Duane Morris & Selvam LLP

The firm: Duane Morris & Selvam’s office in Shanghai serves domestic and international clients with business interests involving the PRC. The Shanghai lawyers assist Chinese corporations with a range of IP, compliance, investment and transactional services, including advice on outbound IP and technology investment, foreign direct investment, M&A, international taxation and regulatory compliance. Qualified to practice law in China, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the lawyers are fluent in Mandarin and Shanghainese, and have a deep understanding of the culture and requirements of Chinese and international companies. The firm comprises of lawyers with substantive in-house experience, as well as international arbitrators who regularly work with Chinese professionals, including bankers, financiers, tax advisors, consultants and local lawyers across the region. Supported by a global network of over 900 lawyers in 30 offices, Chinese clients benefit from the firm’s wide-ranging multi-jurisdictional transactional experience and commercial advice. The firm also collaborates with local law firms to help international clients entering the Chinese market mitigate legal risks and navigate different business landscapes to enable successful business operations.

Main areas of practice
General corporate and M&A: Corporate lawyers advise early-stage and mature companies on a wide variety of corporate and commercial matters from planning and structuring to negotiating, documenting and implementing the transaction. The firm advises local and international clients on all forms of general corporate and commercial matters involved in market entry and the pursuit of business opportunities in the PRC. The firm also counsels Chinese companies venturing overseas, on international transactions, mergers and acquisitions, antitrust clearance and compliance. The team is well-experienced in commercial dispute resolution, including international litigation, arbitration and mediation in areas such as commercial litigations, administrative proceedings and antitrust, antidumping and anticorruption investigations.

Intellectual property: The firm’s IP lawyers advise multinational companies on business and IP strategies, including patent and trademark filing, oppositions and enforcement, IP policy development, strategic planning and legislative proposals on IP laws and related anti-unfair competition and antitrust laws, IP due diligence and FTO analysis, licensing arrangements, research and collaboration agreements, and IP enforcement and litigation. The practice consists of lawyers who are also certified patent agents both in the US and China and have extensive experience in patent prosecution, ex parte reexamination, inter partes review and Hatch-Waxman matters. The firm assists Fortune 500 companies as well as startups in industries such as life sciences, biotech, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biologics, consumer products, and fintech on their comprehensive IP strategy and how to effectively utilize their existing IP portfolio to strengthen their client’s competitive position.

Banking and finance: The banking and finance lawyers have extensive experience with financings involving domestic and international financial institutions and corporations. Lawyers represent clients in a wide range of complex financing transactions, including cross-border syndicated lending, leveraged and acquisition financing, debt restructuring, project financing, real estate financing, mezzanine financing, divestments, hive-offs and spin-offs.

Real estate: The firm has extensive industry knowledge and wide-ranging experience in handling various complex real estate transactions involving commercial, residential and industrial properties. Real estate lawyers have represented major property developers, investors, financial institutions, real estate companies and individuals on all facets of real estate transactions, including construction, mortgages, debentures, loans, mezzanine and real estate financing, regulatory and compliance, leases as well as real estate development and planning.