Litigation and Arbitration Support

We work in concert with many lawyers in connection with litigation work. We are frequently engaged by law firms (mostly international law firms) to provide litigation support in their legal work for clients. We work efficiently with law firms, as we know the nature and quality of evidence they require for litigation support. We make comprehensive searches, enquiries and investigations to provide them with such evidence. We understand the way litigation works in China and are a valuable resource to lawyers and clients in the planning and implementation of litigation strategies, and gathering the necessary evidence in support.

Investors from the West should not expect to find in China the rule of law as in their own countries. The rule of law in China is in a state of transition and continues to evolve. Even so, it has Chinese characteristics and not necessarily the same as the Western legal systems. According to Jamie P. Horsley, executive director of the China Law Center at Yale Law School, although China today is not a rule of law state, it is

slowly establishing elements of a 'rule of law' system that increasingly provides mechanisms also to restrain the arbitrary exercise of state and private power and offers the promise, if not the guarantee, that Chinese citizens and other actors can assert their rights and interests in reliance on law.

Natalie Lichtenstein has studied China and the evolution of its legal system for over 40 years. She is a distinguished lawyer who retired in 2010 after nearly 30 years as a lawyer at the World Bank, and is presently Professorial Lecturer in China Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University Law School. In a talk she gave at the Stanford Center for International Development, in 2011 she said,

… China has made considerable progress and yet has some way to go in developing the rule of law. Certainly, there are signs that point in the direction of rule of law: a vast body of legislation and serious efforts to implement and enforce it; increase in use of the judiciary to resolve disputes and deepening attention to the reforms needed to bring fairness, impartiality and efficiency to China’s courts; development of the legal profession and the expansion of the private practice of law in response to market needs; growing depth and breadth of the legislative debates; and individual resort to legal provisions in all forms of disputes.

The application and enforcement of law vary greatly in different provinces, regions or cities in China. There are “gaps” in the implementation of the law between tier one cities and lower tier cities or between developed coastal cities and the hinterland. There is also a wide disparity in the quality of law firms and lawyers. We have experience working with local lawyers in many different regions, and know arguably the best and most reliable domestic law firms. We can help clients select the right law firm and lawyers to act for them.

We worked with many clients in arbitration, and have personal knowledge of many arbitrators and insights in their approach and thinking processes, and can guide clients in screening and selecting the most suitable arbitration panel members for their cases.

The importance of selecting the right lawyer or arbitrator cannot be understated.

We provide a broad range of reliable legal support services including investigations, searches and interviews of witnesses, tracing of assets before legal proceedings or after judgment, etc.