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 YKVN’s dispute resolution practice and is well-recognized as one of Vietnam’s most experienced dispute resolution lawyers, with over 30 years of litigation and arbitration experience. He started his legal profession in 1982 at the State Economic Arbitration of Vietnam and presided over more than 400 economic disputes. He also practiced law as one of the government-appointed People’s Counsels before the legal profession was formally recognized in Vietnam.
A Fulbright scholar, Mr. Nghia pursued his LL.M. at New York University (NYU) in 1994 and graduated in 1995. Upon returning to Vietnam, he spent 12 years as Deputy Director and Director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC), an agency under the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee responsible for foreign trade promotion and attracting foreign investment. During this period, he joined the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association and became Of Counsel to YKVN.
In 2008, Mr. Nghia resigned from public service and became a full-time partner, co-heading YKVN’s dispute resolution practice. He is a senior arbitrator of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) and has participated in dozens of arbitrations as a panel or presiding arbitrator.
As co-chair of YKVN’s dispute resolution practice, Mr. Nghia has advised clients in domestic and international court litigation and arbitration. He also regularly advises domestic and foreign companies on corporate, commercial, foreign investment 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 such as Bunge, Bachy Soletanche, Hill International, Metro Cash & Carry, RMIT, Academic Colleges Group (ACG), Abbott, Coca-Cola, Rio Tinto, DKSH and Toshiba.
Mr. Nghia was ranked Band 1 for Dispute Resolution by Chambers & Partners continuously from 2011 to 2025, which has described him as one of the “pillars of the Vietnamese legal community for many years”, a “very well-known and experienced litigator who is sought for his counsel on some of the most complicated cases”, with extensive “experience working with senior legal and government authorities”. Asialaw Profiles (2012) described Mr. Nghia as one of the “most respected and successful litigators in Vietnam” and named him “Disputes Star of the Year” in 2016. Mr. Nghia has also been ranked as a leading individual in dispute resolution by Legal 500 for many years.
Civic Leadership Activities
Mr. Nghia has been participating in the leadership of Vietnam’s legal professions. He served as Vice President of the Vietnam Bar Federation (VBF) for the 2009 – 2014 term and has been a Member of its Standing Committee for three consecutive terms from 2009 to present. He has also served as Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association for three consecutive terms from 2009 to present.
Mr. Nghia was elected as one of the Vice Presidents of the Vietnam Society of International Law (VSIL) for its inaugural term (2016 – 2021).
A former member of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s Research Committee and former Director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC), he resigned in 2008 to dedicate his full time to legal practice.
Mr. Nghia was nominated as a candidate of the Vietnam Lawyers Association and elected to Vietnam’s National Assembly for its 13th Term (2011 – 2016). As the only practicing lawyer serving as a National Assembly deputy during the term, Mr. Nghia was elected to the National Assembly’s Judiciary Committee. He was re-elected to the National Assembly and its Judiciary Committee for the 14th Term (2016 – 2021) and the 15th Term (2021 – 2026).
As a member of the Judiciary Committee, now the Committee for Legal and Judicial Affairs, he participated in reviewing key Government reports on judiciary matters before submission to the National Assembly at its sessions and took part in periodic and ad-hoc supervisory activities conducted by the Committee with ministries and local authorities.
During his terms as a member of the National Assembly, Mr. Nghia actively took part in the development and amendment of key laws, including the 2013 Constitution, the Law on Organization of the National Assembly, the Law on Organization of the Government, the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code, the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, and other laws relevant to land, labor, trade, foreign investment, finance and tax.
He was one of ten members of the Committee for Legal and Judicial Affairs to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Standing Committee of the 15th National Assembly. He was also awarded the National Assembly’s Commemorative Medal by the 13th, 14th and 15th National Assemblies.
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 for the 2009 – 2014 term; Member of the Standing Committee for three consecutive terms from 2009 to present.
Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association: Vice-President for three consecutive terms from 2009 to present.
Arbitrator of Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) since 2006 and Mediator of Vietnam Mediation Center (VMC) since 2018.
Vietnam Society of Internation.al Law (VSIL): Vice President for its inaugural term (2016 – 2021)
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb).
Dispute resolution/Litigation
- Represented Bachy Soletanche, Hill International, Saigon Construction Corporation (SGCC) and Tan Thuan Industries Promotion Corporation (IPC) in resolving disputes related to real estate and construction projects through negotiation, mediation or litigation;
- Represented and protected the legal rights and interests of individuals and organizations including Agribank, Mekong Housing Bank (MHB), Dong A Bank, Vietinbank, Eximbank and PNJ in white-collar criminal cases and other related proceedings;
- 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 the two key shareholders of Trung Nguyen Coffee Group in a series of proceedings in and outside Vietnam relating to the division of matrimonial assets valued at more than VND10,000 billion, including real estate and shares in various Group companies in Vietnam and overseas;
- Advised a foreign-invested company in a major infrastructure project with an investment capital of over USD300 million in seeking an adjustment by the authorities to the total investment capital under the BOT and BT contracts, resulting in an increase of more than VND1,200 billion from the amount initially approved;
- Advised the foreign investor of a five-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh City who was prosecuted for tax evasion in a complex dispute with its local BCC partner and the tax authority and was subject to an exit ban; the criminal investigation was subsequently terminated and the matter was resolved by way of an administrative penalty;
- 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 (one of the first foreign companies to be awarded damages by a Vietnamese court).
- Acted as one of two mediators of the Vietnam Mediation Center in the successful mediation of a dispute between Vietnam Waste Solution and the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, thereby bringing to an end proceedings that had been accepted by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
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.
- Advised Vela Software International (USA) on its acquisition of the entire equity interest in a Vietnamese software company.
- Advised DKSH Vietnam in successfully appealing a decision to impose tax on an imported pharmaceutical product that was exempt from tax; the General Department of Customs subsequently revoked the decision.
Arbitration
- Acted as arbitrator in approximately 40 disputes involving trade, insurance and construction; and
- Presided over a number of complex cross-border cases involving maritime transactions and FIDIC construction contracts, conducted in English.
Awards
Disputes Star of the Year | Litigation | Asialaw | 2016
Rankings
Litigation Star | Benchmark Litigation | Litigation | 2026, 2025, 2023, 2022, 2021
Vietnam’s Top 100 Lawyers | Asia Business Law Journal | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
Elite practitioner | Arbitration & Litigation | Asialaw | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
Band 1 | Dispute Resolution | Chambers | 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
Leading individual | Litigation | Legal 500 | 2023, 2022, 2021, 2018
Leading individual | Arbitration | Legal 500 | 2023, 2022, 2021, 2018
Asia’s Top 30 Litigators | Asian Legal Business | 2026
Southeast Asia’s Top 15 Litigators | Asian Legal Business | 2024, 2023
Asia’s Top 15 Litigators 2023 | Asian Legal Business | 2022
Comments
“He is a prominent figure in this space.”
“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)
- Vietnam Chapter | Legal 500 Country Comparative Guide: Litigation (2020)
- Rule of Law in Vietnam – Theory and Practice, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation (2001).
- Economic Arbitration in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House (1988).
- 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 Vietnamese litigation, human rights in Vietnam’s Constitution, presumption of innocence and the right to remain silent under Vietnamese 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 Member of the Standing Committee for three consecutive terms from 2009 to present
- Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association for three consecutive terms from 2009 to present
- Vice President of the Vietnam Society of International Law (VSIL) for its inaugural term (2016 – 2021)
