A bit late on this I know, but I will be speaking today (it is not yet even 6 am here) at The Offshore Investment Conference Shanghai 2011. My topic (a bit different than noted on the program) will be “Avoiding and Winning China Disputes. I will be speaking at 4:30 pm and then I will be part of a panel at 5:15 pm. The conference is at the Shangri-La Hotel in Pudong.
The difference between my new title (created yesterday) and that on the program is subtle, but important. The title on the program makes the thrust of my tallk to be how to avoid Chinese courts. Implicit in that is the idea that one should always strive to avoid Chinese courts, at all cost. I vehemently disagree with that, as I think there are many instances where the only sensible way to resolve a dispute with a Chinese company is in a Chinese court. As regular readers of this blog well know, we are always stressing that getting a court judgment against a Chinese company in New York or in London will almost certainly be of no value if the Chinese company against whom you have secured the judgment has no assets in those cities. We are also always emphasizing that if you want to stop your Chinese counterpart from doing something (let’s say, continuing to manufacture your product after you have terminated them), your best bet will almost certainly be to get an order/injunction from a Chinese court.
So if I am not going to be telling the audience how bad Chinese courts are and how to avoid them at any cost, on what will I be speaking?
I am going to be talking about what it takes to avoid disputes with your Chinese counterpart anywhere. And that really is the goal, is it not? And also, as part of that, how to set up your contract/relationship so as to maximize your chances of prevailing in any dispute at a low cost. And to get a little circular on you, I will note how a contract/relationship in which your chances of winning at a low cost are high will be the kind of contract/relationship that your Chinese counterpart is not going to want to “mess with” and that too reduces the chances of your ever getting enmeshed in a dispute.
I will put my PowerPoint on here after I have completed my speech.
