Duane Morris & Selvam LLP

The firm: Duane Morris Vietnam LLC was established in July 2007. Attorneys in Vietnam represent a range of clients, including multinational corporations with operations in Asia, as well as businesses seeking to establish investments in Asia. Duane Morris can also leverage its global platform to facilitate Asia-based companies’ entry into markets in the US, Latin America, the UK and beyond. The firm’s attorneys have strong relationships with the business community in Vietnam and have developed an outstanding track record of complex transactions, particularly in the energy and projects sector.

The firm represents a wide range of clients in a variety of practice areas, including mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, energy and projects, corporate and commercial law, TMT, employment, and corporate real estate. It offers practical, sound legal advice provided on the ground in Vietnam by an established team of nine lawyers qualified to practise in Vietnam, New York, Paris, Berlin and New Zealand.

Areas of practice
Corporate, M&A: the corporate law attorneys advise early-stage and mature companies on a wide variety of general corporate and commercial matters. They advise on mergers and acquisitions including negotiated acquisitions and divestitures, hostile acquisitions and defence against takeover attempts. They also advise on joint ventures, company group structures and share capital structures, transaction structures and financing issues, creating security for financing including asset-backed securitisation, advising on stamp duties and tax implications of transactions, drafting transactional documents and conducting due diligence.

Energy and projects: the firm has a strong regional energy and projects practice adept at handling complex projects. Its lawyers guide clients through the complex legal, financial and political issues that pervade the energy industry. For both producers and policy-makers, as well as industry participants and consumers, the attorneys help manage the dynamic challenges of the energy market, counselling clients on regulations, transactions, litigation, project development, facility construction, financing, government relations and policy matters concerning energy. The attorneys draw upon legal and industry experience with fossil fuels as well as renewable sources to find creative solutions to meet clients’ needs.

Banking and finance: the finance lawyers regularly advise companies in relation to banking and finance transactions. They have a strong track record in loan facilities, trade finance, and structured and project finance involving international companies operating in Vietnam as well as Vietnamese state-owned enterprises and private borrowers. The team also has in-depth experience of Vietnamese securities issuances, custody services, the regulatory aspects of trust lending arrangements and derivative products.

Dispute resolution: the team is involved in advising on a number of ground-breaking disputes in Vietnam involving international investors. The team has broad experience especially in relation to projects, trade marks, trade disputes and other general commercial disputes.

Employment and labour law: foreign direct investment regularly involves the employment of local and foreign staff. The team has broad experience of advising companies on all aspects of Vietnamese employment laws and regulations.

Corporate real estate: the team advises clients on the lease and purchase of commercial property in Vietnam including resorts, hotels and retail outlets.

Compliance/regulatory/white-collar crime: the firm advises international companies on regulatory compliance and corporate crime investigations. It also advises on anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and fraud.