Herbert Smith opens China hub

As part of its new offering, the law firm has invested in technology and added a team of 13 lawyers and legal analysts bilingual in Mandarin and English to its Shanghai office.

London and Sydney co-headquartered law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has extended the type of legal services it provides to its clients in China.

The law firm counts Blackstone, Carlyle and Champ Ventures among its private equity clients.

As a part of its new offering, the law firm has added a team of 13 lawyers and legal analysts bilingual in Mandarin and English in its Shanghai office.

“It is the first alternative legal services hub of its kind in China,” Herbert Smith Freehills said in a statement.

The new service combines legal advice and technology solutions to process high-volume or document-intensive work more efficiently and cost-effectively for clients, according to the statement.

“A complex transaction or dispute can involve the review of millions of Chinese-language documents that often must remain in China,” said Libby Jackson, global head of alternative legal services. “By equipping this new team with the technology and processes proven at our existing legal hubs in Belfast and Perth, we can offer clients a cost-effective way of tackling the document-intensive elements of these projects on the ground in China.”

The hub adds to existing advice offered by the firm's lawyers located in the its offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and internationally.

Herbert’s Shanghai office advises new entrants and established clients on investments, including the establishment and operation of foreign-owned enterprises and joint ventures. Lawyers in the corporate team, china investment group and the dispute resolution practice act for international and Chinese business clients.

The corporate team provides advice on public and private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate restructurings, corporate governance, capital markets fundraising, infrastructure projects and tax, according to the firm’s website.