Pandemics and force majeure – the necessary contractual elements and how to effectively rely upon them or secure relief in manuf

Caroline Berube

Caroline graduated from McGill University (Canada) with a BCL and LL.B degree and completed her studies at the National University of Singapore for one year with a focus on Chinese law in 1998. Caroline has represented international corporate clients and banks in asset financing and M&A cross-border transactions in Asia for more than 22 years between Singapore, Bangkok and China. She has spent a majority of that time in China, focusing on corporate, IP and arbitration, an area in which she has built a respected expertise and understanding of the challenges and advantages of most Asian jurisdictions. She advises many Asian, European and North American clients on their legal structure, IP, HR and investments issues in Asia and has been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers, including Bloomberg News, the Singapore Straits Times, The Business Times, The Asian Legal Business and La Presse. Caroline is also a regular speaker at many international conferences.

Christopher Blake

Christopher S.W. Blake is a partner with the U.S. law firm of Hahn Loeser and Parks LLP, practicing out of its Cleveland, Ohio office. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, and financings for a wide range of industries, including food and beverage, gaming, and real estate. As co-chair of Hahn Loeser’s International Practice Group and its Corporate Transactions Group, Chris’ practice spans domestic and international transactional matters.

Of note, Chris has extensive experience identifying cross-border issues and creating detailed plans for his clients to address those issues, and regularly uses his in-depth understanding of the complexities of joint ventures, distributorships and sales agreements to counsel public and private companies on the best approach to enter into or to exit a new market or a cross-border contract.

Chris currently serves as the co-chair of the International Bar Association’s International Commerce and Distribution Committee.

Dirk Schwenn

Dr. Dirk Schwenn is a partner with the German law firm of Schomerus & Partner, practicing out of its Hamburg office. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, corporate and business law for a wide range of industries, but also for non-profit organizations. Dirk is also heading the international desk at Schomerus.

In addition to his work as a lawyer, he is an honorary board member of a foundation in the field of geriatric care and he is also the author of numerous publications on foundations and company law.

Dirk currently serves as Senior Vice Chair of the International Bar Association’s International Commerce and Distribution Committee.

Hui (Harrison) Jia

Harrison primarily practices in the fields of M&A and insurance. He is the director of DeHeng’s Banking & Finance Practice Group and Cross-Border Transaction Committee. Harrison is an admitted lawyer in the field of international investment legal affairs by MOFCOM.

David Liu

His practice is focused on mergers and acquisitions, international arbitration, tax, customs and commercial matters affecting cross-border investment. He also represents high net worth individuals in their estate and tax planning matters.

Mr. Liu has over 20 years' professional experience in Greater China. Prior to joining Duan & Duan in December 2019, he was a partner of FuJae Partners for 4 years, a partner of JunHe LLP for over 8 years, the managing partner of the Shanghai office of Bryan Cave LLP for over 2 years, and a senior lawyer at the Shanghai office of Sidley Austin LLP for five and a half years. From August 1983 to August 1988, Mr. Liu worked at the PRC State Administration of Taxation, serving first as a tax official and then as a Deputy Section Chief in charge of income tax policies affecting foreign investment.

Mr. Liu has extensive expertise in corporate and commercial matters. His mergers and acquisitions work has involved Chinese State-owned, privately-owned and foreign-invested companies. He has undertaken numerous transactions relating to direct investment, acquisitions, reorganizations, tax and customs in the PRC. Mr. Liu has coordinated a number of large-scale multi-jurisdictional and cross-border transactions, and counseled foreign companies on the establishment of Sino-foreign joint ventures, wholly foreign owned enterprises, and PRC representative offices. Mr. Liu also represents clients in international arbitration proceedings before arbitration institutions such as Shanghai International Arbitration Centre, and advised clients on cross-border technology, trademark and software licensing. Throughout his career, Mr. Liu has represented corporate clients of all sizes across diverse industries, including IT, high-tech, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, health and fitness, chemicals, logistics, commodities trading, precious metals, and automotives.