Four Lawyers Join Dorsey, Strengthening its
Disputes Resolution and International Transactions Teams
International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP continues to
expand its U.S.-China practice group across the Firm’s platform
with the addition of attorneys David Cameron in Hong Kong, David
Townsend in Minneapolis, Yue Matthew Ma, Ph.D., in Seattle, and Yan
(Bill) Huang in Beijing.
Lanier Saperstein, New York-based litigation partner and one of
the Co-Chairs of the firm’s U.S.-China practice group explained,
“We are seeing a strong demand for our dispute services by Chinese
companies, whether they are moving into the U.S. for the first time
or they’ve been here for some time.” “It used to be that Chinese
clients at times would ignore lawsuits, hoping they would go away.
Chinese clients felt they might not get a fair shake in U.S. courts
and it was hard for them to justify the often sizeable legal costs
to their management,” observed Saperstein. “They have grown more
accustomed to the U.S. market, recognizing that litigation is an
unfortunate cost of doing business here. Unless and until we get
some type of reform, litigation is going to be a significant part
of the U.S. business landscape. Chinese clients now realize that
it’s more efficient and certainly more effective to plan for
potential disputes and then confront any litigation head on.”
In terms of transactions, while not making daily headlines,
business continues to flow between the world’s two largest
economies, and Dorsey is capturing a growing market share of that
work. “There has been a dip in the number of mega deals being
closed by Chinese companies in the U.S. But the flow of PE and VC
investments and other types of minority deals continues,” noted
Catherine Pan, a New York-based transactional partner and one of
the Co-Chairs of the firm’s U.S.-China practice group. “I am
pleased to report we are seeing a strong flow of transactional
work,” added Pan, “due to our platform, our experienced U.S.-China
group and our reputation in the legal market for doing excellent
legal work.”
“We’re thrilled to be able to continue the momentum of growing
our U.S.-China practice,” Saperstein added. “These new lateral
hires allow us to continue building a practice that provides
high-level, high-value legal services to our China-based clients as
well as our U.S. clients that have a need to learn how to work with
their Chinese counterparties. Our outlook spans five years, not
just the next six to 12 months.”
The new hires include:
David Cameron, based in Hong Kong, focuses on
international capital markets work. He specializes in representing
and advising corporate and investment banking clients on debt and
equity offerings pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S under the
U.S. Securities Act of 1933, including high-yield, investment
grade, private placements, block trades and medium-term note
programs for issuers across Asia. Mr. Cameron also has extensive
experience with green bonds and Masala bonds. His recent work
before joining Dorsey has included advising on the State Bank of
India’s Section 4(a)(2) equity offering of US$2.3 billion, the
largest-ever Qualified Institutions Placement out of India to date,
JSW Steel’s US$500 million high-yield bond offering, CK Hutchison
Holdings’ US$1.8 billion dual tranche Rule 144A senior note
offering and Sri Lanka’s sovereign US$1.5 billion Rule 144A senior
note offering.
David Townsend is an international trade and transactions
lawyer with extensive experience advising clients on U.S.
sanctions, export controls, customs, antidumping and countervailing
duties, trade remedies, export licensing, compliance, enforcement
matters and trade due diligence in mergers and acquisitions. He
also counsels businesses on supply chain management related to
trade and corporate social responsibility laws. He has represented
clients before the Department of Commerce, the International Trade
Commission, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and U.S.
courts on trade matters. He has advised clients in a variety of
industry sectors, including various agricultural products,
aluminum, automotive, chemicals, energy, distilled spirits,
financial and other services, electronics, software-as-a-service
items, polysilicon, solar products and steel. In addition, he has
worked on a variety of trade policy and dispute settlement matters
involving the World Trade Organization (WTO) and U.S. free trade
agreements.
Yue Matthew Ma, Ph.D. advises clients on patent matters
with a deep understanding of the value of patents, combining his
business, technical and legal acumen. As former Director of
Intellectual Property (IP) at SRI International, a research and
innovation company based in Silicon Valley, and IP Analyst at
several technology companies, Mr. Ma has broad experience in all
phases of a patent’s life cycle, from working with inventors to
making strategic decisions on patent filing to monetizing patent
assets. These experiences allow him to better understand clients’
needs and value their successes as his top priority.
His practice concentrates on patent drafting and prosecution,
trademark registration and counseling, patentability and
freedom-to-operate studies, due diligence and IP licensing. He
brings 25 years of experience in technology development, patent
drafting and prosecution, intellectual property management and
technology licensing. His academic training in electrical and
computer engineering, coupled with prior industry experience as a
scientist and engineer, affords him an in-depth understanding of a
wide range of complex technologies behind his clients’
innovations.
Yan (Bill) Huang, who bolsters the firm’s Beijing office,
advises multi-national clients on internal investigation,
compliance audit and training in China. Mr. Huang works with
companies in internal investigations of ethical violations, such as
channel stuffing, conflict of interests, fake reimbursement or
forgery of commercial documents. He regularly represents clients in
anti-unfair competition law matters, foreign direct investment and
dispute resolution matters regarding copyright and trademark.
Dorsey has demonstrated its commitment to the China practice for
decades with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, as well
members of its U.S.-China practice group spread across nine
different offices. Indeed, recently retired partner and former Vice
President of the United States, Walter Mondale, was an integral
member of the Carter Administration, which normalized diplomatic
relations with China in 1979.
About Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Clients have relied on Dorsey since 1912 as a valued business
partner. With locations across the United States and in Canada,
Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides an integrated,
proactive approach to its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey
represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a
wide range of industries, including leaders in banking &
financial institutions, development & infrastructure, energy
& natural resources, food, beverage & agribusiness,
healthcare and technology, as well as major non-profit and
government entities.
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Jeri
Longtin-Kloss+1.612.492.5315longtin.kloss.jeri@dorsey.com