Expertise
Arbitration
Corporate and M&A
Dispute Resolution
Foreign Investment
Litigation
Professional Practice Experience
Mr. Truong Trong Nghia is one of the co-chairs of disputes resolution practice at YKVN and is well-recognized as one of Vietnam’s most experienced lawyers with over 40 years of legal practice and arbitration experience. Mr. Nghia graduated as LL.B. from Leipzig University in 1980 and started his legal profession in 1981 at the State Economic Arbitration of Vietnam and presided over 400 economic cases. He also practiced law as one of government-appointed people’s counsels before the legal practice was permitted as a profession in Vietnam. In 1998, Mr. Nghia collaborated with YKVN as of counsel, and in 2008, he resigned from public service and became a full-time partner co-heading YKVN LCC’s disputes resolution practice. He is a senior arbitrator of Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC), has arbitrated more than 25 cases as panel or presiding arbitrator. Mr. Nghia has also been admitted as Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) since 2020. He has been included in the ALB Asia’ Top 15 Litigators for 2022, ALBJ A List for 2022, ALB Southeast Asia’s Top 15 Litigators for 2023 and in the Legal 500 Arbitration Power List in 2022 and 2023.
As co-chair of litigation and arbitration practice at YKVN, Mr. Nghia has advised clients in domestic as well as international litigation and cross-border arbitration. He also regularly advises domestic and foreign companies on corporate, trade, construction, foreign investment, PPP, and M&A matters. Mr. Nghia’s clients are major Vietnamese corporations including VNPT, Vietnam Steel Corporation, Saigon Construction Corporation (SGCC), Tan Thuan Industries Promotion Corporation (IPC), Vietinbank, Eximbank, Agribank, Satra and PNJ, as well as foreign-invested enterprises and multinationals like Bunge, Bachy Soletanche, Hill International, Metro Cash & Carry, RMIT University, Academic Colleges Group (ACG), Misfit, Fulbright University, Abbott, Coca-Cola, Hitachi, Hyosung and Rio Tinto.
Civic Leadership Activities
Mr. Nghia has been participating in the leadership of Vietnam’s legal professions. He was serving as the Vice President of the Vietnam Bar Federation (VBF) since its inaugural term 2009 – 2014, re-elected as Member of Standing Committee of VBF in its second term 2014 – 2019, and re-elected as Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association for a second term (2014 – 2019) and a third term (2019 – 2024). He has been elected as Vice Presidents of Vietnam Society of International Law (VSIL) founded in July 2016 in its first term (2016 – 2021).
A former member of the Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s Research Committee and former Director of the Foreign Trade & Investment Promotion Center (ITPC) of Ho Chi Minh City, he resigned in 2008 to dedicate his full time to the lawyer practice.
Mr. Nghia was nominated as a candidate of Vietnam Lawyers Association in the election of Vietnam’s National Assembly for its 13th Term (2011 – 2016) and elected to that highest state power of Vietnam which functions are making law and electing the State President, the Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Prosecutor of the country. The only practicing lawyer in the National Assembly at that time, he was elected by the National Assembly to its Judiciary Committee. Mr. Nghia was re-elected to the National Assembly and its Judiciary Committee for the 14th Term (2016 – 2021). As member of such Committee, he participated in reviewing key Government’s reports on judiciary matters before submission to the National Assembly at annual sessions and took part in periodic and ad-hoc inspections of the Committee in the ministries and provinces. During his terms as member of National Assembly, Mr. Nghia actively took part in the amendment and making of key laws, including the 2013 Constitution, the Law on Organization of National Assembly, Law on Organization of Government, the Civil Code and the Civil Procedures Code, the Penal Code and Penal Procedures Code, and all other laws relevant to trade, foreign investment, finance and tax.
Education
New York University, School of Law, Master of Comparative Jurisprudence (LL.M. CJ) (1995)
Leipzig University, LL.B. (1980)
Bar Membership
Vietnam Bar Federation: Vice-President since 2009, Member of Standing Committee since 2015
Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association: Vice-President since 2008
Arbitrator of International Arbitration Center (VIAC) and Mediator of Vietnam Mediation Center (VMC)
Vietnam Society of International Law (VSIL): Vice President since July 2016
Fellow of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb)
Dispute resolution/Litigation
- Represented Bachy Soletance, Hill International, Saigon Construction Corporation (SGCC) and Tan Thuan Industries Promotion Corporation (IPC) in solving disputes related to major real-estate and construction projects by negotiations as well as legal proceedings;
- Represented individual and organizational clients from Agribank, Mekong Housing Bank, Dong A Bank, Eximbank and PNJ in white-collar litigation and related lawsuitsl;
- Represented sellers of a 25-million-US M&A transaction to successfully recover 3 million US retention from a foreign buyer in a VIAC arbitration;
- Represented one of two key owners of Trung Nguyen coffee business group in a series of lawsuits over several years in and outside of Vietnam for dividing matrimonial assets and resolving shareholders disputes;
- Advised a foreign-invested company in a 300 million USD infrastructure BOT & BT project on disputes with a municipal government whereby the initially approved invested capital cap was accepted to be increased by more than 60 million USD;
- Advised the foreign owner/operator of a 5-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, being charged of tax evasion and involved in a complex dispute with the local BCC partner and tax authority, and helping the investigation be dropped and the originally criminal charge was changed into an administrative fine;
- Represented the major shareholder of VCCT, a company operating large cable-car project worth tens of million USD in winning the lawsuit over a shareholders dispute;
- Represented the subsidiaries of P&G, Metro Cash & Carry, Abbott, Hyosung and Coca-Cola in Vietnam in settling its labor and land use rights disputes;
- Represented Exxon Mobil before the Economic Court of Ho Chi Minh City and the Supreme Court in connection with disputes arising from a long-term gas distribution contract (final judgment of the Supreme Court upholding the favorable lower court judgment); and
- Represented American Coffee before the Economic Court of Ho Chi Minh City in pursuing contractual remedies against a Vietnamese coffee company (probably first Vietnamese court ruling awarding damages to an offshore buyer).
M&A, Project Finance, and Foreign Investment
- Advised EIB in a multimillion-dollar financing for a multinational corporation in connection with the expansion of its activities in Vietnam;
- Advised BIDV in a multimillion-dollar financing for a significant real estate project invested by a foreign investment fund;
- Advised one of the largest foreign investment funds in Vietnam in a private equity deal in which the fund was buying a majority stake from a local company in the telecom sector;
- Advised Misfit on various local issues related to the acquisition by Fossil;
- Advised RMIT on issues of new business lines, new operation premises and land use rights under amended laws;
- Advised BUNGE on settlement of enduring disputes with a local joint-venture partner by a multi-million-dollar buy-out that also ended a series of multi-level legal proceedings lasting more than seven years; and
- Advised Rio Tinto in solving discrepancies in implementation of AANZ FTA in Vietnam.
Arbitration
- Acted as panel arbitrator over dozens of cases at VIAC relevant to trade, insurance and construction; and
- Presided over a number of cross-border and complex cases in maritime transactions and FIDIC contracts with English being language of arbitration.
Awards
Disputes Star of the Year | Litigation | Asialaw | 2016
Rankings
Litigation Star | Benchmark | Litigation | 2023, 2022, 2021
Vietnam’s Top 100 Lawyers | Asia Business Law Journal | 2023, 2022, 2021
Elite practitioner | Litigation | Asialaw | 2023, 2022, 2021
Band 1 | Dispute Resolution | Chambers | 2023, 2022, 2021
Leading individual | Litigation | Legal 500 | 2023, 2022, 2021
Leading individual | Arbitration | Legal 500 | 2023, 2022, 2021
Southeast Asia’s Top 15 Litigators 2023 | Asian Legal Business | 2023
Asia’s Top 15 Litigators 2023 | Asian Legal Business | 2022
Comments
“He is a highly respected disputes lawyer. He is particularly active on litigation related to real estate and land issues.”
“Very proactive, with a commercial mindset and excellent insights with respect to local regulators”
“One of the most well-known and experienced lawyers in Vietnam”
“Professional and effective approach in solving complicated case”
“Enormously wise about the realities of the court systems, whilst putting a huge amount of thought into strategy”
“Very well known and experienced litigator who is sought for his counsel on some of the most complicated cases”
(Chambers)
- Economic Arbitration in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House (1988).
- Rule of Law in Vietnam – Theory and Practice, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation (2001).
- Author of a large number of articles on Vietnamese legal issues including Vietnam’s international integration (US-Vietnam BTA, Vietnam’s accession to WTO, TPP, EUVFTA), application of precedent in Vietnam’s court, human rights in Vietnam’s Constitution, presumption of innocence and right to remain silent in Vietnam’s Law.
Lecture
- Lectured on law in undergraduate and graduate programs at University of Law and University of Economics of Ho Chi Minh City.
- Vice President of the Vietnam Bar Federation (VBF) for the inaugural 2009 – 2014 term and re-elected to the Standing Committee for the 2014 – 2019 term
- Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association for a second time for the 2013 – 2018 term
- Vice Presidents of Vietnam Society of International Law (VSIL), just founded in July 2016
