About Us
HBS LAW is a leading law firm based in Phnom Penh and registered with the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, that has been providing legal services of the highest quality to many of the world’s leading companies, governments, financial institutions and other organizations since 2005. As a registered law firm and a firm with its own associated notary, HBS Notary Public, we can offer a truly one-stop-shop experience for our clients.
We understand that our clients are not simply looking for correct advice but also for excellent service delivery. In this regard, we pride ourselves on being the only registered law firm in Cambodia built on a genuine partnership with and working relationship between our Cambodian and foreign lawyers. This enables us to offer a level of service commensurate with the level of service that our clients expect from lawyers in their own jurisdictions.
Cambodia has taken great strides in enacting laws to facilitate and encourage foreign investment since its accession to the WTO in 2004 and this is reflected in the huge growth of foreign investment into Cambodia and the development of the country, particularly in the last 10 years. Nevertheless, the country’s legal system remains a work-in-progress and gaps in the law are often supplemented by practice. HBS LAW has, through years of capacity building and assistance with legal and business development programs, fostered a strong relationship with governmental institutions that enables our advisers to not only be informed as to those practices but also to shape them.
Our clients are required to become more and more agile and nimble-footed, and so do we. Our Innovations Committee (the only one of its kind at a Cambodian law firm) is continually formulating and implementing innovations in the way we deliver our services whether they be of a technological nature or otherwise.
HBS LAW can assist clients with the full range of legal and tax matters and has established dedicated practice groups comprised of seasoned lawyers with substantial experience in each relevant area. Notwithstanding our dedicated practice groups, we appreciate that for our advisers to give full and complete advice, they need to have a working knowledge of issues covered by other practice groups. Our training includes cross-practice group training sessions to achieve this result.
Country Desks
We understand that the needs of a particular client will depend on the business culture that exists in its home country. In this regard, HBS LAW has established a China Desk and a Japan Desk.
Many law firms purport to tailor services to the needs of the particular client. However, what makes HBS LAW unique in this regard is the implementation of our country desks. For our advisers, each country desk provides training to our advisers with regards to doing business in the relevant country and enables our advisers to:
- understand the nuances of doing business in the relevant country and the way in which clients from that country prefer to receive legal and tax services;
- receive updates on legal and market developments in the relevant country so that they can appreciate differences between the laws of that country and Cambodia;
- access a central source of information regarding legal and market developments in Cambodia that are relevant to our Chinese and Japanese clients; and
- provide assistance to Chinese and Japanese clients who wish to be introduced to the entities we have connections with the relevant jurisdiction.
Committees
While our Practice Groups and Country Desks are aimed at consolidating expertise that is relevant to clients, HBS LAW’s committees serve the additional purpose of ensuring that we stay on top of (or even ahead of) market developments in the legal sector and the way in which we treat our staff. The two most important committees are:
Innovations Committee
We are constantly seeking more efficient and robust ways of delivering legal services through innovation and innovative ways of working. Our Innovations Committee is open to all members of the firm (not just advisers) so that we can take a wholistic approach to innovation with a focus on the client experience.
Diversity & Inclusion Committee
In countries outside Cambodia, diversity policies have become the norm as part of a wider push towards the moral imperative of inclusion in the workplace. While some businesses in Cambodia have been slow to implement diversity policies, HBS LAW realizes that diversity in the workplace leads to a diversity of ideas and an ability to understand the needs of our diverse client-base.
A majority of our clients are foreigners, and our foreign-qualified lawyers are invaluable in helping us understand the way in which our clients like to do business in their home jurisdictions. Of course, diversity is important not only in the context of nationality but also in the context of gender, sexuality, religion, marital status and background. HBS LAW has always had a policy of non-discrimination but our diversity initiatives now include:
- the preparation and implementation of a diversity policy;
- diversity training for all staff;
- consideration of our diversity goals at Innovation Committee meetings; and
- the appointment of a Diversity Officer to assist staff with any issues they encounter in the workplace.
HBS LAW remains committed to actively pursuing its diversity goals not because we feel we need to but because we want to. It is not only the morally correct thing to do but also beneficial to our business.