Stephen Le

“Vision leads. Conviction decides.”

Stephen Le (Lê Hoàng Chương) is the Founder and Managing Partner of Le & Tran, recognized for handling highly complex white-collar criminal matters and civil–commercial disputes in Vietnam.

With approximately 20 years of experience, he has served as an APAC strategic lead counsel, focusing on cross-border projects and disputes involving Vietnam, Singapore, and the United States. In addition to representing over 50 multinational corporations, he has also advised and represented nearly 200 individual clients, including chairpersons, CEOs, business owners, and high-net-worth individuals.

He is also a frequent speaker at reputable legal conferences and forums in Vietnam, Singapore, the United States, and Hong Kong.

Professional and academic background

Stephen is currently pursuing an EMBA (Executive Master of Business Administration) at Singapore Management University and attending Harvard Law School’s Program on Leadership in the Legal Profession in the United States.

He has a deep command of Vietnam’s commercial, civil, and criminal legal frameworks, together with strong working knowledge of Anglo-American common law systems, supported by a solid foundation in international business. He previously worked at Baker & McKenzie. After founding Le & Tran, he has served as lead counsel on major advisory and dispute matters for multinational clients such as Petronas, Marvell Technology, Suntory PepsiCo, Sanofi, Tan Chong Group, Bacardi, Adecco, Emerson, CJ, Samsung, and QBE Insurance, among others.

His practice focuses on white-collar criminal matters, commercial and civil disputes, international financial transactions, corporate governance, labor and employment, and family and marital matters.

International Recognition

In 2017, Stephen became the youngest lawyer to receive Vietnam’s prestigious “Litigation Star award, presented by AsiaLaw Profiles in Hong Kong at the age of 31. For ten consecutive years through 2026, he has been consistently recognized among leading lawyers in Vietnam and Asia by respected ranking organizations including Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, Benchmark Litigation, Asian Legal Business, and Asia Business Law Journal.

High-level strategic thinking

Clients consistently recognize Stephen for his high-level strategic judgment. In any dispute, he quickly identifies the parties’ true end goals, while maintaining a comprehensive and deep understanding of the legal issues and the interests at stake across the client, the opposing side, and other stakeholders. This allows him to craft strategies that are precise, practical, and outcome-oriented, designed to protect the client’s position.

Deep legal knowledge and sharp litigation technique

Stephen remains directly involved in matters under his responsibility, both leading and actively working on cases, so that his knowledge and technique continue to sharpen through each engagement.

He approaches every case with the conviction that full mastery of facts and evidence is non-negotiable. He therefore takes the initiative in identifying, securing, and testing information and evidence, mapping the roles of all relevant parties, and anticipating their likely thinking and actions so he can prepare appropriate response plans.

For Stephen, the core of any case is evidence. He focuses on the technical discipline of collecting, structuring, and deploying favorable evidence, while strategically challenging adverse evidence. This enables legal arguments to be built with clarity, internal logic, and accuracy.

He is also known for managing pace and process, controlling timelines and procedural strategy throughout proceedings to protect the client’s interests in both substance and time.

Extensive experience and breakthrough creativity

Having handled more than 1,000 matters of varying scale throughout his career, Stephen understands the common traps that arise from psychology and emotion between clients and opposing parties. He analyzes blind spots and deception risks not only within legal processes, but also in interactions with relevant authorities, including state agencies, investigators, the procuracy, and the courts. He is confident in guiding clients toward steps that are careful, decisive, and legally grounded, while also thinking creatively. He develops litigation positions that close off an opponent’s attack angles and creates opportunities to advance the client’s claims and interests.

Decisive, strong-willed, and calm under pressure

Stephen understands the power of calmness in guiding clients through fear, whether driven by potential loss, crisis, or emotional strain. He trains for composure so he can remain prepared in high-stakes situations, helping clients stabilize, regain leverage, and strengthen their position.

Known for a strong and decisive character, he assumes leadership and stands fully accountable for his legal opinions and advice. He does not offer ambiguous guidance. Instead, he clearly explains the benefits and risks in each scenario so clients can make firm decisions with confidence.

CLIENT-REVIEWS SURVEYED BY CHAMBERS ASIA-PACIFIC 2025 & 2024

“He provided very pragmatic advice, which was very much appreciated.”

“He is very responsive to our queries and helpful in answering our questions.”

“He is creative, smart, hard-working, and thinks outside the box.”

“Stephen is agile, focused, energetic and strategic.”

“Stephen is a very strong and capable lawyer.”

CLIENT-REVIEWS SURVEYED BY LEGAL500 ASIA-PACIFIC 2024

“Stephen Le Hoang Chuong is forthright and calm and never overreacts or overpromises. He is confident in what can and can’t be achieved and sets out a clear roadmap to resolving the issue at hand.”

“Stephen Le Hoang Chuong is completely fluent in English and works well with western clients. He also covers a wide range of practice areas.”

“The whole team deserves praising, but in particular I would like to mention Stephen Le Hoang Chuong for his in-depth issue analysis, strategy acumen and negotiating skills, very well-supported by Benjamin Truong throughout the whole process until successful resolution of the case.”

CLIENT-REVIEWS SURVEYED BY BENCHMARK LITIGATION ASIA-PACIFIC 2024

“Mr. Chuong is very smart and catches up on the issue quite well. He worked with us for just a short period, but he understood our business and quickly got to the point with a good strategy to handle the case.”

“Energetic, knowledgeable and responsive.”

“Professional, and gives timely feedback and advice.”