On 30 September 2019, the District Court acquitted Hong Kong solicitor Kevin Bowers (“Bowers“) of two charges of doing an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice in HKSAR v Bowers Kevin Richard [2019] HKDC 1225.

The case arose from two short “without prejudice” conversations that took place in early 2010 between Bowers (then a partner of Richards Butler), who was acting for the liquidators of a company in some civil actions against its former directors and its holding company, and two of the defendants’ solicitors (“Solicitors”). Bowers was accused to have said to the Solicitors that, if a settlement sum could be agreed with, the liquidators would “stay out of jurisdiction” and not give evidence in the parallel criminal proceedings against one of the former directors.

The District Court acquitted Bowers of both charges after trial. In relation to the first charge, the Court has found the evidence of one of the Solicitors unreliable or that Bowers might have in fact said nothing proper. As for the second charge, Bowers has not been found to have intended to pervert the course of justice.

Benson Tsoi (led by Graham Harris SC) appeared for the Defendant, instructed by Messrs Morley Chow Seto Solicitors.

The Reasons for Verdict is available here.