### Legal Practitioners Ordinance 《法律執業者條例》

7AB. Limited liability partnership
For the purposes of this Part, a limited liability partnership is a partnership that is for the time being—
(a) a Hong Kong firm or a foreign firm; and
(b) designated by written agreement between the partners as a partnership to which this Part applies.

7AC. Protection from liability of partners in limited liability partnership
(1) A partner in a limited liability partnership is not, solely by reason of being a partner, jointly or severally liable for any partnership obligation (whether founded on tort, contract or otherwise) that arises from the provision of professional services by the partnership as a limited liability partnership as a result of a default of—
(a) another partner; or
(b) an employee, agent or representative of the partnership.
(2) Subsection (1) applies irrespective of whether the liability is in the form of indemnification, contribution or otherwise.
(3) Subsection (1) applies only if at the time of the default—
(a) the partnership was a limited liability partnership;
(b) the client knew or ought reasonably to have known that the partnership was a limited liability partnership;
(c) the partnership had complied with section 7AD; and
(d) the partnership had complied with section 7AE(2) for the matter in respect of which the default occurred.

### Legal Practitioners Ordinance 《法律執業者條例》

7AD. Top-up insurance requirement for limited liability partnership
(1) In this section—
Indemnity (基本彌償) has the same meaning as it has in the Solicitors (Professional Indemnity) Rules (Cap. 159 sub. leg. M);
prescribed amount (訂明款額) means the maximum amount of the Indemnity specified in subparagraph (1) of paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the Solicitors (Professional Indemnity) Rules (Cap. 159 sub. leg. M) without reducing that amount for any deductibles referred to in subparagraph (2) of that paragraph.
(2) Every limited liability partnership that is a Hong Kong firm must have in existence, in addition to the Indemnity, a policy of insurance—
(a) under which the partnership is entitled to be indemnified to the specified extent against any loss arising from any claim in respect of any default; and
(b) which complies with any indemnity rules made under section 73A(3)(fa).
(3) A reference to indemnifying against a loss to the specified extent in subsection (2) means indemnifying against the part of the loss that exceeds the prescribed amount up to an amount not less than $10,000,000 in respect of any one claim.
(4) Every limited liability partnership that is a foreign firm must have in existence a policy of insurance—
(a) under which the partnership is entitled to be indemnified to the specified extent against any loss arising from any claim in respect of any default; and
(b) which complies with any indemnity rules made under section 73A(3)(fa).
(5) A reference to indemnifying against a loss to the specified extent in subsection (4) means indemnifying against the part of the loss that exceeds the limit of insurance coverage required under section 6 of the Foreign Lawyers Registration Rules (Cap. 159 sub. leg. S) up to an amount not less than $10,000,000 in respect of any one claim.
(6) A policy of insurance maintained by a partnership under subsection (2) or (4) must not be subject to any limit as to the amount of liability of an insurer for claims in the aggregate or as to the number of claims.
(7) The Council may, subject to the prior approval of the Chief Justice, by notice published in the Gazette amend subsections (3) and (5) by substituting another amount that is not less than $10,000,000 for the amount in each of those subsections.

### Legal Practitioners Ordinance 《法律執業者條例》

7AE. Requirements relating to overall supervising partners
(1) For each matter handled by a limited liability partnership for a client there must, throughout the time it is handled, be at least one partner who is responsible for the overall supervision of the matter (overall supervising partner

7AF. Limitations on section 7AC(1) protection
(1) Section 7AC(1) does not protect a partner from liability if the partner—
(a) knew of the default at the time of its occurrence; and
(b) failed to exercise reasonable care to prevent its occurrence.
(2) Section 7AC(1) does not protect a partner from liability arising from a default in respect of a matter handled by the partnership if the default is—
(a) the partner’s default; or
(b) a default of an employee, agent or representative of the partnership who was under the direct supervision of the partner in respect of the matter at the time of the default.
(3) Section 7AC(1) does not protect any interest of a partner in the partnership property from claims against the partnership.

7AG. Indemnification under partnership agreement not affected
Nothing in this Part affects any right of a partner in a limited liability partnership to be indemnified by another partner, or any obligation of a partner to indemnify another partner, under a written agreement made between the partners.

7AH. Effect of section 7AC(1) on proceedings
If a partner is protected from liability by section 7AC(1)—
(a) the partner is not, separately, a proper party to any proceedings brought against the partnership for the purpose of recovering damages or claiming other relief in respect of the liability; and
(b) the proceedings may, if they could apart from this section be brought against the partnership, continue to be so brought.

7AI. Advance notice to Society in respect of limited liability partnership
(1) A law firm must ensure that, at least 7 days before the date on which it becomes a limited liability partnership, a written notice of the following particulars is given to the Society—
(a) the date on which the firm becomes a limited liability partnership;
(b) the name of the partnership;
(c) in the case of a Hong Kong firm—
(i) the name of each partner in the partnership;
(ii) each address at which the partnership carries on its business;
(d) in the case of a foreign firm—
(i) the name of each partner in the partnership who is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong;
(ii) each address at which the partnership carries on its business in Hong Kong;
(e) any other particulars prescribed by rules made under section 73.
(2) A law firm must ensure that, at least 7 days before the date on which it ceases to be a limited liability partnership, a written notice of that date is given to the Society.