Zhonglun W&D's litigation and arbitration practice team consists of more than a dozen professional lawyers, most of whom hold master's or doctor's degrees. They have represented scores of large enterprises, government agencies and individual persons in litigations and arbitrations and have accumulated rich experience in the process. The senior lawyers of the Litigation and Arbitration Department have been appointed as arbitrators at the Beijing Arbitration Commission and as arbitrators specializing in construction projects and real estate at the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission.

The Litigation and Arbitration Department of Zhonglun W&D is always ready to serve clients in the best possible way by drawing on its expertise and experience in this domain.

Practice of the Litigation and Arbitration Department includes:

1. Civil and Commercial Litigation
Zhonglun W&D's civil and commercial litigation practice covers civil disputes arising from such diverse matters as divorce, inheritance, labour affairs, contracts, guarantee, construction real estate and projects, securities, environmental protection and intellectual property together with commercial disputes concerning corporate shareholders' investments, unfair competition, insurance, negotiable instruments, tendering and bidding, maritime affairs and maritime commerce. Zhonglun W&D's service include:
(1) In the stage of pre-suit planning: conducting investigations on relevant background information and applying for property preservation measures to be taken; conducting tactical analysis and study of actual and potential claims; making suggestions on any commercial decisions likely to give rise to lawsuits;
(2) In the first-trial stage: representing the parties concerned in conducting investigations and collection of the necessary evidence; initiating lawsuits, composing bills of claims, composing bills of defence, statements of the agents ad litem and other litigation documents; raising objections to the jurisdiction of the court and applying for withdrawals of the relevant personnel; exchanging evidence; attending court hearings and reconciliations; applying for complaint withdrawals and receiving court judgments and/or written rulings.
(3) In the second-trial stage, representing the parties concerned in making appeals to a higher court and composing appeal petitions; composing bills of defence or statements of the agents ad litem and other litigation documents for the second trial; conducting investigation and collection of new evidence; attending court hearings and receiving court judgments and/or written rulings.
(4) In the re-trial stage: representing the petitioners in applying for re-trials; composing legal documents for the re-trials; conducting investigation and collection of new evidence; attending court hearings and receiving court judgments and/or written rulings.
(5) In the execution stage: representing the parties concerned in applying for compulsory execution of the judgments or rulings; conducting investigations on the assets of the persons subjected to the executions; providing the judges with information on the assets of the persons subjected to the executions and assisting the judges in carrying out the executions; participating in the reconciliations and reaching settlement agreements in the course of execution.

2. Administrative Lawsuits
When entrusted by the parties concerned, for any dispute arising from the nine specific administrative actions enumerated below, representing clients in participating in the first trial, second trial and re-trial of administrative lawsuits as well as in administrative reconsideration proceedings; composing litigation documents, conducting investigations and collection of evidence, issuing legal opinions on the litigation process, participating in court hearings and reconciliation proceedings. The nine specific administrative actions as mentioned above are as follows:
(1) an administrative sanction, such as detention, fine, rescission of a license or permit, order to suspend production or business or confiscation of property.
(2) a compulsory administrative measure, such as restricting freedom of the person or the sealing up, seizing or freezing of property.
(3) an infringement upon one's managerial decision-making powers, which is considered to have been perpetrated by an administrative organ.
(4) a refusal by an administrative organ to issue a permit or license, or its failure to respond to an application for a license.
(5) an administrative organ's refusal of, or failure to respond to, an application to perform its statutory duty or to protect the rights of a person and/or a person's property.
(6) cases where an administrative organ is considered to have failed to issue a pension according to law.
(7) cases where an administrative organ is considered to have illegally demanded the performance of duties.
(8) cases where an administrative organ is considered to have infringed upon other rights of the person and/or a person's property.
(9) administrative lawsuits arising from disputes over an application for registration and reconsideration of, or oppositions to, Chinese and foreign trademarks and patents.

3. Criminal Proceedings
(1) In the investigation stage, meeting with criminal suspects in custody to enquire about the case; providing criminal suspects with legal advice, applying on behalf of criminal suspects to obtain guarantors pending trials, and filing petitions and complaints on behalf of criminal suspects.
(2) In the prosecution reviewing stage, meeting with defendants and examining the case files; conducting investigations, collecting evidence and conducting an exchange of opinions with the public prosecution organs; applying on behalf of the defendants for obtaining guarantors pending trials and filing petitions with the public prosecution organs not to initiate a prosecution.
(3) In the trial stage, meeting with the defendants, consulting the case files and conducting an investigation and collection of the evidence; applying for expert evaluation on behalf of the defendants; drawing up the speeches of defence; when entrusted by the criminal suspects or defendants or when appointed by a People's Court, acting for the defence and participating in court hearings, making plea for the defendants for a mitigated punishment or exemption from criminal responsibility; when entrusted by the private prosecutors or the close relatives thereof in the cases of private prosecution and by the victims or the close relatives thereof in the cases of public prosecution, acting as their agents ad litem and participating in the proceedings; filing appeals or petitions on their behalf and drawing up the relevant legal documents.
(4) representing the parties concerned in conducting other legal activities. 4. Arbitration

4. Arbitration
Economic and Foreign-Related Arbitration
When entrusted by the parties concerned, providing the following service for arbitrations in such diverse areas as corporate affairs, securities, finance, real estate, construction projects, intellectual property, IT, international investment and trade, tax and environmental protection:
(1) conducting investigations on relevant background information and applying for property preservation measures to be taken; conducting claims analysis and tactical studies; conducting analysis of complex and difficult cases and the tactics to be taken; making suggestions on any commercial decisions likely to give rise to lawsuits, etc.
(2) drawing up or reviewing arbitration agreements; assisting the parties concerned in reaching arbitration agreements; drawing up, coordinating and submitting the legal documents for the arbitration.
(3) representing the parties concerned in collecting all such evidence as is necessary for the arbitration.
(4) representing the parties concerned in submitting the arbitration agreements, appointing the arbitrators or filing applications for withdrawals of arbitrators, etc.
(5) representing the parties concerned in applying for waiving or modifying their claims; representing the respondents in recognizing or disproving the claims of the claimants and filing counterclaims.
(6) representing the parties concerned in participating in court hearings and/or reaching settlement agreements.
(7) representing the parties concerned in applying for a court ruling that an arbitration agreement is null and void or applying to the courts for the cancellation of an arbitral award.
(8) representing the parties concerned in applying to a People's Court for the enforcement of an arbitral award.
(9) in foreign-related cases, representing the parties concerned in choosing the arbitration forum and the arbitration rules; preparing foreign-language documents relating to the foreign-related arbitrations and all translations as required by the relevant arbitration forum; representing the parties concerned in applying to the courts of the place where the chosen arbitration forum is located with respect to taking relevant asset-preservation measures and in applying to the competent courts in the countries where the relevant evidence is located for the preservation of evidence.
(10) in foreign-related cases, representing the parties concerned in applying directly to the competent foreign courts for recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award.

Labour Dispute Arbitrations
When entrusted by the parties concerned, providing the following services for arbitrations related to labour disputes arising from the enterprises' dismissing or discharging their employees or the employees' resigning or leaving office, from the implementation of the statutory regulations on salaries, insurance, welfare, training and labour protection and from the performance of the labour contracts:
(1) representing the parties concerned in filing applications for arbitration to the labour arbitration commission, drawing up, coordinating and submitting the legal documents for such arbitrations.
(2) representing the parties concerned in collecting all the evidence relating to the arbitrations.
(3) representing the parties concerned in filing petitions and in filing applications for withdrawals of the relevant personnel.
(4) representing the parties concerned in filing applications to the People's Courts for enforcement of the arbitral award.