Lucille A. Barale

Lucille Barale is a partner in the Hong Kong office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where she specializes in the legal aspects of doing business in China. She advises foreign companies on establishing joint ventures, wholly-owned subsidiaries and holding companies, technology licensing, engineering and construction projects, the financing of such projects, as well as the protection of intellectual property rights in transactions and projects in China.

In practice over 20 years, Ms. Barale has advised on a wide variety of China projects ranging from cars and pharmaceuticals to power plants and websites. From 1983 through most of 1989, Ms. Barale lived and worked in Beijing, heading the office of an international law firm. Prior to moving to Beijing, Ms. Barale was in the Hong Kong office of an international law firm for three years. She joined Freshfields' Frankfurt office in 1993 and moved back to Hong Kong in August 1996.

Ms. Barale graduated from Georgetown University in 1972 where she studied Chinese and Russian languages. She received a Master's degree in Chinese linguistics from the University of Hawaii in 1974. In 1980, she graduated from George Washington University National Law Center. Ms. Barale is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association.

During her years in China, Ms. Barale took an active role in the American Chamber of Commerce in the People's Republic of China, especially in promoting its recognition by the Chinese government. In 1989, she was elected President of AmCham China. In Hong Kong, Ms. Barale continues to be active in AmCham where she is presently a member of the AmCham Board of Governors and serves as Vice Chairman.

Ms. Barale has written and spoken extensively on the subject of doing business in China and China's entry into WTO. Recent publications include articles in The American Lawyer, The China Business Review, China Law & Practice, the South China Morning Post and chapters in The China Investment Manual (Asia Law & Practice, 1998), The Life and Death of an Infrastructure Project (Asia Law & Practice, 1997), and Infrastructure Financing Strategies in the PRC (A China Law & Practice Guide, 1998).
Ms. Barale reads and speaks Mandarin Chinese fluently.