Practice areas

Compliance & regulatory; Litigation & arbitration; M&A and corporate governance; Corporate / foreign direct investment

Introduction

Gary Gao is a partner and head of the compliance and regulatory group of Zhong Lun Law Firm, with more than 25 years experience as a practising lawyer. Having earned his LLM in the UK, Gao’s working languages are both English and Chinese.

Before being admitted to the PRC Bar in 1995, he worked as a criminal judge in a district court in Shanghai from 1990. Gao was recommended as a Leading Individual in Compliance & Regulatory in both the 2020 and 2021 The Legal 500 Asia Pacific and recognised in corporate investigation/anti-bribery by Chambers Asia-Pacific for four years since 2018. Besides these, Gao was honoured as the 2022 Distinguished Practitioner in Regulatory by Asialaw Profiles, for the Deal of the Year 2020 and The A-List China’s Elite 100 Lawyers 2019 by China Business Law Journal, the 2017 Regulatory & Compliance Lawyer of the Year by China Law & Practice, the 2016 Client Choice Top 20 Lawyer by ALB and Asia’s Leading Lawyers for Business of Dispute Resolution by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2013.

More than two decades of experience in compliance and international dispute resolution have given Gao an intimate understanding across the whole operation of enterprises, a keen understanding of international business skills and the pitfalls and traps in negotiations, as well as rich experience dealing with company compliance.

He has assisted numerous multinational enterprises, institutions and large domestic enterprises in different industries with comprehensive compliance issues, including handling cross-border governmental investigations, defending clients in criminal proceedings, preparing and dealing with related disputes, conducting internal compliance investigations involving management staff, initiation of criminal procedures and dealing with employment termination, as well as providing compliance training services to management, employees and business partners.

In addition, Gao is an experienced and skilled litigator capable of handling complex, cross-border litigation as well as sophisticated commercial disputes. He has rich experience in foreign arbitration, litigation, mediation and negotiation, is familiar with the strategic planning of dispute resolution in multiple jurisdictions, the application of the law (especially relating to common law), and the collection, screening and rules of proof of cross-border evidence. In particular, Gao is good at dealing with disputes involving corporate equity, partnership private equity investment, procurement contracts, cross-border mergers and acquisitions and insurance claims, among others.

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