Hong Kong Bar List: how to check a barrister

The Bar List is the Hong Kong Bar Association’s list of practising barristers. The Bar says it is updated daily. Search it by surname to confirm that a barrister is in practice, see the year they joined the Hong Kong Bar, and check whether they are Senior Counsel. Solicitors are not on it; they are on the Law Society’s Law List.

What the Bar List covers

As of January 2026 the Bar Association reported over 1,700 practising members, including 104 Senior Counsel. You can browse the Bar List in several ways:

• by surname, in alphabetical order
• by Chinese name, in stroke order
• Senior Counsel only, with the year of appointment to the Inner Bar where shown
• barristers listed as arbitrators
• barristers listed as mediators

Each entry gives the barrister’s name and the year they were admitted to the Hong Kong Bar. The Bar’s website also has pages for individual barristers and for chambers.

How to check a barrister, step by step

1. Get the full name. Ask your solicitor for the barrister’s name in English, and in Chinese if you have it.
2. Open the Bar List and choose the letter for the surname, or use the Chinese stroke-order view.
3. Confirm the name appears and note the year shown in the Hong Kong Bar column.
4. If the person is described as SC, check the Senior Counsel view.
5. If the person is acting as an arbitrator or mediator, check those views as well.
6. If the name is missing, ask your solicitor why before you go further. Names can be spelt in more than one way, so try variations first.

Bar List or Law List?

Hong Kong keeps barristers and solicitors on different lists. Use the one that matches the person:

Why the list matters

The list shows who is in practice now, and practice comes with obligations. Under the Bar’s Code of Conduct, all practising barristers must take out professional indemnity insurance, and a barrister is not entitled to a practising certificate until the premium set by the Bar Council under its master policy has been paid.

What the Bar List does not tell you

A listing confirms practising status. It does not rate a barrister, show fees, or say whether they take your kind of case. The Bar’s guidance for the public says fees depend on the complexity of the matter, the time spent, and the barrister’s seniority and experience. It also says no fee can be charged by anyone for introducing a barrister to you.

You usually reach a barrister through a solicitor

The Bar Association describes barristers as a referral profession. Except in a few recognised situations, you cannot instruct one directly. You retain a solicitor, who decides whether a barrister is needed and which one, and negotiates the fees for you. Our guide on how to instruct a barrister covers the steps. To check the solicitor, use our Law List guide.

One of the recognised exceptions is Professional Direct Access. Members of professional bodies that the Bar Council has approved, such as accountants, company secretaries, arbitrators, tax practitioners and surveyors, can instruct a barrister without a solicitor, for work that falls within their own professional expertise. If you are instructing under that scheme, the Bar List is still where you confirm the barrister is in practice.

If you have a concern about a barrister’s conduct, our guide on complaining to the Bar sets out the route. We list chambers in our law directory from each set’s own website. We do not list every barrister in a set, we are not the Bar List, and nothing here is legal advice.