deKieffer & Horgan, PLLC’s Foreign Investment practice is led by Frank A. Orban III and focuses particularly but not exclusively on China, Russia, the Czech Republic and selected countries in the Balkans. Mr. Orban is a recognized career-long hands-on specialist in trade with and investment in these regions and has lectured widely on related legal and political developments, including at major conferences organized by the US Government. deKieffer & Horgan, PLLC, working in tandem with leading indigenous host-country law firms, provides advice on establishing and the necessary support in cost-effective implementation of direct foreign investment and related matters.
Assistance is provided in selecting
the right corporate structure to optimally achieve its client’s business
objectives, including advice on effective use of joint ventures, wholly-owned
enterprises, in-country distribution, employment, licensing and other
collaborative arrangements. Such counseling touches on not only corporate
law but also finance, real estate, intellectual property, regulatory compliance
and the like. The firm offers particular expertise in actually
negotiating joint ventures as well as other types of negotiations with foreign
governmental authorities. This area of practice not only supports its
clients’ activities in the foreign country but also provides advice relating to
US laws relevant to foreign investment such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act, Export Controls, Customs, IP, etc. For example, if a client produces
products abroad that it wants to import into North America, deKieffer
& Horgan, PLLC can provide all the necessary
deKieffer & Horgan, PLLC also maintains relationships with various host-country service providers that can help investors operate their newly established businesses. Of course, the firm stands by to provide post-establishment legal advice, including in the areas of trademarks and other intellectual property matters as well as in connection with commercial dispute resolution whether through the courts or through arbitration.
Our practice group also has
members who are admitted to practice in the European Union and maintains a
European office in
Attorneys participating in this practice area have since the early 1980’s been involved in making hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in China and the in more recent years in Russia and the former Yugoslavia. Mr. Orban has been, in fact, a pioneer in the East-West trade and investment area having started work in the Soviet Union in the early 1970s and is currently very active in leading trade groups focusing on business in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia, including serving as a Director, Vice President and General Counsel of the US-Serbia Business Council.
Illustrative matters that attorneys in the group members have include, $80 million building material plant JV in Shanghai involving land purchase, domestic and international venture financing, environmental audits and compliance, JV negotiations and registration, structuring China and overseas raw material sourcing and domestic and foreign distribution networks; multi-million dollar metal fabrication wholly owned investment China; establishment of Chinese international trading company; establishment of high end international consulting firm’s operations in mainland China and Hong Kong; various litigation including admiralty proceeding, labor law, contract disputes; successful litigation in US against defaulting Chinese supplier; acquisition of factories in Russia and former Yugoslavia; advice in Russian and former Yugoslav privatization; licensing of Russian high technology; licensing of US technology to China and Russia; a wide range of US and Chinese customs issues.
RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS BY D&H, PLLCATTORNEYS
Frank A. Orban, III, Investing in Russia – Legal Challenges U.S.-Russian Mid-Atlantic Business Council, State College, PA (May 2008).
Frank A. Orban,
III, Taking Advantage of and Being Taken Advantage
of in the Chinese Market - Exporting, Investing, and IP Protection in
Contemporary
Frank A. Orban, III, Doing Business in China Yesterday and Today, Pennsylvania Department of Commerce & World Trade Center Conference on Doing Business in China (2007).
J.
Donald E. deKieffer, Doing Business in Romania (Peter Randall, 1992).
Donald E. deKieffer, Legal Considerations in Countertrade Transactions, Corporate Counsels International Advisor, Issue 72 (May 1, 1991).
Donald E. deKieffer, The Role of Export Credits in International Trade, American Bar Association International Trade Policy (1984).
Frank A. Orban, III, testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (April 4, 1984).
deKieffer & Horgan, PLLC prepared the materials on this web site for informational purposes. The transmission and display of the information contained at, or accessed through, this web site is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Since we are not providing legal advice through this web site, you should not act upon any information you might receive from it without seeking professional counsel. The materials on this web site are intended, but not guaranteed, to reflect current legal developments and the current state of the law. We do not, however, represent, warrant, or guarantee they will be complete, accurate, or up to date when you view them.