Overview
SHANGHAI (December 1, 2014) — International law firm McDermott Will & Emery, in conjunction with its strategic ally MWE China Law Offices, will launch its new MWE China Data Center in Shanghai Wednesday to provide sophisticated legal and technical discovery services to clients doing business in the region.
The groundbreaking Data Center will be the first digital discovery platform in China to be designed, operated and staffed by lawyers fully licensed to operate there. As such, it responds directly to growing compliance demands by the Chinese government and the subsequent need among multinational companies for greater, more detailed regulatory, litigation and transaction data.
MWE China Data Center will apply cutting-edge e-discovery solutions and processes to the new challenges facing multinational companies in China for cross-border data transfers, proactive compliance audits, government investigations, whistleblower inquiries, and other projects that demand rapid reviews of large amounts of electronically stored information.
“The demand for these services is increasing exponentially, yet, until now, the clients in need of those services had nowhere to turn,” says Geoffrey A. Vance, partner and head of McDermott Discovery, the Firm’s in-house managed review services provider. “McDermott and MWE China Law Offices are uniquely positioned to meet this demand and help these clients by attempting to repeat our successful and innovative U.S. discovery offerings. My U.S. and Chinese partners are eager to expand the concept to the Chinese legal market and are confident it will achieve the same level of success we’ve experienced in the U.S.”
Unlike other vendors in China that are not law firms, the new MWE China Data Center is staffed by People’s Republic of China (PRC)-qualified attorneys who are authorized to access and obtain evidence. Because it is a law firm, MWE China has a heightened duty of confidentiality and specific legal ethics rules that require it to protect its clients’ confidential and sensitive information at a level that is far and above its competitors.
“The MWE China Data Center is the first of its kind in China,” said Shanghai-based White Collar partner Leon C.G. Liu, who is responsible for opening and overseeing the Center. “Our clients have historically relied on multiple, non-law firm entities for document review work at exorbitant costs. The Data Center changes that by consolidating document review under one roof and making it economical for clients with China-related operations.”
MWE China Data Center’s role as a trusted legal advisor allows it to seamlessly integrate knowledge and analysis produced during document review into any subsequent legal work led by the broader MWE China team.
“We are incredibly proud to bring this enhanced service offering to our U.S. clients, many of whom have operations in China and throughout East Asia,” said Alison Silverstein, Managing Director of McDermott Discovery. “This is an exciting day for the whole Discovery team, whose talent, innovation and dedication has made McDermott a global leader in document review services.”
The Data Center will be formally launched at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and cocktail reception hosted by McDermott Co-Chair Jeffrey E. Stone and MWE China Co-Founder and Managing Partner John Z.L. Huang. For more information, please visit https://www.mwe.com/MWE-China-Data-Center-Grand-Opening-2014/.
McDermott has a strategic alliance with the PRC-licensed firm MWE China Law Offices. As a PRC-licensed firm, MWE China’s lawyers are allowed to maintain their Chinese law licenses; allowing them to communicate with Chinese government agencies on legal issues, collect evidence and represent clients in Chinese courts and before Chinese regulatory bodies. The strategic alliance therefore allows both firms to function as an integrated firm in essentially all respects of service delivery while offering clients the benefit of full legal representation on both sides of the Pacific and in Europe.
About McDermott
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,100 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.
