Contact Information: CONTACT: Guy Halgren (619) 338-6605 David Huebner (+8621) 5175-7763 Ralph Richardson (213) 617-5542
Sheppard Mullin Launches Shanghai Office
Client Needs Drive Firm's First International Location
| Source: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- March 12, 2007 -- Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP today
announced the opening of the law firm's Shanghai office, marking a natural
expansion of the firm's U.S.-based East Asia practice. The new office,
Sheppard Mullin's first international location, is housed in the Platinum
Tower in Shanghai's Luwan District, near several of the firm's existing
clients.
Sheppard Mullin represents 55 of the U.S. Fortune 100 companies, most of
which have significant business operations in greater China. The new
office in Shanghai marks the next step in Sheppard Mullin's strategic
growth plan, which saw the opening of offices in Washington, D.C. in 2003
and New York in 2005. As with Washington and New York, the decision to
open in Shanghai was driven by the needs of existing clients.
"Many of our clients have operations in China and are pursuing aggressive
growth plans there. It is natural for us to establish a footprint in China
to provide the support and guidance that our clients require on both sides
of the Pacific," said Guy Halgren, chairman of Sheppard Mullin. The firm
has well established China and Korea teams handling outbound as well as
inbound investment matters in a variety of industry sectors, including
pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, infrastructure, entertainment/media, and
hospitality.
Opening in Shanghai is also a natural expansion of the firm's other
international practices, which include the successful prior launch of Latin
America, Italy, and Israel teams. "Several of our domestic and
international practices focus to a significant degree on Chinese companies
looking to raise capital or develop markets outside of China, and our new
Shanghai office allows us to expand the services that we provide to those
clients," said Halgren.
The Shanghai office opens with four seasoned China hands positioned to
immediately handle a full range of investment, intellectual property, real
estate, trade, financial restructuring, and international disputes matters.
Partner David Huebner has relocated from Los Angeles to Shanghai to head
the China practice and lead the new office. Also relocating to Shanghai is
special counsel Xudong Ni from the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Special
counsel William Zheng and senior legal consultant Michael Zhang have joined
Sheppard Mullin from China's AllBright Law Firm.
In addition, partners Edward Tillinghast and Jerry Gumpel will remain
integral members of the Shanghai team and will anchor the U.S.-side of the
firm's greater China practice from their offices in New York and Del Mar,
California, respectively.
Huebner, a former chairman of Coudert Brothers LLP, specializes in
intellectual property and international dispute resolution. He has
represented governments and corporations in various sectors including
pharmaceuticals, technology, entertainment/media, telecom, and
construction. Huebner is a solicitor in England & Wales as well as a
member of the Bars of California, New York, and D.C. He is a graduate
summa cum laude from Princeton University and Yale Law School, and worked
earlier in his career in Tokyo as a policy advisor to a member of the
Japanese Diet. He sits on the ICC Commission on Arbitration and has
handled numerous disputes in and related to greater China.
Ni, a native of China, has many years of experience handling foreign
investment and trade matters, and helped found one of China's first private
law firms. He also has prior experience at a Virginia-based business
strategy consulting firm. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Peking
University School of Law, and earned an LLM from the University of
Pennsylvania Law School. He has particular expertise in strategic planning
for foreign companies doing business in China, as well as deep industry
experience in the aviation and banking sectors.
Zheng focuses his practice on foreign direct investment in the greater
China region and has extensive experience in advising clients in various
matters relating to intellectual property, corporate law, M&A, and venture
capital in China. He worked earlier in his career for one of the Big Five
accounting firms. He received his bachelor degree from Brandeis University
and J.D. from Pace University School of Law. He is a member of the New
York Bar.
Zhang has broad experience in intellectual property and corporate law, with
a focus on advising clients on structuring investments and protecting
intellectual assets. He has handled a wide range of matters in China for
U.S. Fortune 100 companies and other international clients. He is a
graduate of the Law School of the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade.
Tillinghast specializes in financial restructuring, cross-border
insolvencies, creditors' rights litigation, distressed mergers and
acquisitions, and advising distressed asset investors. Former head of
Coudert Brothers' Global Insolvency and Restructuring practice, Tillinghast
has written and spoken widely on the challenges of cross-border
restructurings, and represents U.S. and greater China-based clients
in cross-border matters in the U.S. and China.
Gumpel, the leader of the firm's International group, is a cross-border
investment and M&A specialist. He represents U.S.-based multinationals and
non-U.S. companies that have invested in the U.S.
About Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with 490 attorneys in 10
offices located throughout California and in New York, Washington, D.C. and
Shanghai. The firm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Santa Barbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and
San Diego. Founded in 1927 on the principle that the firm would succeed
only if its attorneys delivered prompt, high quality and cost-effective
legal services, Sheppard Mullin provides legal counsel to U.S. and
international clients. Companies turn to Sheppard Mullin to handle a full
range of corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and
complex financial transactions. In the U.S., the firm's clients include
more than half of the Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please
visit www.sheppardmullin.com.