Sheppard Mullin Opens New Shanghai Office: Seminars, Client Events, and New Attorneys Mark Firm's Grand Opening Governor Schwarzenegger Wishes Firm Success
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP celebrates its arrival in China with a series of seminars, parties, client briefings, and receptions to mark the grand opening of its new offices. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger launched the opening reception with a pre-recorded statement wishing the firm success in Shanghai. The new office is housed in the Raffles City Office Tower in Shanghai's Huangpu District, near several of the firm's existing clients.
“We have been handling major international matters from the Shanghai Office for the past 8 months, and have built the office to a dozen timekeepers in that short period of time. This auspicious week celebrates both our rapid growth and the next phase in our commitment to China marked by our move into our large, new offices,” said David Huebner, Sheppard Mullin’s chief representative in Shanghai and the Head of the Firm’s China Practice and International Disputes Practice. “We are particularly pleased to be able to announce this week significant acquisitions of new partners and senior attorneys into our China Practice.”
Among those joining the practice this week are new partners Joel Lutzker and Len Sorgi. Separately, senior M&A attorney Will Chuchawat is transferring to Shanghai from the U.S.
Lutzker and Sorgi's practice is focused on patent and other intellectual property litigation, transactions, counseling and prosecution. Lutzker and Sorgi have successfully litigated and tried patent, unfair competition and trade secret cases in the United States International Trade Commission and in numerous district and appellate courts in diverse technical fields.
Chuchawat advises clients ranging from multi-national corporations to private equity groups to family-controlled businesses in various industries, such as financial services, technology, construction, manufacturing, and aerospace. His principal areas of practice are mergers and acquisition transactions, corporate finance, general corporate law, and business counseling.
Fifteen of the Firm’s senior partners and practice group Heads have traveled to Shanghai this week to formally launch the Shanghai Office and to introduce Sheppard Mullin to the China market. Those partners, the Shanghai Office’s attorneys, and various invited business executives and government officials will present the following programs this week:
(1) Speech at the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors’ Restructuring and Investing Conference in Shanghai by Ed Tillinghast, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s Global Insolvency and Restructuring Practice.
(2) Presentation at the Fourth Annual Mergers & Acquisitions in China Summit by Gary Halling, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice, and Larry Braun, M&A Partner and Head of Business Development, on the new Chinese anti-monopoly law and issues relating to foreign M&A activity.
(3) "White Collar Business Crime," a seminar on business crimes which will feature a panel of Jim McGuire (founding partner of Sheppard Mullin’s New York Office), The Hon. Liang Fengdi/Shanghai People's Procuratorate vice president, and Officer Shen Wang-yun/Shanghai Security Bureau Div. of Anti-Corruption & Economic Crime. This seminar is sponsored by CCH.
(4) "Product Safety and Product Liability Litigation in the U.S.," a seminar on U.S. litigation risk and avoidance which will feature a panel of Robert Beall (Head of Sheppard Mullin’s Litigation Practice), David Huebner (Head of Sheppard Mullin’s China Practice and International Disputes Practice), and Ji Zhou/China National Silk Import and Export Corp. general counsel. This seminar is sponsored by CCH.
(5) "International Film Financing", a private networking lunch hosted by Bob Darwell, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s Entertainment & Media Practice, for Shanghai entertainment and finance executives.
(6) "Future Prospects for Intellectual Property Investment and Development in China," an evening seminar prior to the Firm’s gala dinner which features Dr. Wu Jiahuang, Vice Chairman, China Society for WTO Studies and Chief Economist, Tariff Duty Regulations Committee of the State Council of the PRC. Also speaking are: Mr. Chen Zhixing, Director of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Protection Bureau; Mr. Jiang Tiancai, Director of the Guizhou Province Intellectual Property Administration; and Mr. Evan Yu, CEO of Commit Inc. and former General Manager of Texas Instruments Asia. The panel will be moderated by Joel Lutzker, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s New York IP Practice.
(7) "Developments in the Semi-conductor and Wireless Industry", a private networking lunch hosted by Amar Thakur, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s Global IP Practice and partner Joel Lutzker, for Chinese executives whose companies operate in those sectors.
(8) “Software Piracy in the U.S. and China” presented by Amar Thakur, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s Global IP Practice at the First Annual Conference on Corporate Trademark and Copyright.
(9) “Challenges for Chinese Investors in Latin America”, a seminar presented for Government officials and business executives in Beijing by Jerry Gumpel, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s International Practice and Latin America team. This seminar is sponsored by the China Council for Promotion of International Trade and the China Chamber of International Commerce.
(10) "U.S. Bankruptcy Basics", a seminar presented for Government officials and business executives in Beijing by Ed Tillinghast, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s Global Insolvency and Restructuring Practice. This seminar is sponsored by the China Council for Promotion of International Trade and the China Chamber of International Commerce.
(11) “The Impact of WTO TRIPS Agreement on the Economic Development of Asian Countries” presented at the 2007 Fifth Annual Shanghai International IP Forum by Amar Thakur, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s Global IP Practice.
(12) David Huebner, Head of Sheppard Mullin’s China Practice, made a presentation to the annual meeting of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants on doing resort and hotel development deals in China.
The week reaches a climax with a gala reception and dinner for 200 invited guests Wednesday evening at the Shangri-La Hotel, Pudong.
"China is as important a priority for us as it is for our clients, and our commitment to China is reflected in the fact that our delegation from the U.S. is composed of 15 of our most senior partners and practice leaders. It is natural that our senior management, all of our key practices groups, and our other offices be represented here as we open the doors to our new offices in Shanghai," said Guy Halgren, chairman of Sheppard Mullin.
"The last few months have already demonstrated the wisdom of choosing Shanghai as our Asia hub. We are here this week in part to advance the aggressive growth strategy that we have developed for the region," commented Jerry Gumpel, chair of Sheppard Mullin's International Practice.
About Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with more than 500 attorneys in 10 offices located throughout California and in New York, Washington, D.C. and Shanghai. The firm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and San Diego. Founded in 1927 on the principle that the firm would succeed only if its attorneys delivered prompt, high quality and cost-effective legal services, Sheppard Mullin provides legal counsel to U.S. and international clients. Companies turn to Sheppard Mullin to handle a full range of corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions. In the U.S., the firm's clients include more than half of the Fortune 100 companies.