Event Report

The Legal 500’s first ever GC Summit in Vietnam, at the glorious Pullman Saigon Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, was a complete success, attracting over 160 of the top legal minds in the country; general counsel, chief legal officers and senior legal counsel were all in attendance, many of them from the most prominent and successful companies in the region.

Legal 500 GC Powerlist editor Joe Boswell kicked off the day’s festivities before handing over to keynote the keynote speaker, Cathay United Bank’s Legal affairs head Thuy Tran. Tran expertly set the tone for the conference by talking about some of the challenges facing in-house counsel in Vietnam. Over the course of the day, many of the challenges were addressed by our expert speakers, helping the audience to achieving a greater understanding of how they can improve their service delivery.

Our first panel session saw an expert panel helmed by Frasers Law Company managing partner Justin Gisz, who was joined by Thao Cung (General counsel of Vina Capital), Nguyen Thi Tu Trinh (Senior legal manager of Sembcorp) and Hao Tran (Head of Legal for BW Industrial Development). They investigated the current and future M&A Landscape in Vietnam, outlining the legal requirements, overall business climate and path to a successful deal.

The next session saw, Tran Thi Ngoc Linh of Dentons LuatViet ask: ‘With the rise of technology, is it now harder to protect your brand?’ She provided the audience with a thorough overview of brand protection requirements in Vietnam, giving a roadmap for successfully shepherding a market-leading brand.

Nishimura & Asahi partners Ha Hoang and Tomonobu Murata took to the stage next to deliver a highly detailed and technical presentation on Vietnam’s personal data protection regulations, in light of changes set to come in to force over the next 12-18 months. The presentation was followed by a robust Q&A session in which GCs who had to get their company up to code for the new regulations sought the advice of the experts on-stage.

After a coffee break, guests returned for three quickfire Ignite Sessions, each 20 minutes in length and tackling a different topic. First up were Russin & Vecchi’s Nguyen Huu Minh Nhut and Dao Hong Diu to talk about Employee Share Option Plans. Employee Share Option Plans are an innovative way of keeping employees happy, and this talk saw the experts take a deep dive into what GCs need to consider if their companies decide to offer this to employees.

IP issues are almost a guarantee in any M&A transaction, whatever the size and complexity, and in our second ignite session, M&A and IP expert Nguyen Tien Hoa of ASL Law Firm brought his considerable experience to bear on this highly challenging issue, providing a toolkit for those in attendance to help them succeed in their next transaction.

Traditionally, the pandemic is thought to have had a number interesting effects on legal frameworks around the world relating to patent waivers and relaxations. The highly charismatic Oliver P. Baclay, JR of Gulapa Law talked about just how true this is, keeping the GCs in the know as to how this may affect their product lines.

The third and final panel session, in association with Tilleke & Gibbins, looked at the issue of dispute resolution, particularly for foreign parties. On stage were Duc Anh Tran and Loc Xuan Le of T&G Law Firm, alongside Michelle Thuy-Ngoc Thai, General Counsel of INSEE Vietnam and Han Le, Legal Director (Vietnam & Indochina) of Pfizer. As an in-house lawyer, your job is often to get ahead of issues and prevent them from turning into costly litigation, but this is not always possible. The speakers on stage looked in to how to prevent problems from developing, and what to do when faced with a looming dispute.

Our final session, a roundtable in association with Frasers Law Company, had senior associates Nguyen Mai Phuong and Ho Thuy Ngoc Tram join managing partner Mark Fraser to discuss project finance, something that provides a whole new host of possibilities for getting major projects over the start line, but can be highly challenging to set up. The on stage discussion, which saw all three experts give their own advice and viewpoint, was followed by a Q&A, evidence of the massive interest this topic generates.

With a packed house still in attendance for the final discussion, we then moved on to networking drinks and snacks, where the in-house lawyers mingled with each other and shared stories in a relaxed but lively atmosphere. All of us at The Legal 500 are thoroughly looking forward to the next GC Summit: Vietnam, so please keep an eye out for future updates!

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