US Legal System Can be a Hurdle
By Paul Welitzkin in New York (China Daily USA)
March 26, 2015 China Daily (USA) - As the Chinese increase investment in the US, they are discovering the American legal system, which in turn is being schooled about an ancient culture and people. The result is a steep learning curve for both sides, according to a panel of legal observers.
Attorneys examined how Chinese companies are adjusting to securities laws and the challenges facing lawyers in the US who are involved in litigation with the Chinese at a seminar entitled Chinese Companies and US Class Actions: Securities Litigation and Product Liability. It was held at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York on Tuesday.
Panel members discussed how tenets of American law are foreign to the Chinese, the problems associated with conducting proceedings in two different languages (English and Mandarin) and traits of Asian culture that can affect a legal strategy.
"The whole concept of a class-action lawsuit - most of the world doesn't accept this," said moderator Geoffrey Sant of Dorsey & Whitney LLP and director of the Chinese Business Lawyers Association.
Sant's colleague at Dorsey & Whitney, Richard Silberberg, who has been counseling Asian companies for more than 30 years, said US legal professionals need to ignore some popular myths about Asian clients, including one that claims Chinese companies will quickly settle existing or potential litigation because they don't have the resources allocated or they are terrorized by the American legal system.