration and mediation. Reported shipping cases include Fan Yun 203 (a Hong Kong High Court (Admiralty Court) case) which remains the authority on identification of Mainland China beneficial but not registered shipowners.
Awards and Accolades
Rosita is a litigation specialist in shipping, insurance, and aviation and well known for advising and acting for clients in multi-jurisdictional complex commercial disputes and resolving them in pragmatic ways. Particularly well-known for her shipping-related expertise, Rosita has been repeatedly ranked by legal directories as a lawyer of the highest tier and awarded numerous distinguished awards in the shipping and related practice.
The most recent accolade is that in early May this year, 2021, she was ranked as a ‘Litigation Star’ in Shipping by Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific.
She has also been for consecutive years recognized as a Leading (Band 1) lawyer for shipping litigation and insurance by Chambers Asia Pacific and has been ranked by Legal 500 Asia Pacific for 20 consecutive years, since 2001 till now, as a Leading Individual in Shipping, which is a record.
In 2020, Legal 500 Asia Pacific launched its Fall of Fame accolade to recognize outstanding legal practitioners. Rosita was inducted into the Hall of Fame accolade, being one of the five (only) shipping lawyers so ranked. Earlier this year, 2021, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame accolade again, and she is one of the very few lawyers in the region who won this accolade for two consecutive years since its inception.
In 2019, she won the “Integration of Women in the Maritime Sector” Award presented by Seatrade Maritime Awards. She is the first outstanding female who received this award.
In 2019 and again in this year, 2021, she was ranked as one of the top 100 elite lawyers in “The A-List” by the China Business Law Journal.
She was ranked by Lloyd’s List twice as one of “The World’s Top Ten Shipping Lawyers” and one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Maritime Personnel in the World” in 2010 and 2016. To date, she remains the first and the only Chinese lawyer who obtained these awards twice.
In 2016, she won the Lloyd’s List Asia “Individual Maritime Lawyer of the Year” Award. She is also the first and hitherto the only Hong Kong and Chinese lawyer to win this award.
In 2014, she won the “Best in Shipping” Award by Euromoney at their Asia Women in Business Law Awards. She is also the first Hong Kong lawyer to win this Award.
Recognized by Asia Law & Practice since 2004 for 18 consecutive years till present as a Leading Lawyer in Aviation and Maritime.
Ranked by Who’s Who Legal – Transport for consecutive years since 2014 to present as a Leading Maritime Lawyer.
Ranked by Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific - Hong Kong Guide for consecutive years as a “Disputes Star” for Commercial Disputes and Insurance Disputes.
She has been appointed to various public duties positions in her personal capacity, including, among others, the Maritime Development Council, the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board. She is the honorable legal adviser of numerous maritime and logistics associations.
She had chaired, moderated, and spoken in international and regional conferences, forums, seminars, by invitation, in, among others, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
