China Law Blog

Lots to talk about regarding China law firms in the last few weeks.  I do not think things have been this juicy since we broke the story on the now famous Shanghai lawyers' memorandum regarding cracking down on foreign law firms.

Let's start with the most recent "news" first.  What is going on with Chicago based mega-firm McDermott Will & Emery's much publicized push into Shanghai?  For more on what was to have happened, check out the WSJ Law Blog.

I ask this because I recently received the following comment:

Re: McDermott China offices Matter

The press release by McDermott on its MWE China Offices is misleading in the following aspects:

1. Kevin Qian could not be the lawyer nor one of the founding partner at Yuan Da Law Office or MWE China Offices since he is still the partner in Allbright. In China, no one lawyer could be a lawyer of two firms simultaneously. So the point is, before Kevin Qian could formally terminates his relationship with Allbright Law Offices, which is said has not taken place since Allbright partners reject Kevin Qian's resignation given his refusal to pay off or settle his portion of liabilities in Allbright.

2. Further, the statement in MWE's press release about 20 lawyers having already joined this MWE China Office, is also misleading. These 20 lawyers are still in Allbright and whether they would be able to terminate their employment contracts with Allbright is subject to Allbright's consent pursuant to the Chinese labor law. So far, their termination has not been approved and also it is uncertain whether their resignation would be approved soon.

3. Shanghai Justice Bureau has an internal circular on what a Chinese law firm could establish its relation with a foreign firm. Basically, if such relation would be considered as formal and exclusive, it would require application to and approval by Shanghai Bar Association and Shanghai Justice Bureau. Given the formal and exclusive alliance between DWE and Yuan Da, it would be extremely likely that it would be subject to strict scrutiny and possible approval by Shanghai Justice Bureau.

Anna

I will be having lunch this week with the head of one of Shanghai's most dynamic law firms and I will seek an update from him regarding this.  In the meantime, any information on MWE China's status would be helpful as I have absolutely no idea what is going on there beyond what I read in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago.  Are Anna's comments credible?  I will note Anna is right about Allbright's website listing Mr. Kevin Qian as still with the Allbright law firm.  The Allbright website also still lists John Z.L. Huang, who also was to have gone to MWE China.

Closer to home, Seattle based mid-sized firm, Garvey, Schubert & Barer, appears to have lost two of its leading lights in its China office. As recently as April, 2006 (the most recent archived date for the firm's website at wayback.org -- click here for that version), Garvey's website listed William Perry and Richard H. Lawrence as its only two lawyer owners resident in China.  Garvey's current website reflects that Hank Wang was made an owner on October 1, 2005 and he is now listed as Garvey's sole owner in China.  It appears Mr. Perry has since returned to Garvey's Seattle office and Mr. Lawrence has left Garvey for greener pastures with Holland & Knight's Beijing office. 

That leaves Garvey with only two lawyers in China, neither of whom on the surface seem to have the experience one normally expects of someone heading up the China office of an American corporate law firm.  Hank Wang (the sole owner in China) has a U.S. law degree (garnered from St. Louis University in 1992), but, he appears not to have all that much U.S. corporate experience, having started his own law firm in Tianjin in 1997.  It also appears he has been a Garvey owner for less than a year and a half and it is not clear he has been with the firm for all that much longer than that.  The other lawyer still at Garvey in China, Mark Spitalnik, appears to have even less experience practicing American-China international law.  A Google search on Mr. Spitalnik revealed a June 21, 2005, press release announcing his having joined a health care consulting company and describing him as having been in "private practice in the areas of medical malpractice, complex products liability and health insurance defense."  Before that healthcare job, it appears Mr. Spitalnik was general manager of a sign company in China.  Even if we assume Mr. Spitalnik stayed at his healthcare consulting job for only six months, he still appears to have at most only one year of recent China private practice legal experience. 

This is NOT to say Mr. Wang and Spitalnik are not first rate attorneys, but I for one will be watching to see what Garvey will seek to do to reinvigorate its China office.  Can a mid-size full service firm like Garvey compete with the big firms for China legal talent? 

Another Seattle firm, Preston Gates (Gates being the father of the Microsoft guy), seems to be making all the right moves for ramping up its China practice.  Preston just completed a merger with East Coast mega-firm, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, creating the new firm of K&L Gates (did you think the "Gates" part would disappear?) and this is looking like a great move for both firms.  The merger gives the new merged firm a true nationwide presence and a global footprint.  K&L Gates now has 1400 lawyers in 22 cities, including strong offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei, along with not very well concealed plans to open a Shanghai office as quickly as possible. 

Because my firm is so small and so focused on international work, we often work with other firms to assist our clients and we have a long history of working with Preston.  We have worked with the following Preston lawyers over the years and we think the world of them:

• John Bjorkman  -- Super litigator.
• Mabry DeBuys -- I cannot even imagine a better huge case family lawyer.
• Helen Bergman Moure -- Part of Preston's world renowned Document Analysis Technology Group and Records Management Practice Group.  FYI to lawyers: this group puts out THE blog on electronic discovery law.      
• Margaret Niles -- Private equity law guru.
• Jamie Pederson -- Superb VC and corporate lawyer. 

For more on the Preston/Kirkpatrick merger, check out the following:

• "Big Law + Big Law = Bigger Law"
• "Introducing K&L Gates"
• "The Headquarter-Less Law Firm
• "Absorbing a Regional Power Hitter"
• "A Talk With Pete Kalis of K&L Gates"

The common wisdom of law firm consultants is that big firms can thrive, boutique firms can thrive, but full service mid-sized firms are just going to get caught betwixt and between.  Is this true in China also? But what constitutes a big firm these days?  1000+ lawyers? Is big to be defined internationally, or can a top end firm considered big for a particular region (such as the U.S. Northwest) still be considered big in terms of its ability to compete?  Check out this great post on categorizing law firms, appropriately entitled, "Categorizing Law Firms."

As always, we would love to hear from you.