An Editorial Mission Grounded in Legal Scholarship
Lexicord was founded on the premise that a well-maintained reference work serves practitioners better than an ever-expanding, poorly curated database. Our work begins with the editorial question: what does this term actually mean, and what authority supports that meaning?
← Back to HomeHow Lexicord Began
Lexicord was established in Hong Kong by a small group of legal practitioners and academic researchers who found themselves returning repeatedly to the same foundational problem: the available reference resources were either too summary to be useful, too expansive to be reliable, or too infrequently updated to reflect the current state of common-law doctrine as applied in the region.
The name combines lex — the Latin word for law — with cord, suggesting the binding together of language and legal meaning. That double sense of precision and cohesion reflects the editorial approach the platform has taken from the outset.
The platform launched with a core glossary of some two hundred headwords, each accompanied by a definition and a citation reference. Since that initial publication, the glossary has grown through a disciplined quarterly review process, with additions, revisions, and retirements noted in the editorial bulletin distributed to subscribers.
The editorial board includes practitioners from the litigation, corporate, and regulatory fields, alongside academics whose research touches on Hong Kong law, comparative common law, and private international law. Editorial decisions are made collectively, with dissenting views occasionally preserved in footnote notes within individual entries.
2019
Established in Central, Hong Kong
Quarterly
Published editorial bulletin with every cycle
600+
Curated headwords with citation references
8
Practitioners and academics on the editorial board
What We Are Here to Do
The mission of Lexicord is straightforward: to maintain a reference work that practitioners, researchers, and institutional teams can rely on as a first point of orientation when encountering an unfamiliar term or seeking a concise, sourced summary of a known one.
We do not aim to replace primary sources. We aim to help readers find and understand those sources more effectively — by providing definitions that are precise, cross-references that are meaningful, and citation notes that point to the relevant authority rather than to general commentary.
What Guides Our Work
- Editorial discipline. An entry is not published until it has been reviewed against its primary sources and signed off by a board member.
- Transparency about change. Every revision is noted and explained in the quarterly bulletin, so readers know what has changed and why.
- Acknowledgement of uncertainty. Where a term is the subject of genuine doctrinal debate, the entry says so rather than presenting a single position as settled.
- Responsiveness to readers. Subscriber suggestions are reviewed each quarter and feed into the editorial planning cycle.
The People Behind Lexicord
The editorial board is composed of practitioners and academics with direct experience across the areas covered by the glossary. Board members take turns as lead reviewer for entries in their primary field.
Margaret Kwok
Editor-in-Chief
Called to the Hong Kong Bar in 2003, Margaret practises in commercial litigation and has written on civil procedure and evidence. She oversees the editorial review process and the quarterly bulletin.
David Lam
Senior Editor, Corporate & Equity
Solicitor with a background in corporate transactions and financial regulation. David leads the editorial coverage of company law, equity, and securities-related terminology.
Prof. Patricia Tang
Academic Adviser
Associate Professor at a Hong Kong law faculty, specialising in private international law and conflict of laws. Patricia provides oversight for entries touching on cross-border legal doctrine.
Richard Chan
Editor, Administrative & Constitutional
Barrister with experience in judicial review and public law proceedings. Richard curates entries relating to administrative law, constitutional matters, and statutory interpretation.
Sophie Wong
Editor, Property & Land
Solicitor with a focus on conveyancing and land law in Hong Kong. Sophie oversees the glossary's coverage of real property, land tenure, and related statutory provisions.
James Ng
Research Editor
Legal researcher and former law clerk with a strong background in common-law research methodology. James manages citation verification and cross-reference consistency across the glossary.
How We Maintain the Reference Work
The integrity of a reference platform depends on the standards applied consistently across every entry. These are the editorial and operational standards to which Lexicord holds itself.
Primary Source Verification
Every definition is checked against the primary authority cited — whether a case report, ordinance, or treatise — before publication. Secondary sources are used only where primary authority is unavailable.
Dual Review Process
Each entry is reviewed by at least two board members before it is published or revised. The lead reviewer is the board member with primary responsibility for the relevant subject area.
Published Update Schedule
Lexicord operates on a quarterly update cycle. The schedule is published in advance, and the editorial bulletin issued with each update records all changes made during the period.
Data Protection Compliance
Subscriber data is managed in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486). Institutional subscription data is handled with appropriate organisational access controls.
Citation Policy
The citation policy is documented and published on the platform. Readers can see which editions and report series are used, and how the editorial team resolves conflicting or superseded authority.
Reader Suggestion Review
Subscribers are invited to suggest new entries or flag issues with existing ones. Suggestions are reviewed by the editorial board in the quarter following receipt, and responses are provided.
Legal Reference as a Discipline
Legal language is not self-explanatory. Terms that appear straightforward — "consideration", "title", "jurisdiction" — carry meanings shaped by centuries of case law, statutory development, and doctrinal refinement. A practitioner who reads a term in a contract, a judgment, or a regulatory instrument needs to know what that term means in context, what authority defines it, and whether there are competing formulations they should be aware of.
Lexicord's editorial approach treats each headword as a small research problem rather than a definition to be copied from one source to another. The board member responsible for a given entry reads the primary sources, considers how courts and commentators have used the term, and writes a definition that captures the working meaning as it applies within the jurisdictions covered — principally Hong Kong law, with reference to English law where the common-law tradition is directly relevant.
The platform is not a legal advice service. It is a reference work, in the same tradition as a well-edited legal dictionary or an annotated statute. Its value lies in the editorial decisions that have been made: what to include, how to define it, what to cite, and what to leave out. Those decisions are made by practitioners and academics who work with these terms in their professional lives, not by automated processes or generalist writers.
For institutional subscribers, the platform also offers editorial customisation — the ability to extend the glossary with terminology specific to a practice area, a regulatory domain, or an organisation's internal usage. This service is delivered as a focused engagement, with a written handover document that enables the organisation to maintain the extended glossary after the engagement concludes.
A Reference Work Built on Editorial Care
Subscriptions are available for individuals, teams, and organisations. We welcome enquiries about access arrangements, customisation engagements, and academic partnerships.
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