GC Spotlight: Do Do Chan leverages trust, teamwork, and transformation to elevate legal leadership.

This month, we meet Do Do Chan, Associate Legal Director at Emperor International Holdings Limited.

Do Do is known for her exceptional leadership and deep legal expertise, earning external recognition for both. Accolades include being shortlisted for Woman Lawyer of the Year (In-House) at the Asian Legal Business Awards in 2025, winning a coveted spot on the General Counsel (GC) Powerlist for two consecutive years, and being awarded Senior Legal Counsel of the Year in both 2022 and 2023. Under her guidance, her team were also finalists in three categories at the Asian Legal Business HK Law Awards 2024.

Beyond her leadership role, Do Do is a sought-after speaker, frequently invited to deliver seminars at prestigious organisations. She is also a keen contributor to leading international legal journals on pressing issues of the day.

Where do you see NewLaw/ALSP fitting in the matrix of your legal department?

As a traditional family office rooted in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, we approach innovation with curiosity and caution. NewLaw and ALSPs offer clear value in areas like contract management, production agreements, IP maintenance, rights tracking, and compliance, but any shift must respect our culture of stability and long-standing relationships.

What do you think about the use of LegalTech, data analytics and process optimisation to improve your legal department's value?

As the head of the team, it’s my duty to help my team work smarter, not just harder. LegalTech, data analytics, and process optimisation are lifesavers. With mounting workloads and no extra hands, these tools cut down repetitive tasks, add speed, and support more informed decisions. I’m always looking for ways to use tech that elevate the legal department from a support function to a true business partner.

What trends do you expect to see in the legal services industry in the next 5 years?

Definitely artificial intelligence - but not as we know it today. A recent university competition in the Chinese Mainland looked at how effectively students leveraged AI to create literary works. The message was clear: AI isn’t a threat to creativity or expertise; it’s a collaborator. Educational institutions have stopped asking whether AI should be used and are focusing on how to use it effectively.

In the next five years, I expect the legal services industry to follow suit and move from basic AI adoption to more strategic integration, keeping governance, ethics, and human oversight at the center.

Tell us about your current role and journey into law, and what excites you outside of work.

I’m the Associate Legal Director at Emperor, leading a team that handles both contentious and non-contentious legal matters, as well as compliance issues in Hong Kong, the UK, and Macau. Emperor has a diverse portfolio spanning film production, cinema operations, entertainment, real estate, hospitality, gaming, and luxury retail. We’re proud to be a driving force in Hong Kong’s movie and entertainment industry, and ranked among the top ten developers in the real estate sector.

My path to law was unconventional - I spent decades as a Chartered Engineer in both Hong Kong and the UK before transitioning into the legal field. Outside of work, I love hitting the gym. If my colleagues need to find me, they know where to look first!

As an Associate Legal Director, what are some of the challenges that keep you up at night? And how do you address them?

It’s the fear that a tiny oversight, like a misplaced comma in a multimillion-dollar contract, could have dire consequences. Beyond that, it’s the constant juggling act: managing hundreds of requests a day, often across time zones, with both speed and precision.

Add to that the tension when business teams push for speed or risk-taking that doesn’t align with legal advice. Navigating moments like that requires trust, diplomacy, and a deep understanding of the business.

I address these challenges through a mix of hard work, focus, patient communication, and strong teamwork. I invest time in building trust. Constant pushback can lead to internal energy drain, but when legal is seen as a reliable partner, it creates space for more strategic, forward-looking work.

What’s your favourite tune and why?

“Clair de Lune" by Debussy. It’s calm and beautiful but also has a lot of depth - just like good legal work, which often happens quietly behind the scenes. Funnily enough, this piece is featured in the vampire movie Twilight, which centers on a love triangle between a human, a vampire, and a werewolf. I see it as a metaphor for legal disputes and the different “natures” of each party. Some want peace, some want blood, and some just want to howl at the moon!