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Hong Kong Office

Hong Kong is uniquely positioned at the doorsteps of the world's fastest growing major economy of the 21st century and the lawyers on Orrick's China Team have been there since the first days those doors were opened. In 1972, Coudert Brothers was the first foreign law firm to open an office in Hong Kong and, in November 2005, the entire 25-lawyer office of Coudert joined Orrick, opening Orrick's first of three China-focused offices. Orrick's offices in Beijing and Shanghai opened in 2006 when most of Coudert's lawyers in Beijing and Shanghai also joined Orrick. In addition to being first in Hong Kong, Coudert was the first foreign law firm to establish a permanent presence in Beijing (1979), the first foreign law firm to be approved by the Ministry of Justice to establish a law office in China (Beijing, 1992; with the receipt of license no. 001) and one of the first foreign law firms to open an office in Shanghai (2001).

For more than three decades, Orrick's Hong Kong lawyers have been guiding the world's most prominent businesses through many of the first and most complex commercial and financial transactions involving China, including:

The Coca-Cola Company – the first soft drink concentrate plant joint venture in China and the first wholly-foreign owned business in China
McDonald’s - the first fast-food joint venture and the company's entry strategy for the China market, including operations in Shenzhen, Beijing and Guangzhou
S.C. Johnson & Sons, Inc. - the first acquisition of a Chinese factory and operating business by a foreign party
Carrefour – the leading retailer in China during a period of tight restrictions on foreign participation in the retail trade, including the establishment, operation and restructuring of its network of retail outlets
General Motors Corporation and NEC Corporation - the largest U.S. and Japanese investments in China, respectively, at the time
Occidental Petroleum - the establishment and project financing of a US$600 million coal mine in China, the first limited recourse financing in China

Beyond China, the Hong Kong team's experience extends throughout the Asia-Pacific region on significant transactions including the “London Club” of more than 60 commercial banks in a series of jumbo loans of more than $1.5 billion of U.S. dollar- and yen-denominated sovereign debt extended to the Republic of Indonesia; Telenor Ltd. (a Norwegian telecommunications company) in acquiring shares in two Thai telecommunications companies; foreign investors in a series of acquisitions and divestitures in the electric power generating sector in the Philippines; and structuring and advising many of the first hedge funds and private equity funds organized with investors from multiple jurisdictions for investment targets throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

International Reputation

The reputation of our Hong Kong lawyers is well recognized by recent awards from leading global publications, including:

M&A Deal of the Year
The Hong Kong team advised Corporación IMPSA S.A. and Industrias Metalúrgicas Pescarmona S.A. in the restructuring, acquisition and divestiture of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan Power Complex in Laguna, Philippines. This project was selected by Asian Counsel as an “M&A Deal of the Year” in 2006 and was described in the International Financial Law Review as “a remarkable case study in divestiture strategy.”

Real Estate and Construction Deal of the Year
The Hong Kong team advised Credit Suisse on the offshore security for its guaranteed US$100 million financing of the Shanghai Square Project, a 38-storey 80,000 square meter office and retail project in Shanghai. This project received the “Real Estate and Construction Deal of the Year” award in 2006 from Asian Legal Business, which recognized the advanced level of legal services required to complete financings that were structured as dual-currency onshore and offshore loans involving a complex series of offshore security arrangements that crossed four jurisdictions.

Logistics Deal of the Year
The Hong Kong team lawyers structured and completed the RMB 1.7 billion (US$200 million) dual-currency, six-tranche project financing for Royal Vopak’s liquefied chemical and oil products storage and logistics facility in Shanghai. This project received the 2005 “Logistics Deal of the Year” award from Euromoney and is the central feature of the Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park, which is planned to be one of the largest and most integrated chemical and petrochemical production and logistics bases in Asia.

Unique Qualifications

Our Hong Kong team is strongly positioned to assist local and international clients with sophisticated transactions that cross multiple jurisdictions. Our Hong Kong office provides clients with a unique combination of lawyers who are qualified in multiple jurisdictions, fluent in multiple languages, graduates of many of the world's most well respected legal and business universities, experienced in business operations and management, and have served in government positions.

Multiple Jurisdictions
Our Hong Kong lawyers have more than 30 years of experience handling corporate, commercial, securities, finance, litigation and arbitration matters under the laws of the multiple jurisdictions where our local lawyers are qualified - Hong Kong, Australia, the United States, England and Wales.

Multiple Language Capabilities
In addition to being qualified to practice in multiple jurisdictions, our Hong Kong office also provides clients with lawyers who are fluent in multiple languages, including English, Cantonese, French, Korean, Mandarin and Putonghua.

Legal Educations and Business Backgrounds
Lawyers in our Hong Kong office have received graduate degrees (J.D./LL.B., LL.M., M.B.A., B.A. and B.S.) from well known universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, China and Hong Kong, including Chinese University of Hong Kong, Columbia University, Fudan University (Shanghai), Harvard Law School, London School of Economics, New York Law School, Stanford Law School, University of California (Berkeley), University of Hong Kong, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), University of International Business and Economics (Beijing) and Yale College.

Our team of lawyers also includes lawyers with diverse backgrounds, including a lawyer who began advising foreign companies on China matters in 1980 as a Beijing-based business representative and consultant, a lawyer who practiced in California and Korea before moving to Hong Kong in 1993, a lawyer who worked for the Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Government, and a lawyer who held numerous Shenzhen-based management positions. The Hong Kong office is also staffed by Chinese and foreign consultants, legal assistants, trainee solicitors and translators.