King & Wood PRC Lawyers is among the first law firms established when law firms were repermitted in the People’s Republic of China during the modern era and is now the country’s largest with 200 partners and 830 fee earners. In 1993 King & Wood’s founding partners were still working with a state-sponsored organization, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, when the central government permitted private ownership of law firms allowing them to create the firm. To advance its policy of market-based reforms in the 1980s, China had adopted foreign approaches to legal regulations, particularly in the area of commercial law. For example, the Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture Law, the first law governing foreign investment, was passed in 1980. Since then, more than 300 laws and regulations, most of them in the economic area, have been promulgated. To meet increasing growth in the sophistication of Chinese law, Chinese firms began to incorporate in the late 1980s to meet demand for domestic legal services. King & Wood was among the first private law firms among a cohort of Commerce & Finance Law Offices, Fangda Partners, Haiwen & Partners, Jun He Law Offices. and Lehman, Lee & Xu. These early firms have since grown to become the largest domestic law firms in China handling most of the nation’s domestic commercial legal work. The name of the firm is an example of Western-oriented marketing by a Chinese firm. There is no "Mr. King" or "Ms. Wood" among the founders of the firm, the names having been chosen for their "ear appeal" among prospective Western clients. The corresponding portion of the Chinese name, is 金杜 ("jin du").
| File:King & Wood logo small.png | |
| Headquarters | Beijing, PRC |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 16 |
| No. of attorneys | 830 |
| Major practice areas | General Practice |
| Date founded | 1993 |
| Company type | Law Firm |
| Website | www.kingandwood.com/ |
Profile
King & Wood currently employs nearly 830 attorneys throughout China, Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States and has now grown to become the largest law firm in China by number of lawyers. [1] These lawyers are spread throughout 16 offices throughout the world, but predominantly on the mainland. [2] The firm specializes in assisting foreign companies do business in China. Its main practice areas includes banking, foreign investment, international trade, litigation and arbitration, and securities. [3]
At the 2009 ALB China Law Awards[4], King & Wood was awarded:
- Firm of the Year - PRC Law Firm of the Year
- Firm of the Year - China Law Firm Employer of Choic
- Deal of the Year - Project Finance Deal of the Year
- Deal of the Year - Energy & Resources Deal of the Year
In 2008 King & Wood was awarded Firm of the Year - PRC Law Firm, Hong Kong Office of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.[5]
Clients
The firm’s major clients include Citigroup, China Life, the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, Wal-Mart, PetroChina, the Bank of China among others. [6] King & Wood advised on the largest IPO in Chinese history for PetroChina, allowing the company to temporarily become the highest valued company in the world at over $1 trillion. [7] [8]
Locations
Notable people
Attorneys
Advisors
See also
References
- ^ http://www.legal500.com - Default Recommended Firms
- ^ PLC Which lawyer?: King & Wood: China - National profile
- ^ King & Wood - King & Wood Law Firm Profile - martindale.com
- ^ "ALB China Law Awards 2010 > Law Awards 2009 winners". Cn.albawards.legalbusinessonline.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "ALB Asia - legal deals, law deals, law firm deals, lawyer deals". Legalbusinessonline.com.au. 2010-07-20. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ see the Chambers Global Editorial 2010.
- ^ Now, From China, the World's Biggest Company - US News and World Report
- ^ SEC Info - Petrochina Co Ltd - SC 13E3/A - Jilin Chemical Industrial Co Ltd - On 12/23/05 - EX-99.(C).5