While leading red circle law firm Lehman, Lee & Xu has built up a strong reputation in the fields of Intellectual Property and Mergers & Acquisitions, the firm has noticed an upswing in bankruptcy and reorganization work. “While work has tapered off in some areas, we’ve more than compensated in other areas”, relays Ed Lehman, Managing Director of the firm.
The Chinese economy, which is already picking up, is expected to grow at 9.4% during the third quarter. “Now in a time of recession that’s unprecedented growth”. States Lehman, Chicago native and long time China resident.
The shift from Mergers & Acquisitions and IPO work to bankruptcy and restructuring has been an interesting transition for the firm’s lawyers over the last twelve months. “Its important to be dynamic enough to adapt to economic climate. We try to ensure our lawyers practice in a number of areas”.
Being able to move seamlessly between practice areas is not the only important ingredient for remaining successful in the face of negative economic numbers. “We regularly liaise with the authorities to keep our clients up to date with legislative
and policy related changes”, says Lehman. “We hear more and more about unpublished internal policies in the various ministries which are impacting foreign businesses in China. We keep our ear to the ground to enable us to best advise our clients.”
While there have been lay offs in foreign firms in China, domestic law firms have largely been immune to the crisis and because numbers were not cut, such firms are ideally placed to take advantage of the upswing. “The domestic legal market in
China is growing exponentially regardless of the economic climate”.
