Q & A with Dominic Wai

Dominic Wai, an attorney with ONC Lawyers in Hong Kong, focuses his practice on advising clients on matters relating to anti-corruption, white-collar crime, law enforcement, and regulatory and compliance matters in Hong Kong, including advice on anti-money laundering. Wai, who earned his law degrees from City University of Hong Kong, also handles cases involving corporate litigation, shareholder disputes and insolvency matters, defamation cases, domestic and international arbitration cases, cybersecurity, data security and privacy law issues, competition law matters, e-Discovery, and forensic investigation issues as well as property litigation.

Before joining the legal profession, Wai worked in the banking sector and in the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). He is a member of the Primerus Quality Assurance Board.

Q: Before becoming an attorney, what was your first job?

A: My first job was a bank officer as I studied banking. Then I became an officer with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), a statutory law enforcement body set up with the main goal of fighting corruption. After that, I studied law and became an attorney (a solicitor, after two years of on-the-job training as a trainee solicitor after graduation from law school).

Q: What motivated you to pursue a legal career?

A: I have always wanted to study law and do something that relates to justice. I studied banking instead of law because my grades were not good enough to go to law school. Having worked at the ICAC might have rekindled the fire inside me to study law and pursue a law career before I am too old.

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

A: A lot of things are about perception. If one changes their perception, one could have new ideas, insights, and understanding about a matter or thing. That taught me not to (or try not to) stick to one thing or one thinking as if it is cast in stone.