Dispute Resolution: Arbitration (International Firms) - China
What the team is known for
King & Wood Mallesons fields a sizeable Hong Kong team, augmented by the firm's significant presence in Mainland China, to enable clients to benefit from a comprehensive China arbitration offering. It is best known for its considerable acumen and experience handling construction cases, with additional experience across the mining, energy, pharmaceutical and technology sectors. The firm advises international clients as well as Chinese private companies and SOEs. It is regularly active on commercial cases arising out of shareholder disputes.
Strengths
"The team are well known for providing superlative service, being both highly effective and very commercial in their approach. They are consistently communicative and thorough, with excellent follow-through and delivery."
"King & Wood Mallesons' team are extraordinarily experienced and instantly discovered the opponent's true intent, surgically devising countermoves to help us win every legal and commercial point."
"All KWM lawyers proved to be extremely responsive and thorough."
"I genuinely think the service was always excellent, from start to finish. They always acted in our best interests to find the best outcome for us, regardless of what it meant to their workload."
"They are a very experienced group with a good mix of senior and junior people and an excellent stream of associates. They've become our go-to firm here."
Notable practitioners
Paul Starr is highly regarded for his work in major arbitrations in the construction, infrastructure and pharmaceutical sectors. He is also equipped to handle disputes relating to loan repayments, as well as joint venture disagreements. "Paul is an outstanding strategist in particular, with a very good ability to see things from a broader perspective and then bring the plan down to the micro level where you know exactly what's expected of you." "Paul is strategic, smart, insightful and commercial. For some years he has been recognised as the best choice for dispute resolution in construction, infrastructure and industrials, and is particularly renowned for hands-down wins in disputes with governments and public bodies." "When you enter the ring for a dispute, Paul is who you want in your corner. With his strategic brilliance widely acknowledged by clients and peers, Paul is Asia's star infrastructure dispute resolver."
Jessica Fei remains a popular choice for Chinese manufacturers and oil and gas clients, for a range of commercial disputes including joint venture and shareholder disagreements. She is global co-head and coordinator of the firm's international arbitration team.