Media Coverage
Source: Asia Pacific Business
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Taina Rosa, Olivia Thomas
09.27.24
Litigation partner and co-leader of Pillsbury’s China practice Geoffrey Sant recently engaged in an extensive Q&A with Asia Pacific Business to highlight his cross-border litigation cases, his recent victories and his outlook on the future of the Asian legal market.
In describing one of his recent wins, Sant expressed satisfaction in helping a Chinese client secure a half-billion dollar arbitration award—the largest award ever enforced in the United States.
“Traditionally, U.S. courts have been surprisingly hesitant to enforce Chinese arbitration awards,” he said. “As compared to other countries, a much larger percentage of Chinese arbitration awards have been rejected by U.S. courts due to supposed procedural failings or other problems. So, we’re delighted to confirm such a large arbitration award.”
Sant, who is a native English speaker, added that being fully fluent in spoken and written Chinese has brought value to his practice and is a key consideration for success.
“This makes us much more efficient, quicker, cost-effective and productive,” he said. “Frankly, it makes us far better lawyers.”
Although some Western law firms began shrinking their Asian offices in recent years, Sant said that “[his team] has remained extremely busy with lawsuits and regulatory work” and that “even [their] transactional work has grown significantly in the past year.”
“Our confidence in Asia is shown by the fact that we have grown the number of attorneys based in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong,” he concluded. “We now have one of the most successful litigation groups in the world focusing on U.S.-China lawsuits.”
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