International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that it has established a new Special Counsel relationship with the Chinese law firm of Martin Hu & Partners (MHP) in Shanghai. MHP is a full-service commercial law firm, recognized by Chambers & Partners, a legal firm ranking service, as one of China's "Emerging Law Firms of the Year" for 2010 and "Highly Recommended as a Leading Law Firm in Corporate/M&A."

Under the Special Counsel relationship, MHP will be available, as Special Counsel to Dorsey, to advise Dorsey and Dorsey clients with respect to law on the mainland of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and Dorsey, as Special Foreign Counsel to MHP, will be available to advise MHP and MHP clients with respect to jurisdictions in which Dorsey is permitted to practice.

Dorsey’s office in Shanghai opened in 2001. Dorsey’s new Shanghai office space in Pudong, Shanghai is adjacent to MHP’s offices.

MHP has a team of 20 lawyers with extensive experience in the corporate and commercial law sectors in the PRC, and Martin Hu is an influential figure in Shanghai's legal community. He is a U.S.-qualified lawyer with 15 years of experience representing multi-national corporations in China. He also holds a position on the Shanghai People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political supervisory body in China.

Peter Corne, co-chair of Dorsey’s Asia practice group noted, “This new relationship will make it easier for Dorsey clients to obtain qualified legal representation in areas of mainland practice reserved for domestic Chinese law firms, including litigation and domestic arbitration, corporate finance on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, insolvency procedures and court sponsored restructuring, as well as provide better access to local and national government authorities.”

“This is an exciting development for our clients and for our Firm,” said Marianne D. Short, Dorsey’s Managing Partner. “Our close working relationship with MHP will mean we will be even better positioned to assist our clients in achieving their strategic, commercial and legal objectives in China.”