About

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Sala Sihombing

I work as a mediator in Hong Kong primarily in family mediation. I work with people who are experiencing some of the most challenging times in their life as they work to put in place arrangements to guide their futures. My role as a mediator is to help people find ways to enable them to move forward through their conflict and beyond.

My journey to this work has not been typical. I qualified as a solicitor in London and then returned to Hong Kong and worked as a criminal litigator. I moved in-house and worked at Peregrine and then Credit Agricole Indosuez. I spent over a decade at Morgan Stanley on the trading floor in institutional equity, heading transaction management and then product development.

None of those roles may be considered necessary for working as a mediator, but each has given me experience and insight which has proved invaluable as a mediator.

I chose to study dispute resolution at Pepperdine University (USA) and following my masters returned to Hong Kong to set up a mediation practice. As part of spreading the word about mediation, I also teach as an adjunct in the LLM programme at the University of Hong Kong in the Law Faculty.

Qualifications

  • LLB (Hons) University of Bristol (UK)
  • Law Society Finals (UK)
  • LLM Pepperdine University (USA)
  • FDRP Graduate Diploma (AUS)
  • NMAS Accredited (AUS)
  • FINRA Mediator Panel (USA)
  • HKMAAL / HKIAC Family and General Accredited Mediator (HK)
  • HKMAAL Family Mediation Supervisor (HK)

Publications

  • Mediation in Hong Kong: Law and Practice, co-authored with Christopher To, James Chiu (CCH Hong Kong) (second edition due late 2022)
  • Annotated Ordinances – Mediation Ordinance (Cap. 620) (LexisNexis) (2014)
  • Reforming Hong Kong’s Child & Family Justice System, co-edited with Anne Scully-Hill and Katherine Lynch (The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press) (November 2016)
  • The International Survey of Family Law 2018 (Intersentia) Hong Kong contributor Chapter 11
  • UNCITRAL Convention – Mediation’s Big Bang: Can Mediation Challenge Arbitration’s Dominance? (2019) Vol. 30 Australian Dispute Resolution Journal 51
  • Modern Mediation – Equity’s Heir? (upcoming Vol. 37 2022 Ohio State Journal of Dispute Resolution)