This requires knowledge of foreign laws and the cultural differences in applying these laws as well as commercial expertise. Any lawyer who permits their client to enter into a business venture without carrying out proper and exhaustive feasibility studies is as negligent as the client. The Asia environment does not provide legal protection for clients in a foreign country. Lawyers must therefore incorporate into their documentation other forms of protection. Business relationships in Asia depend on mutual understanding developing over time.
Negotiations are extensive.
Lawyers need to emphasise to their client that negotiations cannot be cut short, but that the client need only pay for the lawyer's services as and when required. Because negotiations are time-consuming, the commercial solution is to start small and grow. Lawyers should impress upon their clients the need to strike a balance between fully documenting an arrangement at the outset and allowing sufficient flexibility to alter the arrangement as circumstances dictate. Mr Minter spelled out in some detail the necessity to develop a range of strategies to protect a client's intellectual property in an Asian venture and suggested some strategies companies have successfully adopted. In all cases a key element possessed by the client must be identified.