Tier 3

Vision & Associates is an active firm. It is advising a growing number of Vietnamese clients, as well as representing foreign investors and investment funds buying shares in local joint stock companies. It also advised three large state-owned corporations on their restructurings. The firm has corporate ties with foreign firms including Deacons and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and good connections with government authorities.

Dispute resolution:

Vision & Associates represents client in relation to debt recovery, and other disputes involving commercial and construction contracts. It also handles out-of-court negotiations.

Intellectual Property:

Tier 1

This firm has a specialist IP department which handles licensing, franchising and technology transfer.

Band 1

The Firm: Vision & Associates’ lawyers are known as “the experts in state-owned enterprises.” By way of illustration, the firm was the government’s industry consultant and senior adviser working alongside KPMG, the World Bank and the Ministry of Finance on a government paper titled “Diagnostic audit of a number of state-owned enterprises in Vinafood”. It also acted as a consultant on the World Bank and Department for International Development pilot restructuring project for sustainable, equitable and efficient economic development in sectors dominated by state-owned enterprises. Possessed of more than 20 lawyers and 40 patent and trade mark attorneys and business management consultants, the “localised” firm comprises teams handling general legal practice, IP and investment and management consultancy. It is also making aggressive inroads into Vietnam’s international market, with projects such as successfully assisting Oxford English UK in establishing a 100% foreign-invested company in Vietnam, which is the first in the education industry.

The Lawyers: (Classified at Band 1 of Leading individuals in the field), Pham Nghiem Xuan Bac’s reputation extends further than his established profile in state-owned enterprise reform and development, to take in foreign investment, corporate governance, restructuring and IP. He was the lead lawyer on preparation of the World Bank’s standard bidding document for district town water supply concession contracts and advised Drew & Napier on the issuance of a performance bond valued at US$1 million. Le Quynh Anh has also been heavily involved in most of the significant deals of the firm.

The Clients: The firm generally represents major local and international banks and other corporations ranging from small to medium-sized companies to large multinationals. Besides carrying out a significant volume of work for key client the World Bank, the team has successfully acquired Unilever Vietnam as a new client, acting for its manufacturing, sale, import and export matters since last year. Also on the client list are: Asian Development Bank; the Department for International Development; the Danish International Development Agency; Motorola and IBM.