PARTNERSharon Ser
Sharon is a Partner with Rita Ku & Ser.
Sharon Ser has lived and worked in Hong Kong for over 35 years and she’s worked together with Rita Ku for over 20 years.
When Sharon joined Rita in their jointly established firm in July 2022, she brought with her some 40 years of experience in family law and divorce matters. Sharon has a strong commitment to providing essential legal and life solutions to private clients. Her experience in the Hong Kong family law practice makes her a frequent and highly regarded voice in the industry. She has worked together with her clients and her legal team at RKS in dealing with the intricacies and complications of family law matters faced by her clients. She has represented them in many ground-breaking matrimonial cases that have contributed to the development of the family law practice in Hong Kong.
Sharon takes a pragmatic and three-dimensional approach to her cases, explaining the law and the options available to her clients in the unique contexts of their own circumstances. Sharon adopts the three Bs values, that is Believing – to be assertive and fair to achieve peace; Behaving – to ensure the very best professional and personal standards are available, and Belonging – committing to the right team that shares similar goals and values to strive for success together with her clients.
Prior to joining Rita in the creation of RKS, Sharon established and led the family law practice in an international law firm for some 12 years, which became one of the largest and top ranked family teams in Hong Kong. Having considerable experience in both contentious and non-contentious family matters, Sharon is recognised as both a Forceful Courtroom Advocate, as well as a Facilitator of settlements. She is highly respected and has a highly regarded reputation amongst members of the family law community in Hong Kong. In securing the best possible solutions to settle matters she knew how to last argue and present the case to meet the best interests of her clients and their families.
Sharon wants to ensure her clients have the best possible representation and that RKS continues to be recognised as the premier law firm in Hong Kong. In this further and evolving stage of her legal career, Sharon is committed to providing essential life solutions to private clients combining her professional knowledge with her, and the firm’s philanthropic aspirations. The extensive international legal connections that Sharon has firmly established will ensure the legal international needs, PRC needs, and Hong Kong needs of families are met and safeguarded.
Language – English
Language – English
Contentious and Non Contentious Work
Disputes relating to complex asset holdings structures and trusts, are a feature of Sharon's work and practice areas
Sharon is regularly involved in the drafting and negotiations of pre and post nuptial agreements involving international law and assets.
Sharon brought to the Court of Final Appeal the case which established that in Hong Kong prenuptial agreements would be regarded with the same legal authority as is now taken in the English Supreme Court case of Radmacher v Granatino [2010]:
- SPH v SA (Forum and marital agreements) Court of Final Appeal No 22 of 2013
Her extensive knowledge in both forum disputes and international jurisdictional issues, was tested in the leading case before the Court of Final Appeal and also in the seminal Court of Appeal case of DGC v SLC [2005] HKEC 2079 which preceded it. Other leading cases involving jurisdiction issues are:
- SJH v RJH (forum) CACV 280/2011 [2012] 3 HKC
- SZ v JZ (forum and substantial connection) HCMC 6 /2011 also reported as Z v Z (Substantial connection and forum)
- RKL v WL & Ors (Leave to appeal; substantial connection; submission to the jurisdiction) CACV 9 of 2016
Sharon is regularly called upon to be an expert witness on Hong Kong Family Law and jurisdictional issues in overseas courts, and provides the explanatory narrative in the Chambers Family Law publications.
Finance
Sharon has handled many international divorce cases involving jurisdiction arguments and financial issues and involved in various widely reported and ground-breaking legal cases before the Court of Appeal, many of which have fundamentally impacted Hong Kong's area of law.
Such cases before the Court of Appeal include:
- YN v NA (Ancillary relief: compensation) CACV 240 of 2013 – leading case on compensation
- PW v PPTW (Ancillary relief; non-matrimonial property) CACV 224/2013 – leading case on premarital assets
- HJFG v KCY (Maintenance Pending Suit) CACV 127/2011 – leading case on MPS
- CH v MEH (variation of a lump sum in consent order) CACV 92/2011 leading case on the variation of lump sums
- JAH v VH (Decree Absolute) CACV no 279 of 2012 – leading case on Decree Absolute where it was vital for the client to obtain her decree in order to access assets which were held overseas.
Sharon was successful in obtaining one of the highest awards for an unmarried mother for child maintenance:
- WGL v ASB (Child maintenance under the GMO) HCMP 489 of 2013 – a case that remains a leading authority on child maintenance under the GMO.
Achievements and Recognitions
- Band 1 Lawyer on Chambers Asia-Pacific
- The Associate Editor of the Hong Kong Family Law Reports from inception in 2005 to date, Lexis Nexis
- A contributor to Family Law and Practice in Hong Kong editions 1,2 and 3, Sweet & Maxwell
- A past Chair of the Family Law Association
- A long-standing member of the IAFL
- Recognised as a Preeminent Lawyer on Doyle’s Hong Kong Family & Divorce Lawyers.
- Recognised by the Benchmark Litigation as Litigation Star and Top 100 Women in Litigation – Asia Pacific.
Talk sessions / Speeches
Professional Publications
Sharon is a frequent contributor to legal publications and the press, including:
The recent rise of divorce inquiries during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.
Her thought leadership articles and media coverage in 2020/2021 include, but are not limited to:
The recent rise of divorce inquiries during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.
Her thought leadership articles and media coverage in 2020/2021 include, but are not limited to:
Interviewee, "Rethinking Budgets"
Asian Legal Business, Feb 2021
Commenter, "Divorce lawyers to the wealthy: The pandemic has been a real wake-up call"
FT Wealth, Oct 2020
Commenter, "Why a prenup could improve your marriage and even be romantic - an important gift each partner can give to the other"
SCMP, Sep 2020
Panelist, "Impact on divorcing couples during and after the pandemic"
Withers Webinar, Aug 2020
Commenter, "Covid-19 toll on marriage: divorce inquiries on the rise"
SCMP, May 2020