ESTABLISHED IN 1974

Number of professionals: 86 (23 partners)
Principal office: Taipei

Key practice areas

• Litigation and arbitration: Dispute resolution, public infrastructure & governmental procurement, employment, and proxy fights

• Transactional and commercial matters: Corporate, finance, investment, banking & securities, capital markets, M&A, shipping, insurance, restructuring & insolvency, antitrust, unfair competition, wind & other green energy

• Technology law: Intellectual property, telecommunications and internet, media and entertainment, environmental law and sustainability

Our services

In October 1974, four lawyers, three of whom had just retired from the bench, founded Formosa Transnational (FT), with the vision of providing quality legal services to Taiwan’s newly-developed economy. Founding partners KC Fan, John C Chen, Paiff Huang and Rai Hau-Ming sought to foster a more just and equitable society, advocating for the rule of law, and committing the firm to serving its clients, the community, and Taiwan in its global context.

For nearly five decades, FT has represented not only Taiwan’s leading companies, but also major international clients who rely on FT’s ability to provide clear, practical, and thorough advice in Chinese, Japanese and English.

Our ethos of specialisation, teamwork and service has allowed us to grow with Taiwan. We began by working with the traditional industries and manufacturing that dominated Taiwan at the time of our founding in 1974. Since then, internet, high-tech, and semiconductor companies have relied on our expertise. Today we work intensively with clients in newly emergent industries such as biotechnology and green energy.

In addition to helping our clients achieve their objectives, we have also been able to advise or support the Taiwanese government on a wide range of policies including criminal justice, entertainment law and energy. For example, FT advised clients in the energy industry for nearly 30 years as the clients shifted focus from traditional sources of power such as coal, nuclear and natural gas to wind, solar and geothermal.

FT has assembled a team of competent, experienced and empathetic attorneys, and experts who deliver world-class dispute resolution and transactional services to support clients in dealing with global market competition and the knowledge-based economy.

In addition to their Taiwan licences, most FT attorneys have advanced degrees from law schools in countries such as the US, Japan, and the UK. After lawyers join FT through a highly selective process, the firm mentors each attorney to develop and concentrate on discrete areas of specialisation. We are especially proud of our many distinguished alumni who have gone on to teach in Taiwan law schools or serve in government.

At FT, we are concerned with serving the needs of each and every client while adhering to the highest ethical standards. Our success in growing with Taiwan is founded on our ethos of specialisation, teamwork and service.

FT attorneys traditionally pride themselves on their ability to stay abreast of the latest social, legal and technological developments such as the challenges posed by entirely new areas of law such as elder law, artificial intelligence, ESG frameworks, data protection and fintech. As our clients innovate, FT will be there.