2008 US-China Business Law Conference at UCLA

 8:30AM - Conference Breakfast Buffet and Registration - Law Building Main Hallway

9:00AM - Conference Co-Host: Ryan Rylee, President, The China Law Association at UCLA

Ryan Rylee, UCLA Law Class of 2009, created the US-China Business Law Conference to bring together leaders in L.A.’s China law and business communities. Prior to law school, Ryan was a US-China Trade Specialist for the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., where he worked with American companies and trade associations to increase market access and bring Chinese government agencies into compliance with WTO obligations. Before working in Washington, Ryan managed industry forums and government relations events at the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, China. He anticipates practicing corporate law in Silicon Valley with a focus on emerging companies and venture capital firms.

9:00AM - Conference Co-Host: Courtney Gould, Vice President, The China Law Association at UCLA

Courtney Gould is a member of the UCLA Law Class of 2010 and Vice President of the China Law Association at UCLA.  She is also co-Editor in Chief of the UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal, a publication for scholarly articles on China and the Greater Pacific Rim.  As a undergraduate at Vanderbilt University and Capital Normal University in Beijing, Courtney studied Mandarin and Sino-Japanese Relations. After college, she researched urban development in China's Guangxi Province, also conducting a sociological study of regional graffiti.  Courtney plans to practice law in Los Angeles and later Hong Kong in the areas of international commercial arbitration and dispute resolution.

9:15AM - Opening Address: Wang Xiaodong, The WTO Director General’s Counselor for Asia    Audio

Wang Xiaodong, Counselor to the WTO Director General on Asia matters, will address the role of the WTO in regulating China’s global trade. Prior to working for the WTO itself, Mr. Wang represented China before the world trade body as part of the original team from China’s Ministry of Commerce that negotiated accession to the WTO in 2001. Mr. Wang has also represented major American corporations in China in market access negotiations with Chinese government agencies, serving as Director of Government Relations for The American Chamber of Commerce in China.

10:10AM - Expansion of Foreign Firms in China and the Changes to the Legal Profession    Audio
The limits of the legal profession in China are changing, both for foreign and Chinese attorneys. What opportunities has this created? American law firms have made huge inroads into China through partnerships with Chinese law firms and unique roles straddling practice areas. What strategies for expanding a U.S. firm into China are most effective?

Randall Peerenboom, author of "China Modernizes: Threat to the West or Model for the Rest?" (2007, Oxford University Press) is Director of the Rule of Law in China Program at the Foundation for Law, Justice, and Society in Beijing, an Oxford Fellow, a CIETAC arbitrator, a Professor of Law at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and a consultant to the Asian Development Bank on China's Rule of Law.  Professor Peerenboom will address the scope and development of the legal profession in China for foreign and domestic attorneys.

Powerpoint Presentation

James Hsu, partner at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in Los Angeles, will share the experiences, strategy, and lessons of a large American firm currently in the process of growing its China practice. Mr. Hsu has worked in Shanghai and Taipei and regularly advises major U.S. and Asian companies on a variety of cross-border financial and business transactions. Mr. Hsu has been named to the NAPABA Best Lawyers Under 40, the Southern California Super Lawyers, and was the recipient of California Lawyer's Angel Award for outstanding pro bono service in 2007.

James Fang, Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Los Angeles and Shanghai, will address the challenges of expanding a U.S. law practice in China. Under Mr. Fang's leadership, Davis Wright Tremaine became the first U.S. law firm authorized to establish an office in Shanghai. He has over 25 years of experience representing U.S. companies doing business in China and Chinese companies doing business in the U.S. Prior to practicing law in the United States, Mr. Fang was a Professor of International Business Law and Director of the International Law Department at the East China Institute of Political Science and Law, one of the leading law schools in China.

Powerpoint Presentation

12:05PM - Keynote Lunch Address: The Honorable Charles Lee, Chef de Mission, U.S. Delegation to the Beijing Olympics

Charles Lee is Chief Representative of the U.S. Delegation to the Beijing Olympics. Recently returned to Los Angeles, Lee will share his personal experiences with U.S. Olympic athletes in Beijing and his insights into Olympic negotiations with the Chinese government. An L.A. Superior Court Judge since 1989, Lee has also brought lessons from the California court system to audiences in China under Fulbright and State Department grants, addressing controversial topics like judicial independence at Chinese universities.
 
Not a newcomer to the Olympic Movement, Judge Lee was appointed as Envoy to the People's Republic of China for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. After the Soviet Union announced its boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games, Judge Lee headed a LAOOC delegation to China which negotiated China's agreement to participate in L.A.'s 1984 Olympic Games.
 
"Judge Lee's experience, stature and knowledge of both the Olympic Movement and China is unparalleled." - Peter Ueberroth, Chairman, U.S. Olympic Committee.

1:40PM - Property Law and Asset Investment    Audio
Growth in China's real estate sector continues to attract foreign investment, but restrictions on property ownership limit avenues for investment.  Asset management companies have emerged to offer non-performing loan transactions as a vehicle for investment in Chinese assets.  How do non-performing loan transactions compare to traditional asset investments?  How are they affected by changing property markets and what is their status within China's overall framework for commercial and real estate law?

Donald C. Clarke is Professor of Law at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., creator of the Chinese Law Prof Blog, and a prolific author on Chinese law subjects, including most recently “The Role of Non-Legal Institutions in Chinese Corporate Governance,” in Transforming Corporate Governance in East Asia (Routledge, 2008). Professor Clarke will review new developments in China's property law and foreign investment environment.

Powerpoint Presentation

Robert J. Allan, an AV rated international attorney based in Malibu, CA, is Founder of the USA-China Law Group, a partnership between The Allan Law Group, Ma Jian Law Firm, and Alpha&Leader.  Alpha and Leader is a pioneer in offering Non-Performing Loan portfolios as an investment vehicle for foreign investors to benefit from distressed assets in China.  Mr. Allan will explain how these transactions are effected and how to manage the risks and opportunities in structuring asset investment in China.

Powerpoint Presentation

3:20PM - Labor Contract Law    Audio
How can businesses respond to China's sweeping new Labor Contract Law?  Why are some companies leaving China for other labor markets?  What does compliance involve, and what will it cost? 

Jim Leininger, Chairman of the Human Resources Forum at the American Chamber of Commerce in China, and General Manager of Watson Wyatt China, will address what the Labor Contract Law means for companies that manufacture in China, and how businesses can create effective strategies for responding to the law.  Mr. Leininger will also speak to AmCham's advocacy efforts on the Labor Contract Law with top officials in the Chinese Government. 

PDF Presentation

Jiang Junlu, Partner at King and Wood in Beijing, formerly affiliated with China's Ministry of Labor, and one of the first attorneys in China to be awarded the Doctorate of Labor Law (from Peking University), will explain the Labor Contract Law's complex provisions with insight into the intent of the drafters, how compliance can be achieved, and what China's administrative enforcement of the law will involve.

Powerpoint Presentation

4:50PM - Closing Remarks