Faculty Biogragphies

China-US Business Law Seminar/Networking Reception

A Roadmap for Business Success in China: Legal, Practical &

Cultural Pointers & Pitfalls

Faculty Biographies*

Simon Bai. Partner, Winners Law Firm, Tianjin China. Having practiced in both China and Brussels for 8 years, Simon now specializes in general corporate, banking, labor law and mergers and acquisitions. He has published articles on various topics in both Chinese and English in a variety of journals, and was selected as an International Bar Association (IBA) Scholar (one of three Chinese lawyers), as well as for other prestigious scholarship programs. LL.M. degrees from both Oxford University and Leuven University, Belgium.

Chris Berghoff. Founder and CEO, Control Products, Inc., Chanhassen, MN. Control Products designs and manufactures custom electronic controls for equipment OEMs and operates manufacturing plants in the USA and China. Prior to founding Control Products, Chris was employed by Honeywell, Inc. and General Electric as a manager in the areas of sales, marketing and venture management. He also has over 20 years experience as an Adjunct Professor in marketing, leadership, strategic planning and entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas and University of Minnesota graduate schools of business in addition to teaching in their executive management programs. He has guest lectured throughout the USA and in China.

Thomas Bigley, MBA, JD, MEng. Adjunct Faculty and PhD candidate, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA. Mr. Bigley's present research focuses on the relationships between intellectual property and post-Mao contemporary Chinese society, particularly in light of China's rising nationalism. Mr. Bigley's fields of analysis also include topics in international technology transfer, cross-cultural and comparative knowledge systems and global engineering. Mr. Bigley's interest in China began in 1981, when he attended Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, as one of the first American exchange students between the U.S. and China, later attending Nankai University to further his knowledge of Chinese society and Mandarin Chinese. As a consulting engineer, Mr. Bigley was involved in large, multi-year, multi-million dollar engineering projects worldwide, including Asia.

Fang Chen. Co-Founding Partner, Sphere Logic Partners, Xiaman, China, she heads SLP's International Litigation and Arbitration practice. Since obtaining her LL.M. at London University, she has increasingly focused on cases concerning foreign interests, representing many major and worldwide companies, in diverse fields, such as food and grain, banking, metal and electronic companies, in both transactions and disputes. Among the first private lawyers licensed by the PRC in 1994, Ms. Chen's areas of expertise include international commercial litigation and arbitration, international commercial transaction, contract law, assets management and disposition.

Jill Gaulding. Of Counsel, Schaefer Law Firm, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ms. Gaulding concentrates her practice on discrimination law and has extensive experience in all aspects of employment law. Former Associate Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law (2002-2006), where she taught a range of employment law courses and contract law. Prior to 2002, Ms. Gaulding was a litigation associate at the law firm of Dwyer & Collora, LLP, in Boston, MA, where she concentrated on plaintiff-side employment law and complex civil litigation. Ms. Gaulding has taught and written on the subject of international and comparative employment law. JD, Cornell Law School; MS, Linguistics & Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Justice James H. Gilbert (Ret.). Former Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1998-2004). Appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court as Acting Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court on an election challenge case (August-September 2008). He is the founder and CEO of the Gilbert Mediation Center, Ltd. which focuses exclusively on alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") for all types of civil cases, from routine to complex, featuring a most distinguished group of retired Minnesota judges and former Minnesota Governor as its ADR neutrals. He is a former certified trial lawyer (1997-2004) and named Distinguished Jurist of the Year for 2004 by the Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota. As an Associate Justice, he reviewed more than 5,000 petitions, participated in more than 800 decisions and authored numerous opinions, concurrences and dissents. As both trial attorney and Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Justice Gilbert has many years of practical experience with diverse cases including commercial litigation, real estate, corporate and business law, insurance, employment law and discrimination, which he now draws on as a unique skill set in resolving via ADR very challenging and complex disputes. Justice Gilbert has a strong interest in international dispute resolution and the comparative ADR utilized around the world.

Greg Grunsted. Accredited Asset Management Specialist and Retirement Planning Expert, Feltl & Co., Minneapolis, MN. Feltl & Co. is a full service securities brokerage and investment banking firm in the Twin Cities, specializing in serving the needs of private clients and the development of young and growing companies. Mr. Grunsted has been with Feltl & Co. since 2002. His more than 17 years of industry experience is especially helpful when it comes to designing, explaining and implementing proactive investment strategies for individual and corporate clients. Mr. Grunsted has a strong interest in and has lectured on PRC's rapidly changing capital markets.

Peter Hammond. President, AsiaSource, LLC, Minneapolis, MN. AsiaSource sources engineered components for small- to medium-sized US industrial companies. Peter has been doing business in China for 22 years, including 7 years living in Beijing. He has held a variety of executive operational roles for Emerson Electric, Westinghouse and Polaris Industries, including 4 years as General Manager of an instrumentation plant in Beijing, which was named Emerson's best plant globally in 2006. When in Asia, he conducts his business in Mandarin, using his 3,000 Chinese character vocabulary, sufficient to read the newspaper and technical documents. He is one of the few Western executives to have truly gone local in Asia, living in Chinese housing, riding the buses and constantly chatting with people on the streets and workers in the factories.

Steve Hansen. Director of Market Research, Thomson Reuters, Eagan, MN. In 2007, he worked in Beijing developing market and product strategy with the integration team for his company's newly acquired Chinese legal information business. As part of that project, he led the company's first in-depth research with Chinese attorneys, discussing their information and resource needs as well as their use of today's information products and legal publications, during which Mr. Hansen claims to have visited more law offices in Beijing than any non-attorney foreigner. With an MBA and Masters in linquistics, Steve indulges his linguistic bent, by maintaining an esoteric blog on Beijing dialect.

Jeff Jiang. Head of China Strategies Consulting Group, Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP, Minneapolis, MN. He has been an advisor and connector who assists clients developing a China-focused solutions for sourcing, distribution and investment opportunities. Jeff's team also advises firms from China in investing and setting up operations in the U.S.

Joel Lebewitz. Partner and Tax Attorney, Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP, Minneapolis, MN; Member, University of Minnesota China Center Advisory. Joel specializes in providing tax and consulting services to manufacturers, distributors and service companies in all areas of business including compensation systems, financial structure, taxation, and other business matters. He is a frequent lecturer on topics relating to business formation, structure, and tax related topics.

Seymour Mansfield. A founding shareholder of Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, P.A., with 39 years of diverse lawyer experience, he 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. Mr. Mansfield has regularly lectured and has written on related subjects, including a monthly column on international legal and business news. He is licensed to practice in Minnesota and Illinois, and has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court and various federal districts and courts of appeal. Mr. Mansfield has been recognized as a "Leading Minnesota Lawyer" and a "Super Lawyer" for many years. He has been a member of the governing Executive Committee of Lawyers Associated Worldwide ("LAW") since 2002.

Meredith McQuaid. As Associate Vice President and Dean of International Programs for University of Minnesota System, Dean McQuaid promotes global dimensions of teaching, research and engagement across colleges and campuses of the University. Former Associate Dean for International Programs, University of Minnesota Law School and responsible for management and oversight of Law School's China-US programs, including J.D. program in Beijing and LL.M. program for Chinese lawyers. She holds an adjunct faculty position and teaches introduction to American Law and Legal Research and Writing for Foreign Lawyers; created and supervised Judicial Observation Program for Foreign Lawyers, which is unique in U.S. law schools; has served on University of Minnesota China Center Advisory Council and on several selection committees for prestigious international fellowships, and as immediate past chair of Section for Graduate Programs for Foreign Lawyers of the American Association of Law Schools.

Arthur J. Rolnick. Senior Vice President, Economist and Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a top official of the Federal Reserve Bank, Rolnick regularly attends meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee-the Federal Reserve's principal body responsible for establishing national money and credit policies. Rolnick has been a visiting professor of economics at Boston College, the University of Chicago, and the University of Minnesota. Most recently he was an adjunct professor of economics, MBA program, Lingnan College, Guangzhou, China and the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. He is past president of the Minnesota Economic Association. He serves on several nonprofit boards including the Minnesota Council on Economic Education, Greater Twin Cities United Way, Citizens League of Minnesota and Ready 4 K, an advocacy organization for early childhood development. He is also on the Minneapolis Star and Tribune's Board of Economists, and is a member of Minnesota's Council of Economic Advisors. Rolnick's work on early childhood development has garnered numerous awards, including those from the George Lucas Educational Foundation and the Minnesota Department of Health; he was also named 2005 Minnesotan of the Year by Minnesota Monthly magazine. His research interests include banking and financial economics, monetary policy, monetary history, the economics of federalism, and the economics of education.

Jeffrey Stone. Partner and Patent Lawyer, Altera Law Group, Minneapolis, MN. Jeff is a registered patent attorney with a technical industrial background. Jeff's technical experience includes automated chemistry analysis, analytical chemistry, biotechnology, inorganic chemistry and antibody science - including monoclonal and polyclonal assays, fluid sampling and materials science in an FDA-compliant environment. Prior to joining Altera Law Group, Jeff was an attorney at Briggs and Morgan, where he prosecuted patent and trademark applications with an emphasis on client counseling. Jeff has prosecuted patent applications in a wide range of fields, including In-Vitro Diagnostics, Liquid analyte sampling, Biosensors, Macromolecular biopolymer detection, Nanotechnology, Cryogenic pumps, Semiconductor structures, Optics, Cardiovascular Devices and Methods and Software and Business Methods

Jan Symchych. As Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN since 2005, Ms. Symchych oversees all Medtronic litigation and dispute resolution in the United States and throughout the world, including the PRC, as well as having responsibility for regulatory enforcement, corporate compliance and internal investigations. She came to Medtronic after 15 years in private practice, where she served as first chair trial counsel for companies in government enforcement proceedings, class actions, health care regulatory enforcement matters, and commercial litigation. Before private practice, she served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Minnesota federal courts, where she handled settlement proceedings, civil discovery, and pretrial motions in civil and criminal cases. Before that she was both an Assistant United states Attorney and state court prosecutor, and tried many jury cases. Ms. Symchych has consistently been selected as a Super Lawyer by Minnesota Law & Politics for many years.

Liang "Larry" Tan, MBA, MEng. Director of Sales and Marketing, Twin City Fan & Blower, Minneapolis, MN. Twin City Fan (TCF) is the leading manufacturer of air movement equipment including fans and blowers. Larry manages the international sales and marketing activities and coordinates with TCF's global joint ventures and subsidiaries. During his tenure at TCF, Larry has established its Wholly Owned Foreign Entity (WOFE) subsidiary, Twin City Fan (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., in Shanghai, in which Larry helped build up the production and sales team, as well as the global sourcing department.

Hao Wang. Founding and Managing Partner of Ray Yin & Partners PRC Lawyers, Beijing/Shenzhen, China. Ms. Wang specializes in foreign investments, trusts, mergers and acquisitions, financial market and corporate. She has built a solid practice expertise in banking, including commercial lending, fund management, foreign exchanges management, secured transactions, financial leasing, and related areas. She has advised many prominent international clients in designing their business structure and setting up their operations in China. LL.M. degrees from both King's College, London University and University of International Business & Economics, Beijing.

Andrew Xu. Partner, Winners Law Firm, Tianjin, China. A leader of Winners' investment legal team, specializing in corporate and commercial law, he has accumulated vast experience in foreign direct investment projects. After acquiring LL.M. from University of London, he held the position of chief legal counsel for a large oil company listed in Hong Kong and based in Singapore and Shenzhen. He is a standing member of British China Law Association and Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property law Committee of Tianjin Bar Association. Among other recognition, Mr. Xu has received awards from the PRC All China Bar Association and was selected by the Law Society of England and Wales as a Young Chinese Lawyer fellow in the Lord Chancellor's Training Scheme.

Ronald (Jiansheng) Xu. Partner, Sphere Logic Partners, Xiaman, China. Heads the firm's International and Intellectual Property practices. He has extensive experience in advising foreign investors and businesses regarding their legal and commercial interests in China. Among other clients, he has represented major and worldwide companies, including airline interior manufacturing, port and marine equipment group, financial institutions, e-commerce, consumer electronic and plumbing companies. LL.M., University of Michigan. Before practicing law, Mr. Xu was Chief Representative of an American trading company's China liaison office, and earlier in his lawyer career, he served as in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 aerospace company's China operations.

Yi Zhou. Founding Partner and Chairman of the Management Committee of Ray Yin & Partners PRC Lawyers, Beijing/Shenzhen, China. Mr. Zhou specializes in financial market, structured finance, trusts, foreign investments, intellectual property rights protection and disputes resolution. Mr. Zhou has represented foreign clients in setting up business in China, has provided legal services to hedge funds in distressed assets acquisition, and has handled many cases involving disputes related to international trade, letters of credit, liquidation of joint ventures, syndicated loans, finance leases, construction projects, labor contracts, intellectual property infringement, product liability and other types of tort cases. He has been an "at large" member of the governing Executive Committee of Lawyers Associated Worldwide since 2007. LL.M. degrees from both University College, University of London and Xiaman Universit, Xiaman, China.

*All of our China lawyers are fluent in Chinese (Mandarin) and English, and among them, many other languages, such as Cantonese, Taiwanese, and Indonesian. Many of our other presenters speak Chinese, including Messrs. Bigley, Hammond, Hansen, Jiang and Tan.