Can (Esther) Dong

Can (Esther) Dong is a solicitor admitted to the High Court of Australia, a licensed lawyer in China, and a former judge in China. Her practice focuses on cross-border litigation, dispute resolution, commercial disputes, cross-border investment matters, and Chinese law issues arising in international proceedings. She earned a Juris Doctor from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Law from Zhejiang University of Technology. She is admitted to practice in both Australia and China, allowing her to represent clients across multiple jurisdictions.
Dong currently serves as Principal Solicitor at AKE Legal in Australia and is a Senior Lawyer with Shanghai Droit & Elite Law Firm. Before entering private practice, she served as a judge in the Commercial Trial Division of the Wuyi People's Court in Zhejiang Province from 2010 to 2016, where she presided over commercial disputes. Her subsequent legal practice has included representing clients in cross-border investment disputes, commercial litigation, asset recovery, contractual disputes, regulatory compliance, and criminal matters across Australian and Chinese jurisdictions. She has also prepared expert reports and affidavits addressing Chinese law for use in foreign proceedings, including matters involving civil procedure, enforcement of foreign judgments, corporate law, and family and inheritance law. She is a member of the Law Society of New South Wales and the Shanghai Law Society.