Global Law Office ("GLO") recently won a CIETAC arbitral award representing a foreign client in a foreign-related dispute concerning the import of automobiles.

The case was led by Tim Yimin Liu and Christoph Koeppel, with support from team members Sybil Xueting Yuan, Yutong Xiao, and Cassie Wenjing Li.

The dispute presented a range of complex substantive and procedural challenges, including the alleged forgery of contracts consisting of an arbitration clause, appearance authorization, and the missing of certain past evidence. Prior to the GLO's taking of the arbitration, the client tried to invalidate the arbitration clause before courts, however it got three adverse court judgments from the first-instance, appellate, and re-trial. This placed the client at a procedural and substantive disadvantage.

Upon being retained, GLO initiated arbitration proceedings before CIETAC, focusing its strategy on legal principles governing appearance authorization and the doctrine of ratification. Through rigorous legal analysis and referring to pertinent judicial precedents, the GLO team successfully upheld the validity of the arbitration agreement and established the tribunal's jurisdiction, thereby removing procedural impediments and allowing the merits of the case to be heard.

Concurrently, the GLO team undertook extensive efforts to collect and produce supplementary evidence. By systematically reconstructing the transaction timeline through supporting documentation, correspondence, and performance records, GLO team established a cogent and persuasive evidence chain, which underpinned the client's claims and ultimately led to a favorable award for the client.

This matter exemplifies GLO's capabilities in managing complex foreign-related arbitration and enforcement proceedings, and its "can-do" mindset and endeavors to deliver client a winning and recovered arbitral award.