Legal Book » chinese

Defense wins $1.1M in suit over contract

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:22:53 +0000

A breach of contract battle between copier products companies that began three years ago with a Chinese conglomerate suing a family-owned Atlanta company for more than $4 million has concluded with the defendant winning $1.1 million for counterclaims.

Judge Tosses Securities Class Action Against China North East Petroleum

admin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:43:37 +0000

In what appears to be the first ruling granting motions to dismiss in the current wave of securities class actions against Chinese companies whose shares trade on U.S. exchanges, a federal judge in Manhattan has tossed claims against China North East Petroleum Holdings and related defendants.

Federal Chinese drywall stay no longer valid, judge rules

admin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:17:30 +0000

A Florida judge has decided a stay imposed in a federal class action against Miami-based Banner Supply is no longer in effect for Broward County homeowners who want to pursue their Chinese drywall claims in state court.

SEC Takes on Deloitte Unit over Audit Records as Pressure Mounts on Chinese Companies with U.S. Listings

Master — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 03:21:44 +0000

After months spent investigating Chinese companies that trade on U.S. exchanges, is the SEC finally ready to take the companies to court? Two companies have disclosed receiving Wells notices from the SEC, and the agency sued the Shanghai arm of Deloitte to enforce a subpoena in one of its probes.

Judge Rules Vitamin Companies Can’t Blame Chinese Government for Price-Fixing Cartel

Master — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:04:50 +0000

In response to claims they illegally fixed prices for vitamin C, a group of Chinese companies boiled its defense down to a single assertion: Our government made us do it. Now a judge has rejected that defense, while faulting the Chinese government for its “post-hoc attempt to shield” the companies.

Accused Chinese infringers face trial in the United States

admin — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:39:42 +0000

Three Chinese companies will have to defend themselves in U.S. courts against a $2.2 billion copyright infringement suit brought by a California software company, a federal judge has ruled.

FTC, DOJ Sign Antitrust Agreement With Chinese Agencies

Master — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:27:16 +0000

Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department officials signed an antitrust memorandum of understanding with Chinese antitrust agencies on Wednesday, creating “a framework for long-term cooperation” almost three years after China’s anti-monopoly law went into effect. The U.S. business community has been skeptical about the law.Visit International News

Can British Firms Retain Their Upper Hand in Hong Kong?

admin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 06:32:03 +0000

Fourteen years after Hong Kong formally reverted to Chinese rule, U.K. law firms rank among the largest in town, with several boasting more than 100 lawyers. But the growth of leading U.S.

Judge Allows Claims Against Outside Auditors in China Express Securities Class Action

admin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:42:54 +0000

A federal judge’s Tuesday ruling could help fan the flames of securities litigation tied to U.S.-listed Chinese companies, and expand potential liability beyond the companies and their directors and officers to accounting firms and other third parties.

Florida Company Demands $100 Million from Knauf in Chinese Drywall Fight

admin — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 06:32:23 +0000

Just a month after Banner Supply reached a $55 million settlement with plaintiffs in the Chinese drywall MDL in New Orleans, Banner’s lawyers are claiming that the Knauf Chinese subsidiary that made the drywall is the one to blame. Knauf’s lawyers beg to differ.

Boies Schiller Beefs Up Claims, Adds U.S. Defendants in Starr Suit Against China MediaExpress

Master — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:29:27 +0000

Boies Schiller’s Lee Wolosky says that his client Starr International’s suit against China MediaExpress is the first in the expanding “reverse merger” litigation to target individuals in the U.S. who helped a Chinese merger partner obtain a listing on an American exchange.

Florida Company Agrees to $55 Million Settlement in Chinese Drywall Litigation

Master — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:36:03 +0000

Florida-based Banner Supply cut the first major deal in the multidistrict litigation over defective Chinese drywall on Tuesday — and took the opportunity to bash another defendant for allegedly lying about the safety of the drywall it sold to Banner.

In Rare Ruling, Kilpatrick Townsend Convinces Chinese Court to Uphold U.S. Arbitration Award

admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 04:27:04 +0000

A Chinese court’s confirmation of a $1.7 million arbitration award for menswear designer Joseph Abboud is said by Abboud’s lawyers at Kilpatrick Townsend to be one of the few Chinese rulings — if not the only one — confirming a U.S. arbitration award.

Federal Prosecutors Want to Ditch Remainder of Silicon Valley Economic Espionage Case

admin — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 03:57:35 +0000

On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Northern California moved to dismiss the remaining charge against two Silicon Valley engineers, Lan Lee and Yuefei Ge, who were accused of stealing trade secrets from their employer, NetLogic Microsystems, and trying to commercialize them with venture funding from the Chinese government. Defense attorneys say this was the only economic espionage case ever to go to a jury trial and one of only a handful ever to be charged in the United States.

China, India and Japan Grapple With Quality of Legal Education

Master — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 04:50:27 +0000

Speaking at a Harvard Law School panel discussion Friday, legal educators from India, China and Japan described the challenges they face in producing an appropriate number of good lawyers. China and India simply have too many lawyers with too few opportunities after graduation.

Report: Chinese Mergers and Acquisitions Surge in 2010

Master — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:22:19 +0000

Mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese companies have surged in the first half of the year over the same period in 2009, led by growth in Chinese acquisitions abroad, according to a report issued Monday by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Such outbound M&A grew by 50 percent in the first six months of 2010, PwC reported, with 99 deals announced

Lowe’s Settles Drywall Case for $6.5 Million

Master — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:12:22 +0000

A plaintiffs lawyer who won $6.5 million, to be paid mostly in Lowe’s gift cards, for his class action clients and more than $2 million in fees and costs in a settlement over allegedly stinky drywall calls it the first time consumers will “get a dime” out of such a case. The case is similar to other lawsuits against retailers and manufacturers, although Lowe’s suppliers weren’t proven to have provided China-made drywall, and plaintiffs’ problems were less severe than those in the known Chinese drywall cases.

Fla. Jury Finds Domestic Distributor of Chinese Drywall Negligent

admin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:37:25 +0000

A Florida jury on Friday awarded $2.46 million to a Miami couple who claimed their house was ruined by gas emitted by imported Chinese drywall in the nation’s first trial against a domestic distributor. Jurors concluded that Miami-based Banner Supply knowingly sold defective wallboard that was installed in the home of Chevron attorney Armin Seifart and Lisa Gore, who asked for $4.4 million in damages for repairs and the inconvenience of temporarily losing access to their $1.66 million home.

Homeowner Frustrations Over Chinese Drywall Shift to Suppliers

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:19:32 +0000

Jury selection started Monday in a case involving claims that a building supply distributor failed to inform a Miami couple about problems with Chinese drywall. The couple’s attorney says of Banner Supply, “They didn’t test it. They didn’t make attempts to take it back.

Top Clifford Chance Partner Switches to King & Wood

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:54:59 +0000

Top Clifford Chance capital markets partner Rupert Li has left the Magic Circle firm to join Beijing’s King & Wood as international managing partner — making him the second senior-level partner in the past week to join a domestic Chinese firm from a U.K. firm

Top Beijing Lawyer for Lovells Leaving for Chinese Firm

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 05:29:10 +0000

The managing partner of Lovells’ Beijing office is leaving for Chinese firm Allbright Law Offices. Because Chinese restrictions on foreign lawyers prevent Robert Lewis from being a partner, he will be a senior international legal consultant in the Beijing office of Shanghai-based Allbright. The move makes the 52-year-old Lewis — a Beijing partner at U.K.-based Lovells since 2001 and before that Asia GC for telecommunications firm Nortel — one of the most senior Western lawyers to join a domestic law firm in China.

Plaintiffs in Tainted Chinese Drywall Litigation May Win in Court, but Will They Ever Collect?

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:05:46 +0000

A federal judge in New Orleans ruled last week that a Chinese manufacturer of noxious drywall owes seven Virginia homeowners $2.6 million to replace the offending material and all other affected building fixtures. Thousands of similar cases could be on the way

Judge Awards Families $2.6M Over Chinese Drywall

Master — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 05:18:49 +0000

A federal judge on Thursday awarded seven Virginia families $2.6 million in damages for homes ruined by sulfur-emitting drywall made in China, a decision that could affect how lawsuits by thousands of other U.S. homeowners are settled.

Rio Tinto Employees on Trial in China Admit to Taking Bribes

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:08:07 +0000

The four employees of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Group on trial in China for bribery and infringement of trade secrets admitted Monday to taking bribes from Chinese businesses. According to , Australian citizen Stern Hu, the former head of the China sales team for Rio Tinto, testified Monday that he accepted bribes from two Chinese steel mills that wanted to ensure their access to iron ore, of which Rio Tinto is one of China’s largest suppliers.

The New China Hands

Master — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:03:12 +0000

Just a decade ago, China’s rise as an economic superpower still seemed uncertain. Back then, the China practice of major international firms was still mainly the province of the Old China Hands — lawyers who perhaps had a deeper affinity for Chinese language and culture than the practice of law — who focused on representing foreign companies opening factories and shops in China.