On January 14th, the complete list of winners for the 6th Golden Line Awards was officially announced. Two major cases represented by Shanghai Hongqiao Zhenghan Law Firm (including its Lingang New Area and Guangzhou offices) were honored with the Judicial Case Award – Corporate Commercial Disputes and the Judicial Case Award – Finance and Investment/Financing, respectively.
I. Judicial Case Award｜Corporate Commercial Disputes
Case: Bian Family Enterprise Equity Transfer Dispute
Award Rationale: This case fully reveals the残酷 and intense nature of family equity (price) struggles. The Supreme People’s Court pierced through the表象 of “formal signatures,” directly addressing the实质 justice of the case, demonstrating lofty judicial wisdom. The landmark reversal in this case directly prompted the retrial and reversal of five other related cases by the Shandong High People’s Court, securing a final and comprehensive victory for the client. This judgment not only provides crucial guidance for clarifying the validity of complex transactions within families, such as guarantees and debt assumptions, effectively curbing malicious attempts to evade debts by exploiting procedural flaws; more importantly, at the level of judicial practice, it exemplifies how a disadvantaged party, entangled in over a dozen家族 “encirclement-style” frivolous lawsuits and suffering multiple losses across different court levels, can achieve a stunning reversal at the Supreme Court through top-level litigation strategy design.
Ma Mingwei Lawyer / Partner
Lawyer Ma focuses on major, challenging, and complex commercial disputes, achieving remarkable results in the two core areas of corporate and finance.
In corporate dispute resolution: Lawyer Ma is particularly skilled in handling equity investment and financing, corporate governance deadlocks, and shareholder rights disputes. The cumulative value of such cases she has represented exceeds 30 billion yuan, with several judgments becoming benchmarks for industry adjudication. A hundred-billion-level equity transfer case she represented won the China Business Law Journal 2023 Deals of the Year Award.
In financial dispute resolution: Leveraging deep insights into cutting-edge businesses such as asset management, trusts, and bonds, she has successfully represented over a hundred cases. Multiple cases she has represented have repeatedly won honors, including receiving the China Business Law Journal Annual Outstanding Deal Award three times (2022-2024), winning the “Golden Line Judicial Case Award” four times (3rd-6th sessions), and having a represented case selected as one of the Jiangsu Court Financial Trial Top Ten Cases (2021–2023).
Supreme Court achievements: Lawyer Ma has successfully pushed for two cases to be accepted for retrial by the Supreme People’s Court. One case received full support after a reversal and directly prompted the Shandong High People’s Court to retry and reverse five other similar cases. Another case concluded via mediation.
With consistent outstanding performance, Lawyer Ma is widely recognized, having been honored with inclusion in the inaugural Legal 500 China Elite list, named a China Business Law Journal Rising Star and The A-list Legal Elite, recognized as an ALB Yangtze River Delta Rising Star, and awarded the LawXin Brand Star title, among others.
Chen Shuyuan Senior Lawyer
Lawyer Chen’s practice focuses on major commercial litigation and arbitration, with rich practical experience in cases involving corporate law, investment and financing, intellectual property, and finance. Notable cases include successfully representing a financial institution against a listed company and its subsidiary in a约 300 million yuan违规担保 case, which was the first Supreme Court retrial ruling of its kind after the Civil Code took effect; representing a financial institution in a约 220 million yuan差额补足纠纷 with Wuzhou International group companies, a classic case successfully defending the validity of存量差额补足承诺 received by financial institutions; representing a fund in a约 200 million yuan股权转让纠纷 with a private enterprise, achieving settlement and withdrawal of the lawsuit through effective asset preservation; obtaining a victory in a约 130 million yuan损害公司利益责任纠纷 case where a large state-owned enterprise and its shareholders were defendants; representing a listed trust company in a约 50 million yuan金融借款合同纠纷 with a private enterprise, successfully reaching settlement through effective asset preservation; representing a large state-owned enterprise in a约 30 million yuan租赁合同纠纷 with a private company, securing substantial support for the claimed millions in违约金; and representing a知名 IP company in dozens of不正当竞争 and copyright infringement disputes, achieving satisfactory settlements or victories.
Li Tongyu Lawyer
Lawyer Li’s practice focuses on complex commercial dispute resolution, with extensive litigation experience in corporate disputes, contract disputes, and担保纠纷. Since entering practice, Lawyer Li has handled dozens of cases with values ranging from tens of millions to over ten billion yuan. He is particularly adept at handling major疑难 cases, having repeatedly represented clients in turning defeats into victories despite不利一审 or二审 rulings, and has experience successfully代理 clients in obtaining Supreme Court retrials and reversals. Lawyer Li has also been involved multiple times in the research and development of practical legal courses on the Civil Code, Company Law, etc., and has participated in practical teaching at the law schools of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University.
II. Judicial Case Award｜Finance and Investment/Financing
Case: The First Case in Guangdong where a Listed Company Was Found Not Liable Based on the “Safe Harbor Rule for Forward-Looking Information” Reversal
Award Rationale: This case involves misrepresentation of forward-looking information. Following the effectiveness of the new Judicial Interpretation on Misrepresentation, it represents the first instance where the Guangdong High People’s Court overturned a ruling in such a case based on the “Safe Harbor Rule for Forward-Looking Information.” The case holds significant referential value for courts in reviewing financial deviations in performance forecasts and guiding listed companies towards compliant disclosure. As a typical case in litigation concerning forward-looking information, it provides a reference for people’s courts in examining whether financial data deviations in performance forecasts and preliminary earnings reports constitute misrepresentation, offering guidance for listed companies in standardizing the release of such information.
Lead Lawyers: Qian Qian, Shanghai Hongqiao Zhenghan (Lingang New Area) Law Firm; Xiao Yi, Zhang Xianduo, Shanghai Hongqiao Zhenghan (Guangzhou) Law Firm
Related Reading:
Inaccurate Performance Forecasts Do Not Necessarily Constitute Misrepresentation | Hongqiao Zhenghan’s Comeback Victory Case Selected as Guangdong Court Typical Securities Dispute Case
Hongqiao Zhenghan’s Representation in a Securities Misrepresentation Liability Case Wins Shanghai Lawyers Association Business Achievement First Prize
From the stunning Supreme Court reversal to the first reversal under the new judicial interpretation, the dual awards for these cases once again affirm Hongqiao Zhenghan’s top-level strategic planning capability and practical攻坚 strength in the field of complex commercial disputes, as well as the systematic advantages of跨区域资源统一调配 and专业能力深度协同 under its corporate integrated management model. Hongqiao Zhenghan will continue to uphold the professional standard of “Above the Golden Line,” safeguarding clients’ commercial success.
Qian Qian Lawyer / Partner
Lawyer Qian’s practice focuses on major commercial dispute resolution and arbitration. She has long been engaged in handling major commercial disputes, having represented numerous financial institutions, listed companies, large state-owned enterprise groups, and private enterprise groups in hundreds of various litigation cases, possessing rich court representation experience.
Lawyer Qian is adept at handling transaction disputes and various types of novel financial dispute cases. A contract dispute case she represented for a certain resources group company against a Hong Kong company was selected as a Supreme People’s Court Gazette case. She represented the first financial test case in the Shanghai Financial Court nationwide, involving central counterparty clearing default in financial derivatives, which was highly innovative and groundbreaking both in terms of system and dispute. Lawyer Qian excellently completed the preliminary preparation, issue梳理, and court hearing, winning praise from all parties. This case was awarded the Shanghai Financial Innovation Achievement Award Second Prize and the Shanghai Lawyers Association’s inaugural Outstanding Case Award. A misrepresentation case she represented for a listed company was selected as a typical securities dispute case by Guangdong courts.
Lawyer Qian is also widely recognized by the industry and renowned rating agencies. She has been selected as a Chambers Ranked Lawyer in Dispute Resolution, named a Shanghai Pudong New Area Top Ten Outstanding Young Lawyer, included in the inaugural Legal 500 China Elite list, listed among LEGALBAND’s Top 15 Client-Preferred Rising Star Partners, recognized as a China Business Law Journal Rising Star, and shortlisted for the ALB Young Lawyer of the Year – East China award for multiple consecutive years. She also serves as a member of the Shanghai Lawyers Association Arbitration Professional Committee and a lecturer on commercial litigation practical courses at Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Xiao Yi Lawyer / Partner / Head of Hongqiao Zhenghan Guangzhou Office
Lawyer Xiao’s main practice areas are civil and commercial law, especially major commercial dispute resolution in contract, corporate, finance, and insurance fields. Lawyer Xiao has handled a large number of litigation cases before the Supreme People’s Court and various intermediate and high people’s courts, as well as arbitration cases heard by arbitration institutions such as Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, Guangzhou Arbitration Commission, Shanghai Arbitration Commission, and Shanghai International Arbitration Center, with a total标的金额 exceeding tens of billions of yuan. He has provided litigation, arbitration, and enforcement services for many well-known domestic and international enterprises in cases involving commercial contract disputes, real estate development disputes, equity and company control disputes, tort disputes, real estate disputes, trade secret infringement disputes, etc. Many二审/再审 cases handled by Lawyer Xiao resulted in逆转胜诉 after multiple rounds of proceedings, establishing good mutual trust with adjudicators and receiving high praise from clients.
Lawyer Xiao has served as a dispute resolution advisor for large state-owned enterprises, has been appointed as a lecturer on commercial dispute litigation practical courses at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University, and has been invited multiple times to provide legal training for the Guangdong Provincial SASO’s provincial enterprises and other units.
Zhang Xianduo Lawyer
Lawyer Zhang’s main practice areas are major commercial litigation and arbitration, specializing in handling financial and commercial contract disputes. Possessing a solid foundation in legal theory, he provides professional legal services to financial institutions, state-owned enterprises, listed companies, and others.