International Practice

We help for-profit, and non-profit entities do business across the globe. We assist clients in expanding their businesses through stock and asset purchases and otherwise advise and assist with cross-border transactions. We advise clients on corporate, capital and operational structures, director and officer's liabilities and responsibilities, all in an effort to maximize opportunities while being mindful of complying with applicable local or national laws and applicable treaties. We negotiate and draft clients' international contracts, including purchase and sale agreements, joint venture agreements, franchise agreements, and distribution and licensing agreements, to ensure the terms are favorable and to select appropriate dispute resolution avenues and dispute fora. We advise foreign companies on dealing with distressed U.S. companies before the start of and during the course of restructuring or insolvency proceedings. For some clients, we serve as their outside general counsel in the U.S., becoming the "local" go-to partner for their corporate legal departments.

We assist clients to resolve disputes that straddle jurisdictions, borders, corporate structures, cultures, sanctioned regime, political systems, and treaties, whether through litigation, arbitration, mediation, or other forms of dispute resolution. We assert clients’ legal claims and defend clients against claims in court systems and before tribunals across the globe, including international arbitrations.

We advise clients on the extraterritorial application of U.S. law in connection with pending civil and criminal matters. We can support international clients involved or bringing a claim in their ‘home’ jurisdiction or before an international tribunal, with U.S. court-ordered investigation (including documentary and testimonial evidence in the U.S.). Our lawyers combine their legal acumen and foreign language proficiencies with industry experience gained from representing clients across many sectors and offer specific subject-matter expertise to achieve results efficiently. We approach our cross-border disputes with a focus on resolving disputes quickly and effectively, with as little disruption to business operations and expansion as possible.

Our lawyers counsel individuals across the world, including executives and officers of international companies, offering advice on executive compensation, immigration concerns and objectives and assets protection. We provide counsel on international estate planning strategies, tax-efficient business operations and asset structuring through the creation of trusts and other investment structures. We help administer estates for non-U.S. citizens to effectuate transfers of property and assets in the U.S. upon their demise. We assist with cross-border family law issues, including international abductions and custody disputes and visitation agreements.

We counsel on the applicability of foreign laws and regulations to U.S. and international business operations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, OFAC Regulations. We help our clients navigate economic sanctions, export controls, and national security restriction regimes imposed by the U.S., the European Union, the United Nations, and other countries and alliances. We counsel clients regarding tax obligations, withholding, and payment responsibilities, as well as corporate tax treatment of business activities in multiple countries.

Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Igbo, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu

Because intellectual property rights are generally national in scope, businesses operating across borders or planning to do so often require counsel to obtain, enforce, and defend rights in the countries of interest. Offit Kurman’s U.S.-based intellectual property attorneys establish and manage global intellectual property portfolios, particularly in relation to patents, industrial designs, trademarks, copyrights and domain names, whether through international treaties or directly with our well-established network of agencies and counsel throughout the world. We advise on the availability of rights and the risks of initiating use of trademarks, practicing patents, and disclosing trade secrets to parties in other jurisdictions. We draft, negotiate, and counsel on cross-border agreements, including licenses and assignments. Our intellectual property attorneys handle all kinds of disputes within the courts and agencies, including infringement litigation, oppositions, cancellations, invalidations, expungement and reexamination. We provide our services to public and private companies of all sizes as well as entrepreneurs and start-ups based in the United States and throughout the world. Our industry experience is vast, including but not limited to the software and electronics, social media and influencer marketing, finance and fintech, fashion, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and cannabis industries. 

We assist multinational employers in the transfer of key personnel to the U.S.;  our team advises investors to startup or acquire existing U.S. businesses, and we have helped thousands of foreign nationals obtain EB-5 and E-2 visa benefits; given the complexity and fluidity of U.S. immigration policies, we not only assist U.S. companies hire foreign talent and provide visa support for “talent management” but we also advise our employers on related compliance of all aspects of workplace legal issues.