This last week I gave a presentation for ASEAN Legal Alliance on NFTs, Axie Infinity, and the major problem digital assets present for national sovereigns. I’ve previously written in this space about the difficulty of the Metaverse being largely owned and operated by an American company. Citing the United States reaction to Chinese limitations to [...]
One of the major issues we face as lawyers in Vietnam is protecting our clients in drafted contracts. There are numerous elements that go into such drafting, but one major element is the inclusion of penalties for breaches of the contract. While Vietnam does not recognize liquidated damages, there are a number of other penalties [...]
When I first started practicing in Vietnam over ten years ago, it was assumed that the law governing the contract would--if at all possible--be foreign law. Vietnamese law was little developed, then, and foreign law was deemed more likely to contemplate potential issues arising. This, of course, neglected issues of dispute resolution and enforcement which [...]
I'm excited. As of a couple of hours ago, Vietnam has gone over 40 hours without a new case of Covid-19. That means it took only a month for the country to effectively control a second outbreak of the virus. Here's to hoping the trend continues. But with that in mind, there is a lot [...]
A derivative suit in Vietnam, as in most jurisdictions in which it is allowed, is a civil action brought by a shareholder of a company against a third party in the name of the company. Often this third party is a member of management.1 This is a powerful tool for minority shareholders to influence the [...]
While Vietnam is coming out of the Covid-19 epidemic, force majeure in Vietnam and elsewhere remains a major issue for investors both domestic and international. Cross-border flows of goods and people remain restricted, but internally, Vietnam is resuming business as usual to the extent possible. As the world locked down over the last few months, [...]
On 4 March 2020, Vietnam signed the Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters. The Convention takes effect on 3 May 2020. Vietnam is the 63 country to join the Convention. In joining the Convention, Vietnam continues its gradual accession to international judicial treaties. In [...]
Not too long ago I was looking at some labor law issues and tangentially saw a reference to a court case in Vietnam that addressed the issue of non-compete agreements. This intrigued me because the last time I looked into the issue there had been no real developments in the area and the consensus amongst [...]
I've spent the last two and a half days trying to figure out exactly what the courts do in Vietnam. I've come to the conclusion that their role is ill defined and that on purpose. I read through the Law on Promulgation of Legislative Documents, the Law on People's Courts, the Civil Procedure Code, and [...]
"Indochine Counsel are experts in their areas, understanding and reasonable." Every year international legal rankings publish their results by jurisdiction of the best law firms in each practice area. Sometimes Indochine Counsel ranks and wins, sometimes it doesn't. While the rankings companies say they are impartial and aren't influenced by law firm advertising budgets, they [...]