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Sarah Galeski

Counsel

Biography

Sarah Galeski is a counsel with the Tilleke & Gibbins corporate and commercial team in Ho Chi Minh City. Sarah has over 16 years of professional experience advising on Canadian and international law, and has been based in Vietnam since 2013. Sarah has worked for large international firms and assisted multinational companies in the energy, pharmaceutical, luxury brands, and textiles industries. Sarah’s primary area of expertise is labor and employment and she has a full range of experience in such matters.

Sarah is recognized for her expertise in labor and employment by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, and she is a sought-after presenter and author of legal insights. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam and has also been actively involved with EuroCham, acting first as the Co-Chair of the Human Resources & Training Sector Committee and then as a member of EuroCham’s Executive Committee. In these roles, she has consulted on labor issues from an international law perspective with the International Labor Organization and the European Parliament.

Prior to coming to Vietnam, Sarah acted as a litigator in Canada for a large international firm where her cases involved issues ranging from corporate fraud to contractual disputes to employment matters.

Experience

ABOUT Sarah

Industries

Consumer Products

Energy

Life Sciences

Practices

Compliance and Investigations

Dispute Resolution and Litigation

Employment

Location

Languages

    English

Education

    LLB, University of British Columbia (Canada)

    BA, McGill University (Canada)

Insights

January 16, 2026
Employment law specialists from Tilleke & Gibbins in Vietnam have contributed the Vietnam chapter to the Guide to Restructuring a Cross-Border Workforce from International Employment Lawyer. This comprehensive global guide, covering 50 jurisdictions worldwide, addresses the complex issue of workplace restructurings, with a particular focus on the needs of multinational companies. The Vietnam chapter was authored by partner Kien Trung Trinh, counsel Sarah Galeski, and associates Dung Thi Phuong Le and Nguyen Thi Huong Nguyen. The Q&A-style chapter provides in-depth analysis of key areas related to workplace restructuring, including: Reduction in workforce; Restructuring or reorganization of the business; Changing terms and conditions; and Areas to watch. A PDF of the Vietnam chapter can be downloaded through the button below. Tilleke & Gibbins also contributed the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand chapters to the Guide to Restructuring a Cross-Border Workforce 2026. To browse the full guide for all 45 jurisdictions, please visit the International Employment Lawyer website.
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November 20, 2025
Lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins’ labor and employment team have contributed a new Vietnam chapter to Thomson Reuters Practical Law’s Employment and Employee Benefits Global Guide. The guide provides a high-level comparative overview of employment laws and regulations across various jurisdictions around the world. Tilleke & Gibbins also contributed the Myanmar chapter of the guide. The Vietnam chapter covers a wide range of typical employment matters, such as limitations on working hours, paid leave requirements, minimum wage, and health and safety obligations. In addition, the guide provides insight on various topics of special interest to foreign investors doing business in Vietnam, including the following: Mandatory contents of a labor contract; Visas and permits required for expatriate employees; Employers’ obligations for protecting employees’ privacy and personal data; Procedural requirements for the dismissal of an employee; Employer and parent company liability. To view the latest version of the Employment and Employee Benefits Vietnam chapter, please visit the Practical Law website and enroll in the free Practical Law trial to gain full access.
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August 21, 2025
Tilleke & Gibbins is pleased to announce that the firm has adopted Harvey, a leading enterprise-grade AI platform for the global legal industry. The firm is proceeding with a rollout of Harvey’s legal AI solutions, which are supported by robust security and confidentiality protections, across the firm’s full-service regional practice in Southeast Asia. This initiative builds on the firm’s recent deployment of Microsoft Copilot and represents another advancement in Tilleke & Gibbins’ commitment to leveraging technology for enhanced legal service delivery. Under the program, legal professionals across the firm’s offices in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam will have access to the full Harvey platform, equipping them to deliver practical, impactful, and results-driven legal services for clients throughout the region. The firm will also develop bespoke agentic workflows within Harvey tailored to the firm’s core practices and the unique requirements of Southeast Asian legal markets. Commenting on the initiative, Managing Partner Tiziana Sucharitkul stated, “At Tilleke & Gibbins, we have consistently invested in developing and adopting technology to improve the speed, precision, and overall excellence of our legal services. The firm’s decision to invest in Harvey exemplifies our commitment to innovation, further differentiating Tilleke & Gibbins within Southeast Asia’s legal landscape.” Managing Partner Darani Vachanavuttivong remarked, “By combining the deep regional expertise of our lawyers with Harvey’s market-leading domain-specific AI, we are empowering our regional team to streamline drafting, research, and review processes for complex legal matters, all while maintaining the high standards of quality and security our clients expect from us.” Harvey’s Chief Business Officer John Haddock added, “It’s clear Tilleke & Gibbins is investing heavily in innovation, and it’s clear their global clients will benefit significantly from their focus and investment. The Harvey team is thrilled to support the firm’s journey with our platform.”
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August 20, 2025
On August 7, 2025, the government of Vietnam promulgated Decree No. 219/2025/ND-CP on foreign workers working in Vietnam (Decree 219), introducing substantial reforms to the management of foreign employees. Taking immediate effect upon issuance, and superseding earlier regulations on foreign employees under Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP as amended by Decree No. 70/2023/ND-CP (collectively referred to as “Decree 152”), Decree 219 sets out clear timeframes and application requirements for work permit issuance, while adopting more flexible policies to support business operations. The key new provisions are as follows: 1. Relaxed Requirements Regarding Job-Posting Under Decree 152, employers were required to follow a complex process to apply for work permits or work permit exemption certificates for foreign employees. This included posting an advertisement for any position the employer wished to fill with a foreign employee on a designated online portal for a given amount of time, to demonstrate that the company tried, but failed, to find a suitable Vietnamese candidate for the position. This job-posting step now only applies when the foreigner will work in Vietnam under a local labor contract. Foreigners coming to Vietnam as intra-corporate transferees (i.e., as secondees) or working under service contracts are exempt. The job-posting period is also reduced from 15 calendar days to five business days. Employers may also now post the advertisements on multiple websites instead of only the online portal of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (now the Ministry of Home Affairs after government restructuring) or the provincial-level employment service center. 2. Work Permit Application Dossier Previously, employers were required to complete a preapproval step, whereby they had to submit a dossier explaining their foreign labor demand that required approval from the labor authority. Once approval for the foreign labor demand was granted, the approval dossier was an integral part of
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Awards & Rankings

May 11, 2026
Tilleke & Gibbins has been recognized in five practice areas at the Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) Vietnam Law Firm Awards 2026, reflecting the firm’s continued strength across a range of legal disciplines in Vietnam. The firm received honors in the following categories: Artificial Intelligence Data Compliance and Cyber Security IP Litigation Labor & Employment Technology, Media & Telecommunications The ABLJ Vietnam Law Firm Awards highlight leading law firms across key practice areas, with multiple firms typically recognized in each category. The 2026 edition marks the fourth year of the awards program. These recognitions underscore the work of Tilleke & Gibbins’ Vietnam-based teams, particularly in technology-driven and regulatory-focused areas of practice. For more details and the full list of winners, please visit the ABLJ website.
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May 11, 2026
Tilleke & Gibbins has continued to show excellent performance in the recently released Benchmark Litigation 2026 rankings for dispute resolution firms in the Asia-Pacific region. The rankings include two jurisdictions where Tilleke & Gibbins is active: Thailand and Vietnam. Firm Rankings A full summary of the firm’s rankings is provided below: Thailand Commercial & Transactions – Tier 1 Government & Regulatory – Tier 1 Labor & Employment – Tier 1 Intellectual Property – Tier 1 Trade & Customs – Tier 2 Vietnam Commercial & Transactions (Foreign Firms) – Tier 1 Intellectual Property (Foreign Firms) – Tier 1 Labor & Employment (International Firms) – Highly Recommended (top tier awarded in this category) White Collar Crime – Recommended (top tier awarded in this category) Energy & Construction (Foreign Firms) – Tier 2 International Arbitration – Tier 2 Individual Rankings The 2026 edition also recognizes 12 Tilleke & Gibbins lawyers in Thailand—more than any other firm in the jurisdiction—and four in Vietnam. Thailand Alongkorn Tongmee – Trade & Customs Chitchai Punsan – Commercial & Transactions Chusert Supasitthumrong – Labor & Employment John Frangos – Commercial & Transactions Noppramart Thammateeradaycho – Shipping Nuttaphol Arammuang – Intellectual Property Piyawat Vitooraporn – Commercial & Transactions Pongpalin Chantrapirom – Commercial & Transactions Suebsiri Taweepon – Intellectual Property Suruswadee Jaimsuwan – Commercial & Transactions Thawat Damsa-ard – Commercial & Transactions Tiziana Sucharitkul – Commercial & Transactions, Government & Regulatory Vietnam Duc Anh Tran – Commercial & Transactions Linh Duy Mai – Intellectual Property Loc Xuan Le – Intellectual Property Tu Anh Tran – Commercial & Transactions Benchmark Litigation’s annual research is based on interviews with dispute resolution specialists and clients, as well as analysis of recent casework and market developments. To view the full results, please visit the Benchmark Litigation websites for Thailand and Vietnam.
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