Henry & Co Law Firm

Henry & Co. Law Firm is a partnership law firm established in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1995 during the early years of the Chinese lawyers’ system reform. Now this firm has become a specialist shipping law firm well-known both at home and abroad.

The Lawyers are all well educated at well-known universities, such as Dalian Maritime University, Shanghai Maritime University,China University of Political Science and Law,etc. Before practicing as lawyers, many of them were engaged in various professions, such as university lecturer, in-house counsel of shipping or trading or insurance companies, deck officer at sea, etc. With divergent and abundant professional working experience, they are more expert in handling disputes and matters in connection with international shipping, trading and insurance. They are experienced in acting as clients’ agentad litemfor litigation before the Chinese courts at all the 4 levels, especially before the established 10 Chinese maritime courts and their courts of appeal. They are also very much experienced in acting as clients’ agent in maritime or commercial arbitration proceedings either in China or abroad. In addition, they are instructed from time to time to act as expert witness to provide legal opinions of Chinese law to foreign courts or arbitration tribunals.

The areas of practice include maritime law, commercial law, international trade law, insurance law, international commercial arbitration law, and international maritime litigation law, which enable them to provide clients with specialized legal advice or legal service either through litigation, arbitration or any other way in respect of the following issues or areas:

• real rights in ships, including title to, or mortgage, maritime lien and possessory lien on ships;
• ships contracts, including ship building contract, ship sale and purchase contract, ship lease contract (e.g. bareboat charter party or time charter party), ship mortgage contract, loan agreement secured by ship mortgage, ship finance agreement, ship management contract, ship supply contract, ship repair contract, ship agency contract;
• contract of carriage by sea, including contract of carriage of goods by sea, voyage charter party, contract of carriage of passengers by sea, multimodal transport contract, bill of lading, waybill;
• marine accident disposal, including ship’s collision, pollution to marine environment, loss of life or personal injury at sea, salvage, general average, limitation of liability;
• marine insurance, including hull and machinery insurance, cargo insurance, shipowner’s liability insurance, logistic insurance;
• international trade, including international sale of goods, international payment, letter of credit, letter of guarantee, agency contract for import and export, freight forwarding contract;
• preservation of maritime claims, including arrest of ship, attachment of cargo or bunker;
• recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration awards.

The clients are mainly domestic or foreign shipping companies, ship managers, charterers, insurers, P & I clubs, freight forwarders, ship agencies, port terminals, stevedoring companies, warehouse companies, logistic companies, import and export companies, financial lease companies, commercial banks, etc. In addition, this firm also has long term and stabilized business relationships with a number of well-known international shipping or business law firms and are instructed now and then to provide legal advice or services to the clients to litigate or arbitrate in China.