Services
Drawing on decades of individual experience that involves practice both in law firms and inside companies, McNeil Global Law offers a broad range of support for clients, including advice, negotiation, representation, document preparation, and document review, in many fields of business and legal activity. He is also very familiar with issues of legal project management, strategic planning, and operational flexibility. In legal work, he can take a company from the small steps of exploring a foreign (or U.S.) market to establishment of an office or joint venture or seizing a major business opportunity whenever it is presented. When foreign legal input is required, a personally selected network of lawyers in several dozen countries is available.
Areas covered include the following, but see below for a more comprehensive list.
SERVICES OFFERED
- Contracts
- Intellectual property registration and licensing
- Export-import advice and assistance
- Acquisitions and sales
- Foreign sourcing
- United States sourcing
- Distribution
- Anti-bribery compliance
- Business structures, such as subsidiaries, branches, and joint ventures
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
In the following you may find more detail on qualifications and experience, depending on whether your interest is in
| Import and Export Analysis and Compliance | ||
| • Compliance plans and training | ||
| • Assistance with Customs and the Department of Commerce | ||
| • Assistance with classification of products to prevent false declaration | ||
| • Classification requests to customs | ||
| • Duty drawbacks | ||
| • NAFTA certifications and related issues | ||
| • Challenges of duty and other tax assessments | ||
| Assistance in Entering the U.S. Market | ||
| • Creating, structuring, reporting, and licensing businesses | ||
| • Choice of entity to fit with the foreign client’s existing structure | ||
| Licensing and Other Intellectual Property Considerations | ||
| • Trademark registration and licensing outside the U.S. | ||
| • Protection and licensing of patents, trade secrets, and copyrights | ||
| • Questions of grey market or infringing imports: seizure of offending items at the border | ||
| • High-technology questions: computer law & software matters, including licensing and development agreements | ||
| Dispute Settlement | ||
| • Dispute settlement: language, venue, applicable law | ||
| • Assistance in choosing, structuring and implementing arbitration mechanisms, including but not limited to: | ||
| - AAA (US and worldwide) | - CEPANI (Brussels) | |
| - ICC (Europe and worldwide) | - Singapore International Arbitration Centre | |
| - Stockholm Chamber of Commerce | - CIETAC (China) | |
| U.S. and Foreign Immigration and Employee Assignments | ||
| • Visas, agreements and advice – in connection with the Employment Law group | ||
| • Employee transfers | ||
| • Employment standards, tax, healthcare, termination, employee participation in management decisions | ||
| Required Reporting of Investment in the U.S. From Abroad | ||
| • Department of Commerce forms and rules | ||
| International Agreements; Advice and Assistance on Regulations and Effects | ||
| • Dumping under WTO regulations and U.S. law | ||
| • NAFTA implications on sales, tariffs, certification of origin, establishment | ||
| • of offices, hiring and firing of employees, and other areas | ||
| • UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) | ||
| Joint Ventures | ||
| • Assistance with or implementation of negotiations, governance decisions, tax issues, local compliance, alternative structures, licenses, capital contribution, | ||
| and all other aspects of joint venture formation, continuation, and termination. | ||
| Review of Foreign Contracts Before Translation | ||
| • Can Apply Working Knowledge of Languages to Contracts in: | ||
| - Dutch | - French | |
| - German | - Italian | |
| - Portuguese | - Spanish | |
| Import and Export Analysis and Compliance | ||
| • Compliance plans and training | ||
| • Assistance with Customs and the Department of Commerce | ||
| • Assistance with classification of products to prevent false declaration | ||
| • Classification requests to customs | ||
| • Duty drawbacks | ||
| • NAFTA certifications and related issues | ||
| • Assistance with the International Trade in Arms Regulation (ITAR) - Registration of all manufacturers (not only exporters) of military goods is required |
||
| • Advice and assistance with State Department License | ||
| • Advice on and prevention of felonious domestic “exports” of information and the resulting penalties | ||
| • Foreign import and export compliance | ||
| • Challenges of duty and other tax assessments, domestic and foreign | ||
| Education and Compliance with U.S. Laws on International Trade | ||
| • Foreign Corrupt Practices Act | ||
| • U.S. Anti-Boycott laws | ||
| • Laws affecting transfers of funds | ||
| • Trading with the Enemy Act | ||
| International Terms of Shipment | ||
| • Advice on and interpretation of Incoterms and other terms of shipment, with the attendant implications regarding the transfer of risks, costs, and obligations. | ||
| Assistance in Entering Foreign Markets | ||
| • Distribution or commission agency decisions (choice of method) | ||
| • Choice of local presence: branch office, subsidiary, representative office structuring and governing the joint venture (choice of form) | ||
| • Assistance in medical and regulatory compliance and qualification | ||
| • Attention to overarching tax implications | ||
| • Choices of employment or contractor relationship | ||
| Assistance in Withdrawing From Foreign Markets | ||
| • Terminating foreign distributors and agents | ||
| • Closing foreign offices | ||
| • Selling a joint venture, branch, or subsidiary | ||
| • Terminating employees | ||
| Licensing and Other Intellectual Property Considerations | ||
| • Trademark registration and licensing outside the U.S. | ||
| • Protection and licensing of patents, trade secrets, and copyrights | ||
| • Questions of grey market or infringing imports: seizure of offending items at the border | ||
| • High-technology questions: computer law & software matters, including licensing and development agreements | ||
| Secured Transactions | ||
| • Achieving a measure of security in sales transactions, despite the absence of the UCC | ||
| Payment Issues | ||
| • Letters of credit, guarantees, normal payment terms, wire transfers, advance payments, credit insurance. | ||
| Currency | ||
| • Hedging and escalation clauses to protect against currency fluctuation | ||
| • Practical alternatives to hedging and escalation | ||
| Financing Requirements and Corporate Governance Abroad | ||
| • Securing necessary structures, transactions, and documentation for multinationals (intercompany loans, guarantees, pledges) | ||
| Dispute Settlement | ||
| • Dispute settlement: language, venue, applicable law | ||
| • Assistance in choosing, structuring and implementing arbitration mechanisms, including but not limited to: | ||
| - AAA (US and worldwide) | - CEPANI (Brussels) | |
| - ICC (Europe and worldwide) | - Singapore International Arbitration Centre | |
| - Stockholm Chamber of Commerce | - CIETAC (China) | |
| U.S. and Foreign Immigration and Employee Assignments | ||
| • Visas, agreements and advice – in connection with the Employment Law group | ||
| • Employee transfers | ||
| • Employment standards, tax, healthcare, termination, employee participation in management decisions. | ||
| Required Reporting of Investment in the U.S. from Abroad | ||
| • Department of Commerce forms and rules | ||
| Required Reporting of Investment Abroad by U.S. Persons | ||
| • Department of Commerce forms and rules | ||
| International Agreements; Advice and Assistance on Regulations and Effects | ||
| • Dumping under WTO regulations and U.S. law | ||
| • NAFTA implications on sales, tariffs, certification of origin, establishment of offices, hiring and firing of employees, and other areas | ||
| • UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) | ||
| Joint Ventures | ||
| • Assistance with or implementation of negotiations, governance decisions, tax issues, local compliance, alternative structures, licenses, capital contribution, and all other aspects of joint venture formation, continuation, and termination. | ||
| Review of Foreign Contracts Before Translation | ||
| • Can Apply Working Knowledge of Languages to Contracts in: | ||
| - Dutch | - French | |
| - German | - Italian | |
| - Portuguese | - Spanish | |