One of my favorite “trix” employed against American companies doing business in China is the dual language contract, where the English language version is silent on which language controls. We often see this from companies that come to us for the first time with a contractual problem. Dual language contracts can be incredibly dangerous. If… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: China lawyers
Signing And Chopping A China Contract. It’s Complicated.
Posted in Legal News“Stole” the below from an email on which I was cc’ed from one of my firm’s China lawyers setting forth who from a China SOE (State Owned Entity) should sign its China contract. 1. SOEs have business licenses just like other Chinese companies. 2. Each Chinese company has only one “legal representative” (a term of… Continue Reading
China Sales Contract Law From The Inside.
Posted in Legal NewsOur most frequent job as China lawyers is to write sales contracts between Chinese companies and foreign companies. And our most frequent email questions from blog readers also relate to China sales contracts. Sales contracts are relevant for just about any company doing business in China. So we figured we would start a series of… Continue Reading
A China Factory Inspection Checklist
Posted in China BusinessClient sent this to me the other day because he liked it and I do too. The “this” is a China factory inspections checklist compiled by Carson Block (pre-Muddy Waters), for the Doing Business in China for Dummies book. The list is online here and it suggests that your on site factory due diligence consist… Continue Reading
Your Chinese Lawyer. Trust Yet Verify?
Posted in Legal NewsGot an email recently from someone who had contacted me months ago regarding a potential litigation matter against a Chinese company. The case was not terribly complicated and so I recommended this person secure local Chinese counsel, particularly since he spoke Mandarin. The new email was an update and the news was not good. Seems… Continue Reading
China Legal Issues For Business. The Ten Minute Version. Part II.
Posted in Legal NewsI spoke last week (for ten minutes) in Atlanta at NACA’s First Annual US-China Business Conference. I posted that speech (the written version of it, anyway) in a post entitled China Legal Issues For Business. The Ten Minute Version. In going through and deleting old emails today, I came across my first, very different version… Continue Reading
How To Choose Your China Attorney. Quality, Quality, Quality.
Posted in UncategorizedCo-blogger Steve Dickinson and I recently wrapped up a China law suit. I would love to be able to provide full details, but I need to give some distance to the case before I can do that. The Chinese law firm with which we worked did an absolutely fabulous job and it deserves massive credit…. Continue Reading
China, We Have A Problem. A Mostly True Story.
Posted in Legal NewsMy firm recently wrapped up a fascinating matter (it is nearly always bad news when your lawyer describes your matter as “fascinating”). Even though the matter is nearly over, I am going to gloss over certain facts and make up other ones so as not to leave any possible identifiers. The thrust is entirely true… Continue Reading
Working With Chinese and Korean Lawyers. The Big Four Issues With Each.
Posted in Legal NewsLast year, I wrote an article for the Complete Lawyer, entitled, “Working with Korean and Chinese Lawyers.” I was originally asked to write on working with Asian lawyers in general, but convinced the magazine to allow me to focus on just China and Korea. I asked for this limitation because I did not believe myself… Continue Reading
China Lawyer Ethics — Perils And Pitfalls For Foreign Companies
Posted in Legal NewsBrad Luo over at the China Business Law Blog recently did a two part series on legal ethics in China. Bear with me here people, because this post is highly relevant to anyone who uses or is thinking of using a Chinese lawyer or law firm. The first of Brad’s posts is entitled, “Time to… Continue Reading
China’s Service Sector Will Reign, Part XII — Use The Expatrepreneurs
Posted in China BusinessAndrew Hupert over at the DiligenceChina Blog [link no longer exists] has a great post extolling the virtues of what it calls “expatrepreneurs,” which he defines as follows: Expatrapreneur — Westerner who starts a new business in China. Usually involves a number of business plan rewrites, false starts, mental breakdowns, racist rants, cries for help,… Continue Reading
The Business Basics For SMEs Doing Business In China
Posted in China BusinessWhen it rains it pours. I know I have been writing a lot lately on what it takes to succeed in doing business in China, but all of a sudden there has been so much good writing on this that I would feel remiss not to put it out there. Anyway, I just came across… Continue Reading
All China Lawyers Think Alike
Posted in China BusinessOf course, not really. But I did like what the relatively new China Hearsay blog had to say about the ongoing “China Mindset” “debate” and I urge you to check out Mr. Abrams post, “Weighing in on the Chinese Mindset Debate.” China Hearsay is written by Beijing lawyer, Stan Abrams. Update: Add Chris Carr to… Continue Reading
Research Guides To China Law
Posted in Legal NewsChina Law Prof Blog just did a post on Chinese legal research guides, linking to a list of those guides he appears to have compiled. It is a hugely helpful and comprehensive list (especially for China lawyers) and it can be found here.
Reading Indian Tea Leaves Tells Me China Is A Good Market
Posted in China BusinessChina is more than just a manufacturing center. It is also more than just a place to save money. It is a place where money can be made. Many companies read how China is not yet a consumer society (how exactly is that determined, anyway?) and hear about cut-throat pricing and want no part of… Continue Reading
China Law — Change Is The Only Constant
Posted in Legal NewsInteresting article in the most recent Harvard Law Bulletin, entitled, “Why China?“ Article is an interview with Harvard Law Professor William Alford on the development of China’s legal system. Professor Alford knows whereof he speaks. Professor Alford talks about how “China is engaged in the most extraordinary effort at legal development in world history —… Continue Reading
Is China Going Green, Part X? — The Environmental Companies Certainly Think So
Posted in China BusinessThis is the tenth time I have asked this same question and it should therefore come as no surprise that my answer is again a “yes.” But, unlike when I first asked and answered this question, I no longer feel my “yes” answer is the minority position. The Associated Press did a story today, entitled,… Continue Reading
China As Lawyers Paradise: Lawyers Needed
Posted in Legal NewsI have never so enjoyed writing a blog post title as this one. Just about everybody in the United States thinks we have too many lawyers. For proof of this, go here, here, and here. But China is different. Way different. In China, lawyers are greatly respected and official policy says there are too few. … Continue Reading
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