US law firms DLA Piper and Fulbright have both established special action teams in response to the recent flurry of lawsuits brought against Chinese companies listed in the United States.
In the past several months, China-based issuers such as Puda Coal (NYSE:PUDA) and Subaye (NASDAQ:SBAY) and Fushi Copperweld (NASDAQ: FSIN) have been subject to a wave of securities class action and derivative lawsuits, and investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The underwriters to these reverse mergers have also been named in many of these actions. DLA Piper, for instance, is advising China-based, US-listed companies and underwriters in more than a dozen of these law suits.
The pipeline of work in this area is so strong that DLA Piper was driven to establish a China Securities Litigation Rapid Response Team comprising of more than two-dozen professionals including alumni of the SEC’s Enforcement Division and former assistant US Attorneys. The team members are located in key financial centres: Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Beijing.
Fulbright has also responded in a similar way, but for this firm it is the volume of future work, rather than matters already on the books that has been the catalyst. The firm’s team is comprised of lawyers from Beijing, Hong Kong and its U.S. offices. Jeffrey Blount will lead the firm’s Beijing and Hong Kong practice. Blount has substantial experience advising Chinese companies on cross-border transactions and their responsibilities under U.S. law. The U.S. securities litigation and enforcement group is led by partners-in-charge Gerry Pecht and Rodney Acker. Both have extensive experience defending shareholder suits and counselling clients on minimizing future litigation risks. ALB
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- Fulbright promotes two partners in Hong Kong (18 March 2009)
