MWE China Law Offices Co-Hosts the 2009 In-House Counsel Congress
SHANGHAI, CHINA (November 24, 2009) — MWE China Law Offices (MWE China) recently co-hosted the 2009 In-House Counsel Congress. The event is held annually and is widely recognized as one of the largest and most prestigious events for in-house counsel and senior corporate decision makers based in Shanghai. In attendance were more than 200 professionals representing over 100 companies including numerous Fortune 500 giants such as Sinopec, Siemens, Coca-Cola, Cisco, Caterpillar, Du Pont, GE, General Motors, HP, Goodyear Tire, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer and FedEx.
John Huang, managing partner of MWE China, had the honor of moderating a panel of seven legal experts that kicked-off the Congress plenary session. Addressing the topic, “Managing Your In-house Team and Getting the Best Out of External Counsel and Consultants,” the panel shared their experiences with those in attendance in order to provide guidance on the best methods to motivate and organize a legal team—consisting of both internal and external counsel—in order to achieve company objectives.
Furthermore, Mr. Huang and Michael Socarras, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP (the global law firm with which MWE China has a strategic alliance), gave a joint presentation during the afternoon entitled, “Regulatory and Government Affairs – Advising Multinational Companies Dealing with PRC Government Investigations.” They also discussed lessons learned from their experience working together to help several multinational companies resolve compliance issues in China and internationally.
With more than 120 participants in attendance, Mr. Huang first gave an overview of the general regulatory climate in China and the challenges that multinational companies face within it. Soon thereafter, he launched into a discussion of the “anatomy” of a government investigation – analyzing specific PRC laws (including those concerning the concept of legal privilege, state secrets, commercial secrets, etc.), explaining procedures followed by government authorities, and emphasizing the critical role that a lawyer plays during all phases of an investigation. With specific respect to a lawyer’s role, Mr. Huang provided practical guidance on how legal counsel can both advocate and protect a company’s interests during all phases of an investigation.
Mr. Socarras then explained how these concepts and tactics can be utilized by a company when implementing a strategy focused on compliance. In brief, he stressed that by choosing to be proactive, companies can design and execute projects that mitigate a company’s exposure to the risk of a government investigation. To close out the workshop, Mr. Huang and Mr. Socarras held a question & answer session fielding several questions from the crowd on a variety of topics.
Patrick Dransfield, a senior publisher at Pacific Business Press (the company that organized the Congress), characterized MWE China’s participation in the Congress as a “great success,” noting that the workshop had received excellent feedback from those in attendance and added that he looked forward to MWE China’s participation at next year’s Congress.
MWE China Law Offices is strategically aligned with McDermott Will & Emery, an international law firm with 16 offices in the United States and Europe, to provide global companies based within and outside of China superior global client service with access to leading lawyers within China and around the globe.
