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"A Roadmap to Doing Business in China" Inaugurates Our Firm's China US LAW Connections ("CULC") Program

By Seymour J. Mansfield, Attorney at Law

With some 100 local and international business people, professionals and academics interested in the operation or development of business with and in China (PRC) in attendance at the September 25 event: A Roadmap to Doing Business in China, Mansfield Tanick & Cohen received high praise for the seven-hour China business law seminar and networking event. Program details are found at www.mansfieldtanick.com/CM/Announcements/A-Roadmap-for-Business-Success-in-China-Agenda.asp. For free copies of course materials, please email your request to ChinaUSbusiness@mansfieldtanick.com, stating your contact info, title, business/organization, and interest/involvement in the PRC.

At the event, we also announced the opening of our China US LAW Connections (CULC) Program.

The event was co-sponsored by our commercial law firm network, Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), the Twin Cities-based U.S.-China Business Connections (UCBC), the University of Minnesota China Center, the Minnesota State Trade Office and the CPA firm Lurie Besikof Lapidus. Beginning with a seminar focusing on important and timely legal topics, cultural and practical issues critical to business success in the PRC, and interspersed with several networking breaks, the event culminated with a reception at Mansfield Tanick & Cohen featuring a thought-provoking speech by Art Rolnick, renowned economic expert from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. As the Wall Street melt down and the proposed "bail out" package dominated the media headlines, his speech quickly metamorphed and revolved around the crisis, the rescue package and how bad things would get before they got better. Dr. Rolnick reminded the audience that the U.S. had survived many prior crises of equal and greater magnitude, and the Federal Reserve and U.S. treasury were now much better armed to manage this melt down.

At the seminar, the audience learned from a very talented faculty of 21 teachers - U.S. lawyers, non-lawyer professionals and eight Chinese lawyers from Beijing, Tianjin, Xiamen, Qingdao and Shenzhen. The teaching goal was focused on early spotting of basic legal, cultural and governmental "trouble points" so that they could "nip them in the bud." The topics were wide ranging, including China employment laws, investment in China, repatriation of profits, structuring companies and deals, contracting with Chinese manufacturers, establishing a jointly-owned foreign joint ventures (FJV) or wholly-owned (WOFE) manufacturing plant in China, multi-pronged approaches for protecting intellectual property and mitigating piracy, as well as ways to minimize legal disputes or if unavoidable, enhance the effectiveness and control the costs of litigation, mediation and arbitration with Chinese parties.

As mentioned earlier, all the China law firms in attendance and Mansfield Tanick & Cohen are co-members of Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), a worldwide law firm network with 100 firms in 57 countries and 143 cities, and comprising over 3,500 lawyers (and rapidly expanding its membership in the PRC). Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, together with the five firms presenting and LAW's other China law offices located in Beijing, Xiaman, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou, announced the inauguration of their new China U.S. LAW Connections Program providing expert support for clients pursuing business with the world's fastest growing economy. CULC also will be setting up an alliance of non-lawyer Chinese business advisors to facilitate interdisciplinary advice. The program's goal is to efficiently scope out the issues and mix of legal and non-legal ramifications to seamlessly connect clients with the right legal and non-legal talent here and in the PRC.

For more information about this event, our new CULC Program or LAW, please contact either of the following attorneys:

Seymour J. Mansfield, 612-339-4295, smansfield@mansfieldtanick.com
Jeffrey C. O'Brien, 612-339-4295, jobrien@mansfieldtanick.com

A founding shareholder of Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, P.A., with 39 years of diverse lawyer experience, Seymour Mansfield now focuses on business, complex and class litigation, mediation, executive employment and employee benefits, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, international business law and acts as legal counsel to emerging medical device companies. He is the firm's primary representative to Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), an association of 100 independent commercial law firms located in 55 countries and 148 key cities, comprising over 3500 lawyers worldwide, and served on LAW's Executive Committee (governing board) from 2002 through 2008. LAW empowers our firm to serve the needs of our clients in domestic and foreign markets worldwide.