BEIJING – While Edward Lehman, managing director of leading red circle law firm Lehman, Lee & Xu is no stranger to providing counsel to multinational corporations and high net worth individuals in China he is also often called upon to contribute to international legal news publications. “I’ve been in China and have, for better or worse, witnessed China’s legal development since 1987.” States Lehman, a Chicago native who is often called up on to discuss developments of Chinese law in a number of fields, from Intellectual Property to Foreign Corrupt Practices.
Lehman instills in his employees a sense of responsibility to contribute to the development of Chinese law. “I encourage my people to write and research extensively. Chinese law is still firmly in a development phase and there’s a lack of written commentary”.
One particularly relevant area is corporate social responsibility. “There’s been a lot in the news lately about CSR – the suicide of a young engineer working in a plant manufacturing products for Apple electronics has once again focused a spotlight on the area”. That said though a lot of progress has been made in the area of late with many multinationals having firm policies in place.
CSR is an area Lehman has been frequently asked to comment on – his three year stint as vice chair of the American Bar Association gave him a unique perspective on the issue and ignited Lehman’s interest in the field and how more can be done. “
We have strong labor and environmental law practices. China labor law is strict and very much weighted in favor of the employee with strict guidelines regarding the working hours and the payment of overtime. Enforcement is getting stronger and each time a scandal breaks China’s netizens make a stronger call for workers to be treated fairly. Its really a worker’s rights issue”.
