PharmaBoardroom - Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Company description

Hong Kong is uniquely positioned at the doorsteps of the world’s fastest growing major economy of the 21st century and the lawyers on Orrick’s China Team have been there since the first days those doors were opened. In 1972, Coudert Brothers was the first foreign law firm to open an office in Hong Kong and, in November 2005, the entire 25-lawyer office of Coudert joined Orrick, opening Orrick’s first of three China-focused offices. Orrick’s offices in Beijing and Shanghai opened in 2006 when most of Coudert’s lawyers in Beijing and Shanghai also joined Orrick. In addition to being first in Hong Kong, Coudert was the first foreign law firm to establish a permanent presence in Beijing (1979), the first foreign law firm to be approved by the Ministry of Justice to establish a law office in China (Beijing, 1992; with the receipt of license no. 001) and one of the first foreign law firms to open an office in Shanghai (2001).

For more than three decades, Orrick’s Hong Kong lawyers have been guiding the world’s most prominent businesses through many of the first and most complex commercial and financial transactions involving China, including:

* The Coca-Cola Company
* McDonald’s
* S.C. Johnson & Sons, Inc.
* Carrefour
* General Motors Corporation
* NEC Corporation
* Occidental Petroleum

Beyond China, the Hong Kong team’s experience extends throughout the Asia-Pacific region on significant transactions including the “London Club” of more than 60 commercial banks in a series of jumbo loans of more than $1.5 billion of U.S. dollar- and yen-denominated sovereign debt extended to the Republic of Indonesia; Telenor Ltd. (a Norwegian telecommunications company) in acquiring shares in two Thai telecommunications companies; foreign investors in a series of acquisitions and divestitures in the electric power generating sector in the Philippines; and structuring and advising many of the first hedge funds and private equity funds organized with investors from multiple jurisdictions for investment targets throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
International Reputation

The reputation of Orrick’s Hong Kong lawyers is well recognized by recent awards from leading global publications, including:

* M&A Deal of the Year

* Real Estate and Construction Deal of the Year

* Logistics Deal of the Year

Unique Qualifications

Orrick’s Hong Kong team is strongly positioned to assist local and international clients with sophisticated transactions that cross multiple jurisdictions. Orrick’s Hong Kong office provides clients with a unique combination of lawyers who are qualified in multiple jurisdictions, fluent in multiple languages, graduates of many of the world’s most well respected legal and business universities, experienced in business operations and management, and have served in government positions.

* Multiple Jurisdictions
Orrick’s Hong Kong lawyers have more than 30 years of experience handling corporate, commercial, securities, finance, litigation and arbitration matters under the laws of the multiple jurisdictions where local lawyers are qualified – Hong Kong, Australia, the United States, England and Wales.

* Multiple Language Capabilities
In addition to being qualified to practice in multiple jurisdictions, Orrick’s Hong Kong office also provides clients with lawyers who are fluent in multiple languages, including English, Cantonese, French, Korean, Mandarin and Putonghua.

* Legal Educations and Business Backgrounds
Lawyers in Orrick’s Hong Kong office have received graduate degrees (J.D./LL.B., LL.M., M.B.A., B.A. and B.S.) from well-known universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, China and Hong Kong, including Chinese University of Hong Kong, Columbia University, Fudan University (Shanghai), Harvard Law School, London School of Economics, New York Law School, Stanford Law School, University of California (Berkeley), University of Hong Kong, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), University of International Business and Economics (Beijing) and Yale College.

Orrick’s team of lawyers also includes lawyers with diverse backgrounds, including a lawyer who began advising foreign companies on China matters in 1980 as a Beijing-based business representative and consultant, a lawyer who practiced in California and Korea before moving to Hong Kong in 1993, a lawyer who worked for the Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Government, and a lawyer who held numerous Shenzhen-based management positions. The Hong Kong office is also staffed by Chinese and foreign consultants, legal assistants, trainee solicitors and translators.

Products and services

Banking and Bank Regulatory Matters, Dispute Resolution, Emerging Companies and Venture Capital, Employment Law, Finance and Project Finance, Financial Markets, Intellectual Property, Internal Investigations, Life Sciences, Media and Entertainment, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, Investment Funds and Venture Capital, Real Estate Development and Finance, Restructuring, Securities, Tax