Jonathan is chair of Harris Sliwoski’s corporate practice group, where he helps public and private companies with international and domestic business transactions. His clientele includes companies from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Jonathan has worked and consulted in the U.S., Asia, and South America and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese.
He is an emerging blockchain legal expert and enjoys developing international legal strategies with promising web3 projects.
I recently returned from a World Trade Center Utah delegation to Singapore, where I attended a briefing with Singapore’s first ambassador, Tommy Koh. Koh is a legendary diplomat and international law professor who humbly describes himself as a “founding servant” of Singapore. His list of accolades and professional accomplishments is significant, as well as his
As the China-US geopolitical environment continues be problematic, our clients and prospective clients have pivoted from joint venture relationships to distribution and similar licensing-type relationships. This is not a one-sided trend. We are seeing an increase in these distributor relationships going both into China and out of China. From the questions we receive, we see
With the wave of news surrounding due diligence company crackdowns in China, with Mintz Group and Bain & Co. as the highest profile targets to date (see here and here), a reporter reached out to inquire how legal practitioners are dealing with this diminished access. She wanted to know whether and how this complicates business
China Representative Offices Is your company considering setting up a Representative Office in China? You will likely find that the process is not as easy as it used to be. In many cases, plans for a Chinese Rep Office result in creating a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE), which is one significant step beyond a Rep
Paying lawyers can seem expensive, even if they are only mediocre lawyers. But good lawyers can often save you money because they can save you from your own mistakes. They do that by having both the experience and gravitas to teach you from others’ mistakes. I wrote in a previous post about the PPE nightmare
I recently read a great article in Politico by Brandon Possin, a U.S. foreign service officer (and friend of my colleague Fred Rocafort) who is currently stationed at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo. Possin also has significant blockchain-related credentials. In U.S. Diplomat to Washington: You’re Becoming Obsolete in One Big Area of Tech Policy, he
Yesterday, the AP published an article entitled Amid Strained US Ties, China Finds Unlikely Friend in Utah. I spoke with an AP journalist last year when they were researching this story, and I know and have spoken to some of the people mentioned in this article. I am not surprised about its tone or its
I have recently been helping a company source and develop a new product in China. This post contains the questions that have arisen during that process, along with my answers. 1. What is the right way to think about China sourcing now? A. Use Supply and Demand to Your Benefit The future will be rough,
Lawyers love to jab at each other, especially when we are friends and operate in different jurisdictions or different practice areas. Recently a litigator friend said to me, “Don’t transactional lawyers just cut and paste? It looks really easy.” I replied, “Don’t litigators just argue about pointless things?” This willful misreading of each other’s skills
I have recently spoken with many entrepreneurs still growing their businesses in the United States. When I talked with them about their international plans, many were interested in expanding internationally, but lacked a viable roadmap and resources for doing so. As they learned about my expertise in China and greater Asia, our discussions coalesced around
