Hong Kong human rights lawyer who made a name in protest-related and LGBT rights cases shutting down law firm after almost 20 years
- Michael Vidler was involved in high profile cases such as ones related to the 2019 anti-government protests and also represented Joshua Wong Chi-fung
- Once an Election Committee member, he previously said he hoped to help pick a candidate who was not a ‘Beijing lapdog’ for Hong Kong leadership
Michael Vidler, a Hong Kong human rights lawyer who has taken cases relating to the 2019 anti-government protests and transgender rights, is shutting down his law firm in two months.
The plan to close was first revealed in a Thursday circular by the Law Society of Hong Kong to its members, which said Vidler & Co. Solicitors would cease practice on June 3.
Vidler confirmed to the Post he was shutting down the firm, which he started 19 years ago, but refused to comment further on speculation that he was leaving for Britain where he began his legal career in 1990.
His firm, established in 2003, specialises in judicial review and criminal defence, and has taken on landmark cases ranging from freedom of expression, the right to demonstrate and LGBT rights.
Some of the firm’s high-profile cases in recent years related to the mass protests that erupted in June 2019 over a now-withdrawn extradition bill. This included Vidler’s involvement in helping an Indonesian journalist initiate private prosecution against an officer after she was shot in the face while covering a protest in Wan Chai.
The firm also represented a woman who accused police of raping her inside the Tsuen Wan police station. Then police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung denied a rape took place, and said Vidler’s client was a “wanted person” and the force was planning to arrest her on suspicion of misleading officers. In response, the lawyer said neither his firm or his client had received any notice from police that she was under criminal investigation.
