Grandall Legal Group (Beijing)

Firm Description

Grandall Legal Group (Grandall) is the first law firm in China to be registered as a "Legal Group", approved by the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China.  The establishment of Grandall in 1998 was the result of an amalgamation of 3 prominent pioneer law firms; TangRen Law Firm (Shenzhen), WanGuo Law Firm (Shanghai) and Michael Zhang & Associates (Beijing). Grandall is one of the first nation-wide full service law firms and remains a market leader to date.

Grandall has grown from a humble size of 15 attorneys to an impressive 100+ partners, 1200+ legal attorneys, trademark / patent attorneys, foreign legal counsels and various other legal professionals over the past decade. In term of the number of lawyers, Grandall is the second largest law firm in China. The Firm is headquartered in Beijing and branch offices exist in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Kunming, Chengdu, Ningbo and Hong Kong.

The firm is a global player in the legal services industry. Via the auspices of CEPA, Grandall was bestowed the honor of being the first mainland law firm to form a branch office in Hong Kong. Presently, Grandall continues to explore close working relationships with prominent law firms across the world, including the USA, Latin America, Europe, South-East Asia, the Middle-East, Africa and Australia.

Recently the work of Grandall Legal Group was showcased at the 2009 ALB Awards alongside the world‘s leading international law firms.  Notable accomplishments included Grandall’s work for Guangdong Nuclear Power, both Grandall and Clifford Chance ranked as Finalists for Energy and Resource Deal of the Year.  The deal was viewed as one of the largest JV’s in China to date and one the highest valued contracts signed in the history of the French nuclear power industry.  Alongside Baker and McKenzie, Grandall ranked as a finalist under the category of Equity Market Deal of the Year for their work on the IPO for China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock IPO.

Main International Areas of Focus

Insurance & Re-insurance: Grandall is able to effectively assist clients on legal support for development of insurance and re-insurance products, insurance regulatory matters, insurance dispute resolution, negotiations related to insurance projects, insurance capital investment and drafting and amending various insurance-related legal documents.

Antitrust & Competition: Grandall, as one of the largest and leading private law firms in China is uniquely positioned to assist its clients in this area.  Our clients benefit from our wide array of experience in areas relevant to anti-trust such as large scale mergers and acquisitions both inbound and outbound, commercial litigation and foreign direct investment. In addition, as one of the more established law firms, Grandall maintains longstanding and close working relationships with the relevant government authorities dealing with the administration, supervision and enforcement units of anti-trust laws and policies.

Aviation, Shipping & Maritime: Grandall has a group of specialized aviation and maritime partners who currently represent most of the major airlines in China, various shipping companies, leasing companies, financial institutions, manufacturers, and service providers in a wide range of commercial, corporate, financing and operational matters.

Banking & Finance: One of Grandall’s traditional major practice areas has been in the banking and finance. At Grandall, our banking and finance lawyers have been involved at the forefront of this area with some pioneer lawyers having assisted in the drafting of China's banking and finance laws and regulations. In addition, since 2002, Grandall has undertaken various high profile projects and has been retained as legal counsel for various banks and other types of financial institutions. We have a strong understanding of this sector and are capable of handling the most complex transactions in this field.

Capital Markets & Corporate Finance: Grandall is one of the foremost leading authorities in assisting PRC and foreign clients in the area of Capital Markets and Corporate Finance. Many of our lawyers were instrumental in the formulation of the current securities laws. To date, Grandall has acted for more than 100 PRC enterprises on raising capital by stock and bond issuance and/or through restructuring. In addition, with Grandall’s key assistance, more than half of these firms raised money by successfully listing abroad on foreign exchanges including, but not limited to, NYSE, NASDAQ, AIM - London, HKEX – (Hong Kong), SE (Singapore), Japan Osaka Securities Exchange and the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

Corporate, M&A & Restructuring: Our Corporate, M&A and Restructuring practice incorporates our investment, securities, tax, accounting, IP and employment practice groups for the benefit of our clients. We have represented acquirers, target companies, financial advisors, trustees and major shareholders in a wide variety of industries.

Dispute Resolution, Arbitration & Litigation: Grandall is able to effectively assist clients on drafting dispute resolution clauses and agreements, property preservation, settlement negotiations, enforcement, banking, construction, intellectual property, insurance and securities litigation, media related dispute and Foreign Direct Investment-related disputes.

Employment & Labour: Grandall’s Employment and Labour practice group has been closely involved with the new laws and have been successfully advising both its Chinese and foreign clients on compliance with the PRC’s complex labour laws. In addition, Grandall’s foreign practice group has advised domestic and foreign firms with Chinese subsidiaries on key foreign laws that may have an impact on their operations, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Environmental: Due to shifting policies, China’s environmental authorities are becoming increasingly stringent in both the regulatory approvals process, monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. Grandall takes a two-pronged approach focusing its efforts on counseling clients on risk-reduction and compliance and when necessary advocates for its clients in litigation proceedings.

Foreign Direct Investment: Grandall Legal Group has extensive experience in assisting companies and individual business persons with their foreign direct investment projects in China. Our clients include large MNCs, Fortune 500, SMEs, public and private companies. We have advised clients in different industries, on every aspect of foreign direct investment, from initial setup, maintenance of the operation, restructuring (e.g. M&A), and also divestment out of the country. Our advice to clients utilizes our firm’s expertise in diverse areas relevant to FDI such as corporate structuring, tax planning, employment, intellectual property protection and dispute resolution.

Infrastructure, Power & Energy: China has a tremendous and growing requirement for the development of infrastructure projects. Grandall advises a wide range of clients on all aspects of infrastructure development and related financing. Grandall has advised on projects related to highways, ports, bridges, water, wastewater, and telecommunications industries.

Intellectual Property: Grandall has assisted both multinationals as well as major domestic companies in the area of intellectual property protection and IP litigation. Our team of IP lawyers have represented clients in the form of judicial review of administrative decisions conferring patents and trademarks, to civil litigation concerning disputes of patents, trademarks, copyrights (including software), domain names, and unfair competition (including infringement of trade secrets). In what is particularly critical for our foreign clients, we have the skills and experience in designing practical IP rights protection schemes and enforcing IP rights in China’s evolving environment. We also work collectively as a whole with our offices throughout China to leverage our local and regional expertise to assist our clients in combating and enforcing actions against knock off and counterfeit goods.

International Trade & WTO: With China joining the WTO, China’s position as a trading leader in the international arena has been further confirmed. Grandall Legal Group is able to advise on complex WTO and China regulations and provide solutions to our clients who operate in the international trade market.

Private Equity & Venture Capital: Grandall’s private equity group advises various equity funds, including buy-out funds, venture capital funds, hedge funds, real estate funds, and other funds, in structuring and organization of fund vehicles and management companies, preparation of memoranda and documentation, fundraising and other operational issues.

Real Estate & Construction: Grandall is able to effectively assist clients on investment, transfer, development and operation of real estate projects, management contracts, land use rights, bidding of construction projects and settlement of disputes relating to construction and real estate.

Securities: Grandall Legal Group is a leading firm in securities transactions in China.  We are one of a handful of domestic firms licensed by the State Council, China’s highest executive ruling body, to provide legal advice on the Chinese securities field.  Our securities attorneys were involved in some of the earliest initial public offerings on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.  Each year, our firm continues to be involved in key securities deals, and Grandall’s attorneys involved in the Securities practice group are highly regarded as experts in this area. In addition, our Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing offices maintain close relations with the relevant Chinese authorities such as the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

Tax & Trusts: China implements a relatively complex local and federal tax system. Grandall is able to effectively assist its clients on a wide range of issues, including local, federal, and international tax matters. The firm’s clients range from major multinationals to individuals protecting their personal wealth, utilizing both tax-effective planning and structuring along with trust arrangements, both domestically and internationally.