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)