Law intersects many disciplines and many disciplines intersect law.  One such discipline is journalism.  Like law, journalism touches on, and helps shape, virtually every aspect of human culture, history, politics and law.  So it unsurprising to see journalists in the ranks of law students and lawyers.  Equally we see in journalism journalists who have trained in and bring to bear their legal training and experience.

But how exactly do law and journalism intersect and complement each other, both in terms of the learning and practice of each discipline?  We explore this in round table discussion of panel of experienced professionals who have trained in and / or practised both law and journalism.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Danny Gittings, Associate Professor, Head of College of Humanities and Law, HKU SPACE

Dr. Danny Gittings qualified as a Barrister in Hong Kong and England & Wales by studying evening classes at HKU SPACE while working as Associate Editor at the South China Morning Post covering the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China. He then moved to The Wall Street Journal Asia before switching careers to lead the legal education team at HKU SPACE, where he specialises in Hong Kong Constitutional Law and has authored a best-selling textbook on the Hong Kong Basic Law. In 2022, he completed a PhD on Separation of Powers under One Country, Two Systems.

Mr. Andrew Lau, Barrister, Denis Chang’s Chambers

Prior to practising law, Andrew was a bilingual reporter for TVB News, where he also anchored the flagship newscasts News at Six-Thirty and Late News.

Upon joining the Bar in 2018, Andrew was awarded the Charles Ching Memorial Scholarship. Since then, Andrew has maintained a solid civil practice with an emphasis on commercial disputes, equity/trusts, probate and public law. Andrew also maintains a growing criminal law practice. In 2022, he was awarded the inaugural Patrick Yu Memorial Scholarship, which is given to high-calibre candidates to support their careers in criminal law. In the newly released The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024, Andrew is recognised as a Rising Star in both Administrative and Public Law, and Regulatory, Investigations and Crime.

Court work aside, Andrew teaches public law and media law at various tertiary institutions.

Mr. Alvin Lum, Chief Reporter, Ming Pao Newspaper

Alvin is an award-winning journalist from Ming Pao, where he has covered Hong Kong’s political and legal system for the past 10 years.

 The Law Society of Hong Kong has awarded this seminar 1 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) point.

All CUHK LAW alumni are welcome.