Baker Hostetler Washington, D.C., partners John Burke, Elliot Feldman (head of the firm’s International Trade Practice) and Lee Simowitz were the featured speakers at a series of programs in China, highlighting the firm’s abilities to assist foreign investors in the United States.
CCH China hosted a conference for more than 100 in-house legal counsel held in Beijing, March 22-23. CCH/Wolters Kluwer/Aspen, the first and largest provider of bilingual regulatory information on China is translating and will soon release in Chinese the Baker Hostetler treatise, Mergers and Acquisitions in the United States: A Practical Guide for Non-U.S. Buyers. Burke, Feldman and Simowitz were invited to conduct a mini-workshop based on the treatise to present at the conference, which was chaired over the two days by Feldman. The treatise is coauthored by 27 Baker Hostetler attorneys from five offices.
On March 24 and 25, Feldman, Burke and Simowitz teamed up with U.S. Government officials to present special programs based on the firm’s published treatise for the American Chambers of Commerce in Beijing and Shanghai, respectively. Feldman provided guidance on the politics and law of national security reviews, based on the treatise chapter authored by Michael Oxley and Peggy Peterson. Burke presented the core concerns of his chapter on the Foreign Investment National Security Act and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Additionally, Burke made a presentation on export controls focusing on their impact on foreign investment in the United States. Simowitz completed the program with a presentation on antitrust laws, their application to acquisitions in the U.S., and their extraterritorial reach.
Their presentations were so well received that they were posted to the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai website.
Feldman also briefed leaders of the Hong Kong branch of the American Chamber of Commerce on China-U.S. trade and relations following the Hu Jintao-Barack Obama Summit in Washington in January. The discussion contrasted the Obama plan for relations with China articulated in a campaign speech in October 2008 with the post-summit results. Feldman noted that Obama was stymied by Congress in pursuing some of his priorities with respect to China, while China had pushed back hard in those areas it regards as within its sovereignty.
Before leaving Hong Kong Feldman attended a diplomatic reception for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in the home of the American Consul General. Mayor Daley expressed particular interest in the firm’s treatise and thought it might help his efforts to solicit Chinese investments, offering expert guidance to potential investors.