Beijing

O'Melveny is recognized as one of the leading international law firms in China, with a practice covering a broad range of industries, clients, and matters. We offer a unique combination of Chinese local know-how and international law firm excellence.

We pride ourselves on the fact that our China practice operates as a single, large, integrated operation rather than as three separate offices. Client matters are staffed across offices depending on the experience needed for the project and our staffing availability. Our operations are also closely integrated with China practice groups located in our United States, Japanese, and European offices.  We have more than 100 professionals in our China practice, including 16 partners and a large group of talented counsel, associates, and legal consultants with diverse backgrounds and experience. Unlike many other international law firms, we have chosen to locate most of our practice's lawyers and consultants on the ground in mainland China.

Most of our lawyers in mainland China speak fluent Chinese and provide an international perspective, having practiced both inside and outside China. They are either Americans or other foreign nationals who have moved to China or native Chinese who have studied law abroad and returned home to practice. Our legal consultants are graduates of the finest Chinese law schools.

We have offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai — the key commercial centers in China. Our Shanghai location, originally launched in the early 1990's, is one of the largest offices among international law firms in that city. Licensed in 2002, the Beijing office has grown substantially and maintains an unusually diverse and vibrant practice. In Hong Kong we combine knowledge of local and US law to serve many of our international financial institution, investment fund, and other clients operating in China and Southeast Asia.

Located in northern China, the Beijing office handles the full range of O'Melveny's transactional practice, including foreign direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, private equity and venture capital, technology licensing, and investment fund formation and counseling. Beijing is also the center of our tax practice in China, a service that complements and supports the transactional work in China and across Asia.

With its location in China's capital, the Beijing office is the natural focus for matters that involve regulatory actions by either the Chinese or US governments. On the Chinese side, we assist multinational corporations in obtaining the numerous central government approvals and licenses required to transact business in China. The office also advises foreign exporters subject to trade remedy investigations by China's Ministry of Commerce and helps US corporations comply with the numerous US government regulations that apply to their businesses in China, including export controls, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the foreign business aspects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Attorneys in our Beijing office also comprise leading experts on China's Anti-Monopoly Law and international merger control rules generally that impact acquisitions involving China.

Further, the Beijing office handles many litigation matters for both Chinese and multinational corporations that arise in the course of investment in and trade with China, including arbitration and mediation, both in China and other jurisdictions, and assistance with litigation. Because O'Melveny is a foreign law firm, we may not represent parties in Chinese courts. However, our lawyers often are asked to advise on litigation strategy or to provide advice on particularly complex issues that arise in transnational litigation, such as intellectual property matters, conflict of laws issues, and the applicability and interpretation of international legal agreements, e.g., the various WTO agreements, the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods, INCOTERMS, and the ICC Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits.

In conjunction with the Firm's other offices, the Beijing office also assists Chinese companies with legal matters in the US, Hong Kong and other overseas jurisdictions. This includes securities offerings and listings in the US and Hong Kong capital markets, cross-border acquisitions, representation of Chinese exporters subject to US trade investigations, and representation of Chinese companies that have been sued in US state or federal courts. 

The Beijing office has six US-qualified partners, twelve US-qualified associates; and close to forty professionals in all. Nearly all of the office's professionals and support staff are fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and English.

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