Photo of Hongi Han

Senior Associate

Hongi Han

(Sydney based)

Hongi is a passionate and client-focused solicitor-advocate. His experience in civil litigation is diverse and extensive, spanning in the areas of debt recovery, contractual disputes, charity disputes, class actions, insurance litigation (maritime and professional indemnity), personal injuries and defamation.

 

He has represented his clients in all levels of the state courts (Magistrate, District and Supreme) as well as the Federal Court of Australia (including appellate courts) and has a demonstrated ability to handle complex litigation at the highest levels. In addition to his courtroom experience, he is experienced and familiar with alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediations, compulsory conferences and arbitrations. He believes in offering clients a broad range of options and strategies to efficiently and commercially resolve their legal issues, without having to resort to costly court time.

Qualifications

Hongi completed his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Queensland in 2014 and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2015. He also completed a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Melbourne in 2021. He is registered to practice in the High Court of Australia.

Highlights

Hongi assisted in various hearings / trials as follows:

  • The COVID-related second business interruption test case, both the primary and appeal trials.
  • The hearing of a costs decision in a defamation matter, wherein the plaintiff sought leave to discontinue proceedings, and for the defendant to pay the plaintiff’s costs. Successfully assisted the defendant in resisting this and obtained a costs order in the defendant’s favour.
  • An application to the Supreme Court of Queensland to appoint restructuring experts as receivers for a major religious entity.
  • Successful defence of contractual carriers in an application from a consignee of a contaminated cargo of sulfuric acid, who pleaded a series of estoppels for the contractual carriers’ alleged misleading or deceptive conduct in contravention of s 18 of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) for misidentifying themselves in an agreement to a time bar extension.
  • Successful application by a respondent for production of the lead applicant’s costs agreement in a Federal Court class action proceeding.