Shanghai

AllBright Law Offices is one of Shanghai’s largest full-service law firms with more than 100 partners in the city. The dispute resolution team is known for its work in commercial disputes and is also active in numerous practice areas, such as construction and real estate, and intellectual property.

The firm is home to litigation stars Rui Guo and Fang Cao, who specialise in commercial disputes. Meanwhile, construction and real estate expert Yun Li is another key name to note within AllBright.

In commercial disputes, the firm acted for Anhui Huaan Foreign Economic Construction against Zimbabwe-Anhui Mining on a foreign investment insurance contract dispute, and provided legal service for the financial consumer disputes arising from the asset management scheme of Debon Securities and Zhongzhou Futures.

In intellectual property, the firm represented Hellobike to file a lawsuit against Quannengche for infringement of internet service trademark and unfair competition. As the first unfair competition case in the bike-sharing industry in which the revised Internet Special Article of the Law of the People's Republic of China Against Unfair Competition could be applicable, this case had great social impact.

Bansbach Easylift, Hwabao Securities, Shanghai Fengke Biotechnology and Shenzhen Linlixin Technology are notable clients.

Client feedback

“Professionalism and timeliness.”  – Commercial disputes

Bohe & Hansen was established in October 2020, formed by the merger of two boutique firms named Bohe Law Firm and Hanshang Law Firm. The firm covers 15 practice areas including corporate governance, corporate mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property. Among them, dispute resolution is the core practice area.

The manager partner Rong Wang focuses on commercial litigation, arbitration and criminal defence, while the senior partner Sai Ma specialises in commercial affairs, intellectual property, competition law and corporate equity disputes. The firm’s clients are from various industries, such as real estate, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, industrial design, banking, insurance, private equity funds, information technology and cultural media.

In 2021, the firm represented Bohai International Trust against China Railway Ruicheng Property on a financial loan contract dispute, and acted for Zhongke Construction against Xinkong Group on a shareholder qualification dispute. The latter[WC(1]  has significance for future judgements of similar cases. It confirmed the identity of the client's controlling shareholder through an effective judgement, avoiding the loss of huge state-owned assets.

Key clients include China Jinmao, Panasonic, Fuji Medical Equipment and China Pacific Insurance Group.

Boss & Young is a full-service law firm based in Shanghai. The firm sees dispute resolution as one of its core strengths. It focuses on disputes in the fields of securities, equity, investment funds, real estate, and labour and employment. The firm’s clients are mainly large private, public and state-owned companies.

Guofei Lu is the managing partner of the firm, and he is an expert in the construction and real estate industry, having experience in real estate development and operation, PPP projects, real estate investment and financing. In addition, Lei Shi, Yuzhong Wang and Wei Zou are key names at the firm. They are partners in the dispute resolution team, specialising in commercial and transaction.

During the research period, the commercial disputes team acted for China Machinery Guoneng Electric Power Engineering against Huimin New Energy Technology and Xintai Minglin Photovoltaic Power Generation on a construction project contract dispute; represented Zhongyang Ecofish and China Pacific Property Insurance Shipping Insurance Business Operation Center in a marine insurance contract dispute; and assisted Minmetals Company against Jindaxin Company on a contract dispute.

In construction and real estate, the firm represented Zhongxian International and Shanghai Dazhan Investment against China Construction Fourth Engineering Bureau in a lawsuit involving mutual claims in the disputes over the construction contract of "Hopson International Plaza". The case lasted five years and ended with a satisfactory outcome for the client.

An intellectual property boutique with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities, China Patent Agent (HK) is one of the oldest and largest IP litigation shops in China. Over the years, the client base of the firm has been mainly foreign companies from Europe, America and Japan.

In the Shanghai office, Liang Wang is an excellent litigation agent and he mainly focuses on the intellectual property practice in the area of electricity.

All cases provided during the research period remain confidential but highlight the firm's strengths in IP disputes.

Founded in 1992, City Development Law Firm continues to win praise from the market as one of the leading law firms for construction and real estate. The firm frequently handles complex, novel and contentious issues across a wide swathe of construction and real estate practice areas, such as disputes relating to construction and infrastructure, real estate investment, PPP projects and real estate investment trust funds.

In its Nanjing office, two deputy directors, Lianning Sun and Zengping Gu, are the key contacts in the disputes team.

During the research period, the team provided legal advice to Huaian Juwai[WC(1]  Real Estate and Nanjing Housing Construction Corporation in a construction contract dispute case; and also provided legal services for the construction contract dispute among Nantong Guoze Company, Zhongke Company and Zhongke Longxuan Company.

Notable clients include Jiangsu Construction Supervision, Yarui Architectural Design Jiangsu branch, Jiangsu Huamu Construction Technology and Jiangsu Huajian Construction.

Client feedback

“The team is very professional, meticulous and rigorous, with a precise grasp of litigation strategies.”– Construction and real estate

DeHeng Law Offices is a full-service law firm with a national presence in a variety of practice areas in China. Its Shanghai office was founded in 1998 and currently hosts 170 lawyers. It has an active disputes practice in the areas of commercial and transactions and intellectual property. 

The managing partner Junqi Wang is a key name of DeHeng Shanghai’s disputes team, and he specialises in commercial disputes and international arbitration. Besides, Xinliang Tao is an expert in the IP area.

In intellectual property, the team acted for Suzhou Minxin Microelectronics Technology against GoerTek in a series of patent ownership, patent application ownership, patent identification, and unfair competition disputes; and also represented Xinye Electronics against Guowei Ceramics in a patent infringement dispute.

In commercial disputes, the team represented Shanghai Putian Post Technology, a listed company, in a series of disputes with investors on the liability for false statements in securities with an underlying value exceeding Rmb140 million. This is the first case involving stocks under special treatment under risk alert (ST and *ST), suspension of listing, and voluntary delisting of listed companies in a dispute over liability for false statements.

Representative clients include Huawei, ZTE, Baidu, China Three Gorges Group, and Tianjin Binhai Development Zone Infrastructure Center.

The Shanghai branches of Dentons is an extension of its well-known litigation practice. With more than 500 lawyers and 150 partners in Shanghai, the disputes team is experienced on a range of matters ranging from commercial disputes to construction and real estate matters.

Fei Xiao and Chen Li are the key partners within Dentons’ Shanghai office, and both are active in commercial disputes and construction and real estate matters.

Last year, the team acted for Shenzhen Huijin Chuangzhan Company against Suning Tesco Group in a contract dispute and advised China Merchants Bank on the dispute over the shortfall of Everbright Capital’s overseas equity investment fund.

Other important clients include Porsche (China), Haitong Securities, PetroChina, BMW Auto Finance, Red Star Macalline, SAIC Volkswagen, China Merchants Bank and People's Bank of China.

Fangda Partners has developed into one of the most comprehensive law firms in China, particularly in East China, where it is one of the area’s dominant players. Recognised by Benchmark Litigation as one of the top firms in the country, Fangda has strength in almost every practice area, such as commercial disputes, intellectual property, international arbitration and compliance.

In its Shanghai office, notable contacts include partner Nuo Ji and Benjamin Miu, who are active in commercial disputes, and Richard Lin, who is a key partner in intellectual property.

During the research period, the commercial disputes team in Shanghai acted for Jinhong Fashion Group as the buyer in a series of complex, high-value and cross-border disputes arising from a trans-border acquisition of assets and business of a famous Korean fashion brand; and defended Nanjing Skytech in its decade-long dispute arising from a joint venture company in Nanjing.

In intellectual property, the team represented Tsuburaya in filing and handling copyright litigation and liaised with foreign legal experts for foreign legal opinions in support of the Chinese litigations. Also, it advised Intel in the two patent infringement suits initiated by VLSI. This case is one of most high-stake cases in patent field worldwide.

Alibaba Group, Giorgio Armani, Nanjing Skytech Technology and Watson Pharmaceuticals are the firm’s key clients.

Client feedback

“The firm is responsive.” – Commercial disputes

Grandall Law Firm’s Shanghai office was one of the three founding offices of the firm, with notable strength in commercial disputes at all levels. It offers services unique to the Shanghai local market as well as across the national spectrum.

Partners Ningning Huang and Xiaozhe Sun are key contacts.  

In one highlighted case, the firm acted as solicitors for a famous Chinese ODM enterprise to participate in a Hong Kong arbitration case involving a total contract amount exceeding Rmb300 million with a Turkish telecom giant. The case involved a large amount of money and many domestic and foreign parties, and the jurisdictional challenge involved the application of Mainland law and Hong Kong law. It was the largest international arbitration case handled by the team during the research period.

Important clients include Aerospace Information, COMAC, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group and CSSC.

Client feedback

The unique and effective strategy of combining arbitration and litigation procedures has resulted in very desirable results in the case.” – International arbitration

Xiaozhe Sun

“The lawyer achieved a better-than-expected result for an international arbitration with a subject matter of more than 100 million yuan for our company.”

The Shanghai branch of Han Kun Law Offices is an extension of the firm’s national network, with notable strength in commercial and intellectual property disputes.

In Shanghai, partner Liyu Jin specialises in commercial and financial litigation and arbitration, international arbitration, civil liability and insurance litigation, intellectual property litigation and antitrust and unfair competition litigation. He joined from Haiwen & Partners in January 2020.

During the research period, the team represented PepsiCo (China) in successfully defending Burger King (Shanghai)'s application for annulment of the Shanghai International Arbitration Commission's arbitration award. The case involved a series of complex legal issues, including the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, the scope of the arbitration agreement, the concealment of evidence in the arbitration proceedings, and the conflict of interest of the arbitrators.

Notable clients include Baidu, Estee Lauder, Kraft Heinz, Sandvik and Sohu.

HHP Attorneys-At-Law is recognised for its work in financial disputes. The team has represented clients in disputes relating to trust and wealth management, securities, merger and acquisitions, shareholder’s rights, and corporate governance. Industry expertise ranges across the real estate, machinery manufacturing, and automobile sectors.

Senior partners Jingdong Xu and Yao Rao are key names in general commercial disputes.

Case highlights include acting for a leading commercial bank on disputes regarding structured financial assets management products; advising commercial bank on a Rmb800 million trust dispute; advising a leading trust company on a RMB1.9 billion contract dispute in relation to its investment platform in a restructuring project; and representing a renowned financial institution in handling an Rmb1.1 billion loan dispute in a real estate project.

The rest of the clients the firm has acted for during the research period remain confidential.

Client feedback

“The firm’s thorough legal analysis and solid legal knowledge helped my company. They solidified our position and convinced the counterparty's attorney to agree with our arguments.” – Commercial and transactions

Yao Rao

“He is a true solution provider with solid legal expertise.”

Huiye Law Firm is a full-service law firm that houses a dispute resolution team of more than 300 practitioners. The team is active in commercial and contract-based conflicts, cross-border matters, intellectual property, construction and government procurement disputes.

In construction and real estate, the firm advised Shanghai Hongyu Investment and Shanghai Lejinghui Pension Service on a house-leasing contract dispute against Shanghai Shouxuan Building Materials; advised Hubei Xiantao Tourism Investment Group and Hubei Xiantao Real Estate on a construction contract dispute against China Electric Power Municipal Construction Group; and advised CIFI Holdings on judicial auction of land use rights.

In commercial disputes, Huiye advised China Pacific Insurance on insurance contract disputes with a factoring company; and also advised Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China on enforcement reconsideration against Qiang Wang.

Clients include China Salt Shanghai Salt Industry, Jiangsu Chimbusco Yangtze Petrochemical, Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center, Putuo branch of Shanghai Public Security Bureau and Shanghai Orient Guoxin Industrial.

Founded in 2002, Jincheng Tongda & Neal’s Shanghai office hosts 200 lawyers who are active on behalf of local and foreign clients across numerous industries. The team continues to participate in a range of complex, high-profile and high-stakes disputes, especially in commercial disputes.

The disputes team consists of many known names, such as Xiaoqing Chu, Yunyan Zhang, Ping Zhao and Haibo Xu. They have rich experience in commercial disputes and litigation.

During the research period, Jincheng Tongda Shanghai represented CITIC Capital Cultural Tourism (Chengdu) in the equity transfer dispute case against an individual; it represented Minsheng Canada Bank Fund Management in a corporate debt dispute litigation case against Anhui Foreign Economic Construction; and it also represented Sinopec Shanghai Petroleum Sales branch in an administrative investigation of abuse of market dominance by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

The firm’s key clients include Fivestar Holdings Group, Guangzhou Yunshuo Technology Development, Hanlin Hui Information Industry and Tianjin Haitai Investment Guarantee. 

Established in 2013, Joius Law Firm is headquartered in Shanghai with offices in Warsaw and Taipei. It also has offices across the world including the US, Germany, Singapore and the Cayman Islands. Its dispute resolution team is led by Deying Ding who is experienced in banking and finance and government and regulatory related disputes.

During the research period, the firm represented Taishin International Commercial Bank in a contract dispute before the Supreme People's Court of China against an individual.

Ge Yan, Xiaoyan Yu and Yun Dong joined the firm as partners.

JunHe’s Shanghai office is highly regarded for its commercial, construction and intellectual property disputes practices. Key partners include commercial disputes specialists Zhao Wang and Lei Wu.

In 2021, the firm advised Green Ting Investment on its participation in Yuehe Real Estate's mutual bond restructuring investment. The process protected the rights and interests of creditors, enterprises and house buyers.

JunZeJun Law Firm is a full-service law firm that prides itself on its capabilities in commercial litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution. Xiuming Tao, Gongyuan Tang, and Zetong Chen are the managing partners in the Shanghai office. They are experts in commercial disputes and in international arbitration.

During the research period, the team acted for a bank in an arbitration of Rmb1 billion against two listed companies' major shareholders. The team also represented a futures company in an Rmb100 million litigation case involving the transaction of financial derivatives against two other companies. The case was the first lawsuit involving over-the-counter derivatives transactions in the futures market by the Shanghai Financial Court.

Shanghai-headquartered Llinks Law Offices is a well-known, full-service law firm with notable strengths in commercial disputes and international arbitration consulting. The Shanghai disputes team is active and recognised in a wide range of commercial matters, such as banking, finance and investment.

Charles Qin is a key name in the firm, acting as lead partner on the majority of cases in commercial disputes and international arbitration areas. Also, the firm is the home of international arbitration expert Patrick Zheng and commercial disputes expert Peiming Yang.

Last year, the firm advised Ping An Annuity Insurance on the revoking rights in bankruptcy disputes with the administrator of Shandong Shengtong Group.

Other cases are confidential.

In 2021, the firm hired James Wang as partner in the dispute resolution department. He joined from Shanghai United Law Firm and specialises in IP practice

Young-Ben Law Firm launched as a boutique litigation firm approximately 14 years ago. The firm is home for 32 lawyers and 10 partners specialising in financial and commercial litigation. Senior partner Feng Ye is the key name in general commercial disputes and arbitration. 

Last year, the firm acted for a confidential client against Dongfang Chengan Asset Management in a fund contract dispute case, which was a very early case in breach of contract by a private equity fund and there were fewer cases for reference. In addition, the firm also represented Aijian Group in an investment dispute case involving the removal of overseas VIE structures, and eventually forced the plaintiff to withdraw its litigation request against Aijian Group voluntarily.

Key clients include Hong Kong New World Group, Taiwan Shenghui Group and EXIDE.

Client feedback

“The firm follows up the case very closely, understands the industry in-depth with timeliness, and is able to learn new knowledge based on the continuous development of our company. They have in-depth understanding of the industry and familiarity with industry practices and can provide accurate, practical and efficient legal services.” – Commercial disputes

YuandaWinston enjoys a stellar reputation in the government and regulatory space, particularly known for anti-corruption and compliance expertise. Based in Shanghai, the team consistently demonstrates a remarkable track record of acting on complex corporate investigations and shaping internal compliance procedures. It is a go-to firm for various multinational corporations and large Chinese enterprises for high-stake enforcement cases. Apart from regulatory disputes, the firm is also active in general commercial and IP matters.

Key figures include John Huang and Leon Liu who are often sought for high-profile investigations work including FCPA investigations. James Jiang is another partner to note.

In one IP case highlight, the firm represented a well-known American baby products company in an administrative lawsuit in the first instance before the Beijing Intellectual Property Court and successfully retrieved the client’s registered trademark.

The firm hired two new IP partners in 2021, including Jieyun Cai joining from Fangda Partners, and Lynn Cheng, who joined from Unitalen Attorneys at Law. Partner Wendy Wu left firm and joined Baker McKenzie FenXun in March 2021.

Yuanda China Law Firm has a strategic alliance with Winston & Strawn to provide comprehensive services to Chinese and global entities including litigation and transactional matters as well as risk management and compliance support.

Zhong Lun Law Firm has been enjoying the coveted position as one of the strongest and most in-demand litigation firms in China, and its Shanghai office also continues its strong presence in the local disputes market. With strength in domestic and international litigation, the team regularly represents clients to achieve excellent results in practice areas such as commercial and transactions, construction and real estate, intellectual property, international arbitration and government compliance.

Jun Gao, partner of the dispute resolution team, is recognised for his work in compliance and government regulation. Commercial disputes expert Binbin Sun is another name to note in the Shanghai office.

Last year was a busy year for Zhong Lun’s Shanghai disputes team. In commercial and transaction, the team advised COFCO Trading in handling the GA matters and cargo insurance issues resulting from an incident when the loading vessel’s main engine broke down. The matter is complicated as there are many legal issues and cargo operations that need to be resolved, including GA securities and bonds, port operations and cargo transshipment. Also, the firm represented Shanghai Building Materials in a dispute over liquidation and dissolution. The case exemplified how state-owned enterprises in Shanghai deal with the historical legal problem of inconsistent ownership of houses and lands raised in the process of restructuring.[WC(1] 

In construction and real estate, the firm acted for Jiangsu Xinggang Construction Group on a construction contract litigation against Shanghai Jinya Real Estate Development and represented Suzhou Zhongshe Construction Group on a construction contract litigation against Suzhou Chengtou Real Estate Development.

In government and regulatory, the team provide comprehensive compliance legal services for Gopher Asset Management to deal with the regulatory supervision by the China Securities Regulatory Commission after the promulgation and implementation of the Regulations on Strengthening the Supervision of Private Investment Funds (Document No.71). This case is the first regulatory supervision case after the promulgation and implementation of Document No.71.

Important clients include Beijing Benz Automotive, Cinda Financial Leasing, Founder Technology Group, Guangdong Huaxing Bank and Shenzhen Prosunpro Solar Energy.  

Client feedback

“Lawyers are dedicated, professional, and offer timely feedback.” – Commercial disputes

Beijing-headquartered Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm is a full-service law firm that has more than 10 years of client services in Shanghai’s legal market. The Shanghai office has 80 lawyers and supporting staff and 80% of its work is related to dispute resolution.

Key figures within the team include Yun Teng and Wei Lin who advise on commercial and international arbitration matters.

During the research period, the firm represented Shanghai Guozhijie Investment Development in responding to a series of financial disputes including inter-bank lending disputes, financial loan contract disputes, business trust disputes, financial bad debt transfer contract disputes, guarantee contract disputes, and other contract disputes. The total amount of the subject matter involved has exceeded Rmb12 billion; and also represented Shanghai SIIC International Trade Group in its import and export agency contract disputes against Ningbo South Locomotive Industrial Base United Import & Export and Ningbo Zhongcheng Overseas Urban Transport, with a subject matter of approximately Rmb100 million.

The firm hired Jie Lian as partner from JunZeJun Law firm. He is focused on commercial disputes and international arbitration.

Client feedback

“During my work in the association, I often heard feedback from members of the association that the lawyers of Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm helped them properly resolve internal and external disputes. I have come into contact with a considerable number of complex civil and commercial cases in my work, many of which have foreign-related factors, but I have found that few lawyers are truly capable of handling foreign-related civil and commercial disputes. Zhong Lun W&D ’s Shanghai lawyers, including Yun Teng, Dahong Li, Wei Lin, have long-term experience, knowledge and skills in serving overseas clients. Some of them are mainly engaged in non-litigation business. The above-mentioned lawyers are also in the theoretical level. The quality of the litigation text, and the court trial style are not inferior, and they can accurately convey Chinese law and Chinese judicial practice to overseas clients. In some complicated civil and commercial cases, the lawyers successfully assisted the judge in jobs. In addition, what impressed me is that the lawyers of the firm are of reasonable age and this reflects the reasonable distribution of young and middle-aged lawyers in the firm.” – Commercial disputes