Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Can american lawyer defend in China

This is delicate international question, I would have to talk to you in more depth to figure this out.

Please call me at your earliest convenience.

JDH

Re: Can american lawyer defend in China

This is delicate international question, I would have to talk to you in more depth to figure this out.

Please call me at your earliest convenience.

JDH

Re: Can american lawyer defend in China

Chinese law would determine who could represent a defendant in a Chinese court. Your friend will want a Chinese lawyer, since there are enormous differences between the American and Chinese legal systems. An American lawyer unfamiliar with China's laws or judicial system would do very poorly there, even if she speaks fluent Chinese.

There may be American lawyers who are also licensed to practice in China, but there can't be very many and I don't know any systematic way to search for them. Moreover, it's possible that lawyers in China are licensed in individual provinces rather than nationwide, just as American lawyers are licensed by the individual states. The odds of finding an American lawyer licensed in the particular Chinese province where your friend is being held would not be good.

Also keep in mind that, even if you can find an American lawyer who is licensed in China and who is willing and able to take the case, she will have to travel back and forth between the U.S. and China several times in order to defend him. Your friend will have to pay for her time as well as her travel expenses. I doubt he has that much money, but if he does he's be better off spending it on a local lawyer.