USA

Why trade or invest in the United States?

The Unites States of America are maybe best known for the “American Dream”.  This “American Dream” mentality combined with the highly developed and efficient U.S. financial markets and the strong corporate governance of the United States makes the US the ideal country to invest in.

The United States represents a huge part of the global economic activity.  With the relatively cheap labor it is also an ideal location to set up labor intensive enterprises.  With the 50 different states it goes without saying that you will find a market within each and every sector that you are interested to invest in.    

Question will be to find the most optimal state for your product or service after carefully exploring the legislative framework related to your trade or investment project.

Some particularities of the US legal system you should know

As with every country foreign to your own it is important to familiarize yourself with the particularities of the country that you want to invest in.  It is important to keep in mind that, besides Federal Law, each state in the US also has their own laws and courts.

Due to the fact that state law is usually applicable to any dispute with regard to your contract it is important to keep those laws in mind during the negotiations about your contract as they may cover a wide range of areas of direct importance of the sector of your investment and may differ substantially.  Contracts in the US are lengthier than their European counterpart and the negotiation of these contracts are of the utmost importance. During your negotiations it remains important not to forget to negotiate about the “usual clauses” such as the choice of law clause – this can make a huge difference!

US courts are prone to grant punitive damages to the claimant, often amounting to millions of dollars. The concept of punitive damages is not as well incorporated in Europe and most certainly not for the amounts that are at stake in the US proceedings. 

Once you are confronted with a law suit you will find that it is, also in civil cases, very normal to have your case argued in front of a jury. Most often the case will be settled before it reached the jury.  Competition or anti-trust and IP law still have a different approach as the case is in Europe.  Insight in the matter may help you to overcome the obstacles deriving from infringements due to lack of knowledge.

Whom we work for

A-Law has been assisting a wide range of clients in the US as well as US companies establishing branches or subsidiaries abroad.  M&A projects involving partners of different legal systems as is the case with the US being a common law country, demand particular attention as from the early stage of the drafting of the confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements in lieu of exchange of data.

Performing contractual work in a wide range of cooperation, distribution, services and IP licensing agreements combining the skills of civil and common law practitioners within A-Law has proven its added value towards A-Law customers.

Compromise and negotiating out of court settlements, taking into account the specificity of the sector involved, needs to be the result of a well-balanced legal exercise greatly appreciated by A-Law’s international clients.