International

JMBM is a California-based law firm with a robust cross-border practice, representing clients' interests worldwide.

We regularly represent the U.S. business interests of companies headquartered outside of the United States, as well as those of U.S.-based companies doing business in other countries. JMBM also has an active practice advising individuals in a number of countries who need help navigating our U.S. tax and regulatory environment. Our firm has strong capabilities in several high-profile areas, including the hospitality and entertainment industries, and multinational trademark and licensing law and privacy law compliance and information security.

Our comprehensive lineup of international practice areas is interdisciplinary, encompassing:

• International tax and estate planning, including the creation of foreign trusts and underlying foreign corporations
• Corporate transactions, such as setting up companies, arranging financing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, licensing, distribution and joint product development
• Intellectual property protection, with an emphasis on trademark law, joint ventures and anti-counterfeiting
• International tax interests, financing, production and distribution issues for the entertainment industry
• International dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation in multilateral forums
• Acquisition and development of real estate in foreign countries including forestry products in Panama and Costa Rica
• Advice concerning compliance with privacy laws worldwide, including the EU’s GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018

When direct knowledge of local laws and business customs is crucial to complete a cross-border business deal, JMBM's lawyers draw on the international resources of their colleagues in Interlaw. Interlaw is an international network of pre-vetted, annually reviewed, full service law firms in more than 130 cities worldwide and is recognized as an “elite global law firm network” by Chambers & Partners. Law firms within the Interlaw network are not simply satellite offices, but full-service, locally headquartered law firms. Interlawyers are fluent in the rules, laws, customs and language of their own jurisdiction as well as in English, and many hold advanced legal degrees from internationally regarded universities and law schools. Criteria for Interlaw membership include impeccable ethical standards, reputation for excellence, client responsiveness, expertise in legal representation, transparency in billing, technological capabilities and shared core values. There is never a fee for referral between Interlaw member firms, and every Interlaw member will extend "Best Client" status to clients of member firms. Prospective clients are encouraged to review the expertise of the member firms at www.interlaw.org. JMBM lawyers stay involved in the matters handled by Interlaw firms, which is your assurance that you will work with colleagues who understand your business needs yet can complete transactions or resolve disputes virtually anywhere in the world.

No matter what your cross-border transactional requirements, JMBM can help you get the deal done. Through Interlaw, we have access to quality local counsel in every part of the world for the structuring of both inbound and outbound mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.

When international business combinations involve the exchange of stock registered in another country, we set up the deal structures that make such exchanges possible and advise shareholders on the tax treatment of the stock they receive.

In non-stock combinations, such as establishing joint ventures with foreign partners, we ensure that the deal is structured to minimize the tax consequences and make certain that the IP and investment rights of our clients are protected. Where these combinations involve loans, letters of credit or other financing arrangements, we handle the business issues that our clients face in structuring the cross-border arrangements. As a result, our firm has been involved in a variety of sophisticated multilateral deals, such as:

• Handling the reorganization and spin-off of a Hong Kong-based holding company’s multi-million dollar real estate portfolio
• Structuring the cross-border spinoff of a large domestic supermarket chain’s IT department to an offshore joint venture
• Representing the lead bank in a syndicate of 15 international banks during a $65 million private debt restructuring in Mexico
• Acting as primary outside counsel for the purchaser of Cigna Corporation’s healthcare assets in Brazil
• Representing a Brazilian technology company in its acquisition of a U.S. smart card company

Privacy law is a fact of life for any organization that collects and uses personal information. And the risks of non-compliance with these laws have multiplied with the enactment by many nations of far-reaching laws designed to protect personal privacy interests. JMBM’s Cybersecurity & Privacy Group has counseled dozens of companies in connection with their privacy law compliance obligations and initiatives throughout the world, including the EU’s GDPR. Our network of resources around the globe permits us to give actionable and timely advice to companies whose operations subject them to privacy laws in multiple international jurisdictions and to proactively alert clients to key privacy law developments wherever they may be doing business. 

JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® is the premier hospitality practice in a full-service law firm, and the most experienced legal team in that industry. Our team of seasoned professionals has helped clients with more than 4,700 hospitality properties located around the globe valued at more than $125 billion. Whether a hospitality property is in London, Las Vegas, Bali or Dubai, Mexico City or Shanghai, we assemble the right team from around the globe to create optimal value and results.

We may work with a lender from Germany or Japan, a management company from the U.S. or Hong Kong, and a hotel or portfolio located anywhere in the world. In the past five years, we have assisted clients on more than 100 hotel-enhanced mixed-use projects in every major market in the U.S., throughout Latin America and in Europe.

JMBM has developed an IP practice with global scope and resources, concentrated in each IP lawyer’s multidisciplinary ability to handle any client need. With our broad technical and market experience, we can prepare and prosecute patents, and handle copyright and trademark applications in the U.S. and abroad, across a full spectrum of applications. You get single-source guidance that helps you exploit new business opportunities while protecting you from infringement, including effective anti-counterfeiting strategies anywhere in the world.