JOE LIU
Independent Arbitrator
Domain Name Panelist

Experience

Joe has acted as tribunal secretary, domain name panelist and party representative in numerous international disputes under multiple governing laws and procedural rules, with the total amount in dispute up to US$3.5 billion.

His experience includes disputes arising under sale of goods and supply contracts, corporate sale and purchase agreements, shareholders’ agreements, joint venture agreements, partnership agreements, banking and financial instruments, energy contracts, manufacturing and distributorship agreements, technology agreements,  investment contracts and treaties.

Joe has strong institutional experience, having overseen the administration of thousands of arbitrations, mediations and domain name disputes, as well as the development of institutional policies, rules and practices.

During his tenure at HKIAC, Joe was instrumental in the institution’s numerous key developments including the following:

  • HKIAC’s practice processing applications under the Hong Kong-Mainland China Interim Measures Arrangement
  • The drafting of the 2019 Arbitration (Appointment of Arbitrators and Mediators and Decision on Number of Arbitrators) Rules
  • The drafting of the 2018 and 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules
  • The drafting of the 2015 HKIAC Procedures for the Administration of Arbitration under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules
  • The drafting of multiple HKIAC practice notes and guidelines, including the HKIAC Practice Notes on Costs of Arbitration, the Challenge of an Arbitrator, Appointment of Arbitrators and Consolidation of Arbitration, as well as the 2014 HKIAC Guidelines on the Use of a Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal and the HKIAC Policy on Proceedings Affected by Sanctions
  • The establishment of HKIAC’s Shanghai Representative Office
  • The granting of HKIAC’s status as a permanent arbitral institution in Russia
  • HKIAC Case Digest
  • HKIAC Tribunal Secretary Service and Tribunal Secretary Training Programme
  • HKIAC model clauses
  • HKIAC’s Panel of Arbitrators for Intellectual Property Disputes and Panel of Arbitrators for Financial Services Disputes
  • HKIAC report on average costs and duration
  • HKIAC annual case statistics
  • A dispute concerning a party’s status and entitlement following its conversion of a convertible note into shares. UNCITRAL Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: New York law. Language: English. Amount in dispute: US$30 million.
  • An emergency arbitration concerning the performance of a consortium agreement. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: New York law. Language: English. Amount in dispute: US$1.9 billion.
  • A dispute arising under a hotel management agreement concerning the operation of an apartment facility in Mainland China. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Chinese law. Languages: English and Chinese. Amount in dispute: US$4 million.
  • A dispute arising under a shareholders’ agreement concerning certain shareholders’ participation in corporate management and involving related unfair prejudice proceedings in the BVI courts. UNCITRAL Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Hong Kong law. Language: English. Amount in dispute: unquantified.
  • A dispute concerning the manufacturing of certain equipment and the quality of certain components delivered under the relevant contract. UNCITRAL Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Chinese law. Language: English. Amount in dispute: US$1.3 million.
  • A dispute arising out of a share purchase agreement concerning a party’s exercise of its share redemption right. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: New York law. Language: English. Amount in dispute: US$95 million.
  • A dispute arising out of a share purchase agreement and its supplemental agreement concerning a party’s exercise of its share redemption right. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: New York law. Language: English. Amount in dispute: US$95 million.
  • A dispute concerning the acquisition of a construction project in Mainland China. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Chinese law. Language: Chinese. Amount in dispute: US$145 million.
  • A dispute concerning a party’s repurchase of shares upon the occurrence of a triggering event under a share subscription agreement and an indemnification claim under a shareholders’ agreement. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Hong Kong law. Language: English. Amount in dispute: US$39 million.
  • A dispute concerning the financial viability of a US company under a partnership agreement. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Hong Kong law. Languages: English and Chinese. Amount in dispute: US$300 million.
  • A dispute concerning a party’s share transfer or repurchase right under a shareholders’ agreement. UNCITRAL Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Hong Kong law. Language: Chinese. Amount in dispute: US$71 million.
  • A consolidated arbitration concerning a dispute over a party’s investment in the other party’s business under an equity investment agreement and a partnership agreement. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Hong Kong law. Language: English. Amount in dispute: US$110 million.
  • A dispute concerning the satisfaction of the contractual conditions for a party’s further investment in a joint venture and the party’s exercise of share repurchase right under a shareholders’ agreement. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Hong Kong law. Language: Chinese. Amount in dispute: US$110 million.
  • A dispute concerning the purported termination of a sale of commodity contract. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: English law. Language: Chinese. Amount in dispute: US$510 million.
  • A dispute concerning the repurchase of shares under a share purchase agreement. HKIAC Rules. Seat of arbitration: Hong Kong. Governing law: Hong Kong law. Languages: English and Chinese. Amount in dispute: US$9 million.

Joe has represented parties in multiple high-value and complex arbitrations under commercial agreements including production sharing contracts, the ISDA Master Agreement, loan agreements, shareholders’ agreements and share purchase agreements, as well as bilateral investment treaties. Joe has acted in cases under multiple governing laws (including Chinese law, English law, Hong Kong law, Indian law, New York law and Singapore law) and numerous sets of rules (including the HKIAC Rules, ICC Rules, ICSID Rules, LCIA Rules, SIAC Rules and UNCITRAL Rules).

Listed on the ADNDRC’s and HKIAC’s Domain Name Dispute Resolution Panels, Joe has experience acting in and overseeing the administration of domain name cases. He was appointed as the sole panelist in a CNDRP proceeding administered by HKIAC and represented the complaint in another CNDRP proceeding administered by WIPO obtaining a favourable decision. He also supervised the HKIAC’s domain name team’s case administration work during multiple periods of time.