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 CITIC Securities in a stock pledge repurchase dispute. The deal value of this matter is sizeable and involves complex calculations of repurchase interest and liquidated damages. The team also 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

“The professional advice on bankruptcy reorganisation, debt relationship sorting and analysis are excellent.” – Commercial disputes

“Professional legal service capability, timely legal risk notification, and multi-faceted experience in handling financial cases effectively help our company to smoothly resolve risks.” – Commercial disputes

“They can respond promptly and with a deep understanding of legal theory, they can point out the core legal problems and give solutions. With both legal and business thinking, the team can consider the problems from the company’s perspective, combine with the actual situation of the company, and give reasonable legal advice.” – Commercial disputes

“It provides professional services.”  – Commercial disputes

You Zhang

“Reorganises consultant recommendations in a professional, efficient, and effective manner.”

Fang Cao

“Cao Fang has served as the general counsel of Maersk in China for 15 years, giving him a solid understanding of the company's operations and business model. He also has experience working with shipping companies, and is able to combine law with practice to provide practical and effective solutions for the company.”

Sheng Zhang

“Sheng possesses more than 20 years of experience in judicial practice, specialising in litigation and arbitration in the field of financial securities. He conducted a thorough risk analysis of the company’s projects and demonstrated his professional competence in formulating litigation and arbitration strategies. He successfully helped the company mitigate major risks and received unanimous praise from people throughout the company.”

“It has been a pleasure working with Zhang Sheng. When our company encountered an urgent dispute, Zhang and his team actively mediated between all parties involved to help us overcome obstacles in a timely and effective manner while fully and effectively protecting our rights and interests.

Zhang Sheng is an experienced lawyer of excellent conduct, always remaining dedicated, honest, and diligent in his practice. His profound knowledge in foundational legal theories and abundant practical experience in the field of financial services has allowed him to effectively resolve legal problems and made him an excellent litigator.”

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 operations, 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 of the dispute resolution team, specialising in commercial and transactions battles.

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.

In intellectual property, the firm represented iQiyi against a major online platform over the Australian Open’s copyright and unfair competition disputes. The case basically paved the way for the copyright protection of tennis events and is still ongoing.

In 2022, the firm hired Yusen Wang and promoted Gang Li to the partnership.

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 lawyer, and he mainly focuses on the electricity sector of the intellectual property practice.

In late 2021, the firm represented a pharmaceutical machinery company, the patent owner, successfully overturning the invalidation decision issued by the CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration) and assisted the client in filing a dispute.

The firm acted for Darwin Technologies, a European manufacturing company that won its case over an indirect patent infringement in the Beijing High People's Court. The victory in this case received great attention because Chinese courts rarely support indirect infringement. In addition, the judgment element of aiding infringement has developed greatly in recent years. The entire litigation lasted for six years, during which time changes in the rules for the establishment of aiding infringement were introduced. This case has reference value for future similar cases.

Key clients for the firm include Darwin Technology International, Honeywell International, KPN and Powertech Industrial.

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

The team consists of many leading names such as Wanquan Shao, Shuying Zhu, Rubo Han and Zhongchun Song.

During the research cycle, the firm represented real estate company Fineland’s subsidiary, the contract letting party, in suing China Construction Fourth Engineering Division, the contractor, for liquidated damages for overdue payment. The deal value is massive and the case is ongoing.

Important clients include Shanghai Stock Exchange, China Offshore Construction Engineering Fourth Construction Group, China Financial Futures Exchange, and Shaanxi Construction Engineering Installation Group.

Client feedback

“They are experienced and have a very deep understanding of professional knowledge in the field of construction engineering.” – Construction and real estate

“The firm provides complete types of legal services for urban and rural development, and strong professionalism of legal services for construction projects.” – Construction and real estate

Jingqi Li

“He is very knowledgeable in the field of engineering and experienced in law, which enables him to simplify complex issues and provide clients with clear and concise guidance.”

“He provides litigation representation services. He is a very responsible lawyer well-versed in engineering who considers problems from the perspective of the client and addresses clients’ actual needs.”

Dentons China is one of the largest law firms in China. The leader of the firm’s Nanjing office in the area of construction and real estate is Wang Shidu.

During the research period, the firm handled construction contract disputes and lease disputes, all of which were confidential cases.

DaHui Lawyers’ dispute resolution team is particularly known for its work in commercial litigation and arbitration, especially cross-border disputes. The firm represents large foreign corporations and domestic entities before important arbitration centres like HKIAC, ICC and SIAC. Industry leaders in the fields of aviation, energy, tech, manufacturing, IT, automobiles and finance frequently engage the firm for counsel.

Arthur Ma is noted as a key figure within the firm’s dispute resolution practice and has a particular focus on commercial litigation and international arbitration. Xing Wan is another key lawyer to note.

In the commercial and transactions space, the firm successfully represented renowned bond underwriter China Securities. It won both the first-instance case and second-instance case regarding claims of false statements of non-public directional debt financing instruments by non-financial enterprises in the interbank bond market, the first case of its kind in China. This case will have a major impact on the core issue of determining the scope of securities companies’ liability in similar financial disputes.

Another case during the research period shows the firm representing The Boeing Company in multiple product liability disputes in Chinese courts resulting from the MH370 incident, where a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 aircraft carrying 239 people lost contact with the control centre. This case is believed to be a milestone case in the history of aviation product liability in China’s court system.

In the international arbitration space, the firm is representing a global steel product manufacturer and distributor in recovering $58 million worth of cross-border convertible bonds through arbitration. In another case, it is representing a state-owned entity and its A-listed subsidiary in protracted legal proceedings across multiple jurisdictions regarding control over a Cayman-registered Hong Kong-listed company.

In early 2022, the firm hired Zhengwei Yang from Baker McKenzie FenXun as a partner. Yi Dai also joined the firm as partner from Wang Jing & Co later in the same year.

The firm’s impressive roster of clients includes China Huarong Overseas Investment Holdings, Henan Guoneng Huanghe Logistics, SAIF Partners and Shanxi Shengdian.

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. Xinliang Tao is an expert in the IP area.

In commercial disputes, the team represented ChangYuan Technology Group, a smart grid equipment manufacturer, in responding to a series of securities misrepresentation dispute. The case arose from a performance compensation agreement between the client and its subsidiary, in which the subsidiary falsified contracts and financial data to achieve performance targets, making the client’s financial data inaccurate. The case is ongoing.

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 it also represented Xinye Electronics against Guowei Ceramics in a patent infringement dispute.

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

The firm hired four partners in 2022: Haixia Dai, Yan Huang, Linqi Wang and Zhimiao Zhang, while four other partners left.

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 for contentious intellectual property.

During the research period, the commercial disputes team in Shanghai acted for Shanghai Jinxin Investment and Everbright Jinhui Investment Management (Shanghai) to bring a lawsuit against Baofeng Group and its actual controller before the PRC Supreme Court, and represented an individual client in a series of litigations concerning disputes over corporate governance.

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-stakes cases in patent field worldwide.

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

In 2022, the firm promoted three dispute resolution lawyers Sophia Feng, Yang Liu and Wang Zhang to partnership.

Client feedback

“Very professional and reliable, and very responsive.” – Commercial disputes

Bo Zhou

“He is very knowledgeable in the field of engineering and experienced in law, which enables him to simplify complex issues and provide clients with clear and concise guidance.”

Heidi Zhang

“Heidi provides timely responses and professional services.”

Founded in 2007, Glinks law firm has around 80 lawyers with a focus on compliance, maritime regulatory, international trade, investment, M&A, IP and capital markets.

The firm represented an A-share and H-share dual-listed pharmaceutical company in a dispute over the foreign registration of a biosimilar. This case is China’s first cross-border biosimilar registration billion-RMB level dispute.

Notable clients include China State Shipbuilding Corporation, Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machiner Company, China Railway Engineering Group and American International Group AIG.

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 litigation and arbitration department of Guantao Law Firm is widely recognised by its peers. The firm handles a variety of complex disputes matters, being especially known for commercial and transactions-related disputes, such as high-value, complex corporate and commercial disputes and insolvency, as well as regulatory matters.

Partners Yi Lyu, Zhe Deng, Bo Tian, Daofeng Liu and Xuan Li expertise in commercial and construction disputes as well as antitrust and arbitration. Yonghong Zhan is also singled out for his work in the construction space.

Work highlights during the research period include the Shanghai team acting for China Securities in a stock pledge repurchase dispute against an individual debtor, and due to the debtor's misrepresentation and abuse of judicial remedies in the arbitration and enforcement process caused Guantao team to face many challenges in handling this dispute.

In construction and real estate space, the firm acted for Zf (China) Investment against a Hangzhou construction company in a dispute over contracts on undertaking construction projects.

Key clients include China Eastern Airlines, Guotai Junan Securities, Ping An Property Insurance, Shenzhen Bi'an Trend Technology, SZ DJI Technology and Walmart (China) Investment.

Haiwen & Partners has a wide range of experience across commercial litigation and arbitration relating to the banking, construction and manufacturing industries. The firm is also active in intellectual property disputes.

Key individuals include Fan He for commercial disputes and Qiang Ma for IP disputes.

Some of the commercial and transactions case highlights during the research period saw the firm advising Shandong Innovation Real Estate in a litigation case against CCI Holdings involving financing, guarantee and equity transfer of a project company; representing Anhui Four Seasons Smart New Energy Technology in an arbitration against Beijing Zhongneng Zhihui Technology and three other entities in a dispute arising from an investment cooperation agreement related to a material assets reorganisation of a listed company; and defending a large Chinese listed bank in a series of arbitral cases.

The firm has shown noticeable growth in its headcount in the past 12 months, with dispute lawyer Chao Yang returning to its bench as partner from AnJie Broad Law Firm. In late 2022, the firm also welcomed Jingjing Chen and Yuanyuan Jia as partners from Hui Zhong Law Firm and Zhong Lun Law Firm, respectively.

Notable clients are AVIC International Aviation Development, Poly Mining and Mercedes-Benz (China).

Client feedback

“Professional service and work attitude, with timely feedback.” – Commercial disputes

Yang Liu

“Professional consultation services and prompt feedback.”

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.

Client feedback

“They know the customer, give professional advice, and have smooth communications and reasonable quotations.” – Commercial disputes

David Tang

“Provides efficient and rational legal recommendations.”

Will Huang

“Understands clients, skilled at communicating with clients, and provides prompt responses.”

Shanghai HHP Attorneys-At-Law is a boutique law firm that adheres to work in finance-related practice areas such as mergers and acquisitions, finance and investment, and commercial dispute resolution. The firm houses 17 lawyers who provide litigation and non-litigation legal services for European and American enterprises, financial institutions, state-owned enterprises and private enterprises.

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

Highlighted cases include advising a confidential client on over 30 lawsuits against four automobile manufacturers in China, involving a total amount over RMB 100 million, and advising a large state-owned construction service provider on an RMB 90million arbitration against domestic contractors.

Key clients include 3M, Aijian Trust, Aishiwei Group and Arburg.

Client feedback

“HHP Attorneys-At-Law has a high degree of legal professionalism. Each lawyer from the firm has excellent legal and communication skills. At the same time, the firm also has a good business understanding ability, and can always provide constructive and comprehensive opinions to help companies find a good balance between compliance and business needs.” – Commercial disputes

“The firm provided us with very satisfactory legal services in the field of dispute resolution litigation. Its lawyers have profound legal foundation and rich experience in dispute resolution and can provide quick response, high-quality analysis opinions and effective results even in the face of very complicated cases. Lawyers are very professional in the industrial products and manufacturing industry as they have rich experience in handling cases, and are familiar with the latest judicial practices. Its litigation experts and experienced lawyers in specific fields can be deployed at any time to complete the joint work in different cases. At the same time, HHP is a member firm of Meritas, and cooperates well with many overseas law firms, and can efficiently resolve cross-border disputes and complete judicial procedures across jurisdictions for us.” – Commercial disputes

Yao Rao

“Rao has well-rounded legal knowledge and can provide clients with comprehensive professional services. He also has an excellent understanding of our business and can provide clients with practical solutions and recommendations.”

“The HHP cross-disciplinary team led by Rao provided our company with extensive and comprehensive legal services. He is honest, responsible, business-savvy and has a hands-on approach, making him an excellent team leader.”

Qian Ma

“Ma Qian is well-versed when it comes to legal knowledge and he has outstanding litigation and excellent negotiation skills. He is highly experienced and has unique insights into dispute resolution. He is very open-minded and can provide creative solutions, making him an excellent litigation lawyer.”

Since its establishment in 1995, Shanghai-headquartered Hiways Law Firm has rapidly flourished into a comprehensive legal services provider with a great reputation at home and abroad.

Zhi Wang is a key partner with focus on private equity and capital markets-related disputes.

During the research cycle, the firm represented an investment company in suing Everbright Capital in a market-influential tort liability dispute. In April 2016, Everbright Capital and Baofeng Group established a fund to acquire 65% share rights of MPS Group, a giant in international sports copyright market. Everbright Capital’s subsidiary acted as the fund manager. After acquisition, MPS Group went bankrupt and Baofeng Group also went into debt.

Hiways’ clients include banks, trust companies, insurance companies, financial leasing companies, and technology financial companies.

Hong Fang Law’s practice is exclusively dedicated to intellectual property. The firm is especially active in litigation for clients in the automotive, communications, construction, energy, pharmaceuticals and software industries. Xu Zhang is the main contact in the firm.

Case highlights include acting on behalf of British multinational alcoholic beverage company Diageo in filing an objection and an application for trademark invalidation against Guangzhou Gangpai Garment; advising South Korean beauty and cosmetics chaebol Amorepacific Corporation on a trademark infringement dispute against Cosmeceuticals (Guangdong); and advising another South Korean cosmetics brand, Innisfree Corporation, on a trademark infringement litigation against Shanghai Pingfan Glasses and Jiangsu Pingfan Glasses.

Some of its most important clients include 3M, Bandai Namco, Hennessy, Hisense Group and Treasury Wine Estates.

Client feedback

“They always offer a tailor-made solution for each situation.” – Intellectual property

Xu Zhang

“Zhang Xu, a partner at Hong Fang Law, is our most frequent contact. His experience and insights in IP practice in the energy industry have been very helpful for us when formulating an IP protection strategy in China.”

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 an 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.

Hylands Law Firm is a full-service firm founded in 1990. With more than 20 offices in China, the firm serves its clients across commercial litigation, IP disputes and construction and real estate disputes.

Partner Yu Xu and Liming Ye are key partners in the firm’s dispute resolution practice and have extensive experience in commercial disputes, especially active in banking and finance-related matters.

During the research period, the firm represented dozens of minority shareholders in a class action lawsuit against the listed company China Security for misrepresentation. This case is the first one in which the liability of intermediaries was determined by “proportional joint and several liability” in the field of securities misrepresentation liability disputes in China.

Beijing Construction Engineering Group, Huzhou Ronghui Jiaheng Finance Leasing, Suzhou Gold Mantis Construction Decoration and Xinyi Investment Management Consulting (Tianjin) are key clients.

Client feedback

“They reviewed and revised equity financing agreements, and strongly defended our company's rights and interests. They provided reasonable advice on potential labor disputes.”–Government and regulatory

“The lawyers have a wealth of expertise, are responsive and client-oriented.” –Construction

Liming Ye

“He reviewed our equity financing agreement carefully and helped our company modify the agreement in our favour.”

“He provides excellent and professional legal knowledge and solutions; reviews contracts quickly, sometimes providing feedback even on Sundays.”

Jin Mao Law Firm, established in 1988, is a law firm offering a comprehensive range of professional legal services. With its head office in Shanghai, Jin Mao has set up operations in Hong Kong and a few offices in Jiangsu.

Key partners include Jun Shi, Zheng Han, and Huigang Mao.

During the research cycle, the firm has handled around 800 disputes, including commercial disputes and arbitration, and real estate, IP and administrative disputes. Highlighted cases include representing Far Eastern International Bank in a series of cross-border financial loan disputes.

They key clients include Adidas, ByteDance, HP and JD.com.

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 an 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. 

In 2022, the firm hired 11 partners to strengthen its capacity in commercial, regulatory, criminal, IP and cross-border disputes.

Jingtian & Gongcheng’s Beijing headquarters has won praise from the market as one of the leading commercial disputes firms. Its litigation team specialises in resolving legal matters relating to trade, investment, corporate business, finance and insurance. The firm is also growing its presence in the real estate and construction space.

Partner Chungang Dong is a key name within the dispute resolution group, and he is known for his capability in commercial disputes and international arbitration.

Among the general commercial disputes, the firm represented a fund company in an arbitration case of a price adjustment dispute against two individuals, with a subject amount exceeding RMB 220 million. The court held that the supplementary agreement shall be governed by the laws of mainland China and is valid, confirming that the cornerstone investors may protect their rights and interests through the supplementary agreement in this case. The firm also represented a well-known investment company in its RMB 40 million dispute with an individual, the actual controller of a Hong Kong-listed company.

During the research period, the firm welcomed a number of new partners: Kaiyuan Gao, Chunhui Fang, Min Xu, Clare Lee, Wei Sun and Hui Yang.

The firm’s litigation clients include Aha Entertainment (Shanghai), Beijing Huaye Capital Holdings, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, Guangdong Chigo Air Conditioning and Guangdong Guangzhou Daily Media.

Based in Shanghai, Joint-Win Partners has comprehensive coverage in the commercial disputes field. The firm is active in matters involving capital markets, corporate, government and intellectual property. It has rich experience in dealing with government agencies, with a strong track record in handling various administrative lawsuits.

One of the key figures at the firm includes Yueguang Zhu, who is a veteran commercial disputes lawyer with a particular focus on finance, administrative and IP law. Hongyi Lu and Zhenming Guan are other senior lawyers to note.

Key work highlights over the 12 months of the research period include acting for Wells Fargo Asset Management in the realisation of special procedures for security interests; representing Zhiang Trading against Yiyuqing Wine Industry in the dispute over the execution of the objection by outsiders; and acting for Postal Savings Bank of China Shanghai Songjiang District branch in disputes with borrowers who transferred mortgaged properties without authorisation.

Joius Law Firm is a Shanghai-based boutique firm dedicated specifically to litigation and dispute resolution in the commercial and transaction sphere. Deying Ding is the director and managing partner.

During the research period, the team provided legal advice over cross-border disputes related to financial loans, contracts, share transfers, and judgments. One highlight includes acting in a contract dispute between Sanrio International Trading Company and another Chinese company.

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

In 2022, the firm advised a Beijing technology company in a copyright infringement dispute against a Shanghai publishing company. The dispute is relatively rare, and is a dictionary-type copyright infringement dispute due to data crawling. The firm also advised a Chinese subsidiary of a Brazilian construction materials company on regulatory requirements and compliance for its waste recycling program.

Last year, the firm hired bankruptcy focused lawyers Zhengdong Liu, CHenghao Li, Ling Wu and Xi Liu from MHP Law Firm, regulatory experts Chenguang Liu, Bo Sun from Yuanda Law Firm, and Sipei Lu from Simmons & Simmons.

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 international arbitration.

During the research period, the team acted for a bank in a RMB 1 billion arbitration against two listed companies' major shareholders. The team also represented a futures company in an RMB 100 million litigation case involving the transaction of financial derivatives against two other companies. The case was the first lawsuit at the Shanghai Financial Court involving over-the-counter derivatives transactions in the futures market.

Shanghai-headquartered Llinks Law Offices is a well-known, full-service law firm with notable strengths in disputes advisory, commercial disputes and international arbitration. 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 arbitrations. Also, the firm is the home of international arbitration expert Patrick Zheng and commercial disputes specialist Peiming Yang.

Last year, the firm advised Tencent in an unfair competition case with a Hangzhou-based technology company. The other cases, mostly commercial disputes, remain confidential.

Lusheng Law Firm is an intellectual property firm and a patent agency authorised by the China National Intellectual Property Administration. With headquarters in Beijing, the firm has also set up branches in Shanghai and Guangzhou to provide patent agency services to clients across China.

Carol Wang leads the firm’s Shanghai office.

For IP litigation, the firm successfully represented Spin Master in a dispute over invention patent infringement. Bakugan was one of the most successful toys in history and Spin Master owns the invention patent for Bakugan toys in China. The defendant is one of the top 10 toy companies and the alleged infringing products were one of the most popular toys in China.

Another IP case had the firm representing The Lego Group in a criminal conviction against an individual and his company in Shanghai for counterfeiting service marks. The case was inducted into the ‘Top 11 model cases on IP protection and innovation-driven development released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate’ and ‘2021 Top 10 IP protection model cases of Shanghai courts’.

Notable IP clients include Burberry, Cisco, Guangdong Wonderful Thermal Control Technology, New Balance, Universal Pictures (Shanghai) Trading and Vans.

Merits & Tree Law Offices’ dispute resolution practice is active in insolvency and intellectual property. Its assets and bankruptcy restructuring team has extensive experience in representing asset management companies, financial institutions and social investors in a large number of litigations related to non-performing assets disposal. Its IP practice has a track record of handling dispute settlement in the TMT, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, medical devices, artificial intelligence, chemicals and materials fields.

Key partners in the commercial space in Shanghai include Kai Liu and Sheng Jiang. The firm is also a home to construction expert Hong Lu and Chun Gu.

In commercial disputes, the firm handled a miner exploration rights dispute between two Inner Mongolia companies, and represented China Agriculture Industry Development Fund in a share repurchase disputes against various parties. The team also represented Huarong Assets in the execution of financial loan disputes and handled more than 60 cases of execution objections, assisting clients in fully realizing their claims while resolving historical legacy issues involving numerous properties and avoiding the loss of state-owned assets.

In the construction space, the firm represented a construction company responding to a sizable dispute relating to a shopping plaza and helped the client become exempted from the huge risk of compensation of RMB 368 million.

Five former Anli Partners lawyers, Zheng Li, Chenxi Qu, Jingxiang Zhou, Haiqing Wang and Xia Lan, joined Merits & Tree Law Offices in August 2022.

SGLA Law Firm specialises in a wide range of dispute resolution practices, including litigation, arbitration and mediation. Members of the team often serve on arbitration panels as well as being mediators in local proceedings. The firm is a member of Sino-Global Legal Alliance, which is the largest alliance of Chinese and foreign law firms in China.

Senior partner Bo (Paul) Zhou is the key contact at the firm, a prominent counsel in commercial disputes.

During the research cycle, the firm assisted a stated-owned construction company against a major developer in an equity share and loan dispute. The client took the initiative to choose the jurisdictional court to avoid local protection, and the defendant party deliberately delayed the case hearing and execution process through various means. The team also represented a well-known securities firm in another equity transfer case.

Founded in 2013, Shanghai Beshining Law Office is a full-service law firm focusing on intellectual property. It houses more than 150 lawyers, patent attorneys and legal and technical professionals.

Key names to note include Qi Xue, Shuiping Zhu and Weibin Wang. Xue has expertise in biology, chemistry and food.

During the research cycle, the firm represented a leading intelligent flexible loop line manufacturer in filing a series of patent invalidation requests. The other cases remain confidential but showed its capabilities in handling complex IP-related disputes.

In 2022, the firm promoted four lawyers to the partnership: Mengyuan Li, Hong Yuan, Ling Zou and Qiaoyun He. In 2021, Xiaoraong Wang joined the firm as a senior partner. She has abundant working experience in pharmaceutical companies.

Founded in 2015, Shanghai CILS Law Firm is a rapidly developing boutique firm. As CILS is short for Corporate Integrated Legal Solutions, the firm provides full services to company and individual clients in corporate matters, commercial transactions, IP disputes, investment and financing issues.

The key partners are Yaohui Lou, Yingjie Sun, Yuan Wu and Xiaotao Dong. Lou worked as an Asia legal director for a global fortune 500 company for over 10 years.

Highlighted cases include the team’s representation of Trafigura Group, a leading commodity trading and logistic company, in a civil and commercial dispute over international contracts for the sale and purchase of goods.

Shanghai Jin Kun Law Firm is a full-service law firm focusing on corporate matters, civil and commercial matters, IP laws and criminal laws.

Baotong Xu is a senior partner focusing on international commercial arbitration.

During the research cycle, the firm represented an SOE in declaring the creditor’s right in a commercial court in Azerbaijan. The client has been pursuing this claim for nearly seven years and has entrusted insurance companies and law firms to solve this issue.

The firm opened its Suzhou office in Jiangsu in mid-2022.

Beijing-headquartered Tian Tong Law Firm is a widely recognised litigation boutique. In particular, it focuses on major and complex commercial dispute resolution before the highest levels of court in China. Since its establishment in 2002, the total value of commercial cases handled by the firm has reached tens of billions of yuan, and 30 cases have been selected as landmark cases by the Supreme People's Court of China.

Partner Zhengyu Xin and Junxiao Yang are key names in the firm’s Shanghai office.

During the research period, the firm represented Foton Motor in a share rights transfer case with great deal value. It also assisted a heavy industry company win a processing contract case, resolving a dispute that had been going on for more than 10 years.

Key clients include the People's Bank of China, Electric Group, Dalian Wanda Group and Evergrande Group.

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

Established as a unique strategic alliance with Winston & Strawn, Yuanda China Law Offices enjoys a reputation as a firm with IP litigation and compliance businesses that are the most comprehensive in terms of practice depth.

Equity partner Hai Jiang is a key name within the firm, and his practice includes commercial disputes, government compliance, intellectual property, international arbitration, and technology and communications.

Last year, the firm represented TCL in multi-patent infringement proceedings in mobile phone and semiconductor manufacturing technologies in the US district courts of California and Texas. The case was important because it marks one of the first Amazon mediation cases for a Chinese company in a new procedure that many more Chinese Amazon sellers may encounter.

Zhong Lun Law Firm has been enjoying the coveted position as one of the strongest and most in-demand litigation firms in China. Its Shanghai office also continues its strong presence in the local disputes market. With strengths 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 at the Shanghai office.

Last year was a busy year for Zhong Lun’s Shanghai disputes team. 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 provided comprehensive compliance legal services for Gopher Asset Management in dealing with 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

“They are familiar with professional characteristics, have timely communications, quick responses, and are all highly professional.” – Commercial disputes

“Wide-ranging vision of legal affairs. Professional and timely responses. Control and synchronization of details. Real-time services for the clients.” – Commercial disputes

Yueping Zhou

“Excellent client management, risk management, and professional problem-solving.”

Catherine Sun

“She helped us find a lower cost, with a more efficient solution and quickly implemented it.
She exhibited a very professional and positive attitude, excellent service, and control of details.
She was dedicated to protecting assets and constantly pressured the other side.”