Anna Lai set to become Hong Kong’s first female public prosecutor to be elevated to senior counsel
She is among four lawyers to be promoted to the top rank of their profession; others are Jose-Antonio Maurellet, Richard Khaw and Alexander Stock
Four barristers will be lifted to the top rank in their profession this year, as the city ushers in its first-ever female public prosecutor to be named a senior counsel.
Senior assistant director of public prosecutions Anna Lai Yuen-kee is set to become the first woman from among the city’s prosecutors to receive the top honour.
Three women among eight new senior counsel
Others poised to join the top brass are barristers Jose-Antonio Maurellet, 37, from Des Voeux Chambers and Temple Chambers’ Richard Khaw Wei-kiang, 45, and Alexander Stock, 39.
They will be officially called senior counsel at an appointment ceremony to be held in the Court of Final Appeal on June 11.
Lai, the only one of the four to specialise in criminal trials, is best known for her intense questioning techniques as recently demonstrated in the prosecution of controversial businessman Lew Mon-hung.
Lew was accused of perverting the course of public justice by sending letters and emails to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Independent Commission Against Corruption Commissioner Simon Peh Yun-lu in a bid to halt a fraud investigation in 2013.