Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

Formosa Transnational has experience in litigation, arbitration and mediation in civil criminal and administrative divisions. Over the past 12 months, the firm has represented state-owned power company Taiwan Power in a case against a Swedish wire manufacturer. Wellington Koo is the firm’s leader in this practice area and is able to call on experienced lawyers such as Paiff Huang and Georgia Chang.

Formosan Brothers offers dispute resolution services in a variety of practice areas, making it an attractive firm for local and international clients. The firm has worked some high profile cases recently including one that saw its client awarded NT$2.9 billion in a contract dispute. The settlement is one of the largest in Taiwanese history. Other cases have seen Formosan Brothers argue for clients in front of the International Court of Arbitration and the Arbitration Association of the Republic of China. Leading lawyers at the firm include James Ku, Chih-Poung Liou and Helena Chan.

LCS & Partners is well known for its commercial mediation and arbitration experience, with major multinationals such as General Electric as regular clients. Key lawyer Margaret Huang has been kept busy recently acting as mediator in disputes between parties involved with the BOT railway project. This includes The Forestry Bureau, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan and Butterfly Valley Enterprise.

The firm is representing senior managers of Invetec Appliances, who are accused of insider trading by the Banciao Court Prosecutor’s Office. It also represented Taipei Fubon Bank in a case involving structured notes.

Lee and Li acted on a number of high-profile civil and criminal cases over the last 12 months. The firm represented Taiwan Business Bank in a US$7m action, and recently successfully defended former Taipei mayor Ying-Jeou Ma when he was accused of misappropriating his special allowance mayoral fund. Chi-chang Yu is recommended for banking and financial disputes, Daniel Song for criminal cases, and Alan Lin for corporate and investment matters.

Tsar & Tsai boasts a strong cross-border litigation group, which has been called upon for cases resulting from the global economic downturn.

Highlights include representing American International Underwriters (AIU) in an arbitration brought by it against a Japanese listed company. AIU was looking for damages against the listed company for destruction caused by a fire at United Integrated Circuits Corp in 1997.

China Petroleum Corporation (CPC) used the firm’s services in a civil action against a contractor over a construction dispute. Tsar & Tsai won the case, although the defendant is appealing. The firm’s cross-border capability was highlighted in a case involving a high profile businessman involved on a child support dispute in a California court. Tsar & Tsai, which has an associate office in the American state, received a favourable settlement for its client.

Baker & McKenzie offers dispute resolution services on cross-border and local cases. In the last year, it has been retained by the charity Jen-Chi Yuan, which owns a number of land plots in Taipei. The foundation leased the lots to provide homes for the city’s poorer inhabitants. Given the rise of the local economy, Jen-Chi Yuan has adjusted the rent rate to allow for the new reality but 60 tenants refused to pay. Bakers is representing the firm on a number of cases relating to this.

The firm represented the chairman of a joint venture accused of embezzlement and knowingly preparing false accounts. Bakers successfully defended its client, but the prosecutor is appealing the verdict. Sanofi-Aventis is using the firm in its case against TTY Biopharm, which Sanofi-Aentis accuses of infringing one of its patents. David Liou is head of dispute resolution at the firm. Remington Huang and H Henry Chang are two other respected names.

Jones Day is well known for its dispute resolution work in Taiwan. The firm fosters close links between its Beijing and Taipei offices, and also has strong links with Jones Day offices around the world. Recent work has seen the Taipei office involved on two insider trading cases. In the first, the firm represented three officials from Inventec Appliances accused of insider trading.

The second case saw the firm represent officials from WK Technology accused of insider trading regarding the purchase of a Taiwan company (of which WK Technology was a shareholder) by a US company. The firm has been kept busy with two cases of shareholders fighting for control of a company. One saw the firm represent Chinese Maritime Transport, a shareholder in Taiwan Navigation Company, from having its shares diluted in the company. In the other, Jones Day represented CT&D in three civil and three criminal lawsuits. Victor Chang and Marianne Chao head the firm’s department in this practice area. Jason Chen is a leading lawyer within Jones Day’s disputes team.

Winkler Partners is an independent law firm comfortable on both local and cross-border dispute resolution. The firm houses a mix of local and US lawyers. One recent case saw the firm represent reinsurance syndicates before the Taipai District Court and High Court in a dispute between Taiwanese primary insurers and UK reinsurers over local practices. Another large deal saw the firm advise a TFT-LCD manufacturer negotiate and secure US$200 million debt from a Californian distributor. Partner Chen Hiu-ling is the standout name at the firm for this work. She specialises in civil and criminal litigation.

Yangming Partners is not just a recognised force in Taiwanese litigation, it is also strong in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution. Recent work has included a variety of mandates from international clients, including a US entertainment company in trade mark, copyright and contract claims. The firm represented a Hollywood studio in litigation against its former Taiwanese distributor, as well as worked on a case before the International Court for Arbitration for a defense supplier to the Taiwan military. Anthony Lo is the firm’s leading light in dispute resolution and is supported by Charles Hwang.