Lehman, Lee & Xu honored and quoted by ALB

After Richard Wageman attended the Asian Law Awards and received the best Chinese tax law firm of the year award, two articles in this year’s first ALB magazine (issue 3.1) included Edward Lehman’s thoughts on tax law and intellectual property in China.

The first article includes an interview with Mr. Lehman where he explains how modern tax law in China finds its roots in foundational changes in Chinese business. Before investors and companies would come to China for the short term. They would make a quick profit and then get out without paying taxes in China. But now two changes have occurred. First, multi-national companies are staying in China for the long haul. Second, Chinese nationals are starting to make large sums of money and are hiring law firms to help them with their trusts. So the popularity of tax law is definitely on the rise in China.

One interesting fact: according to ALB there are only two reputable tax law firms in China. This is for a variety of reasons, including the relatively recent rise of tax law in China. LLX is one of these two firms with a sizable tax law department. Lehman, Lee & Xu has 85 professionals working solely in taxes and establishes roughly 20 trusts a month for high net worth individuals. The firm also does tax work for mergers and acquisitions, tax filing, etc.

The second article in ALB’s recent issue is an article written by Mr. Lehman for the organization. It discusses another of Lehman, Lee & Xu’s strengths: intellectual property (IP). The article discusses how companies used to ignore IP law because they felt it wasn’t strongly enforced in China. This, of course, turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy because you cannot sue someone for infringing for a copyright that has not been filed. But as China continues to meet its WTO promises by reforming laws in accordance with the international IP standards, filing for IP in China is becoming more feasible as it is better enforced.