William Marshall - Marshall Legal - International Trade and Customs and Whistleblower Practice

PRINCIPAL ATTORNEY, WILLIAM MARSHALL

_______

In a global career spanning more than two decades, William has successfully navigated foreign investment, cross-border negotiations and disputes and bet-the-company crises and investigations for several of the world’s leading multinational companies. Before founding Marshall Legal, William Marshall was a senior partner and practice group leader for prestigious international law firms in Greater China and Across the Asia Pacific region.  After having begun his career in New York and practiced at a high-level in Asia, William is comfortable dealing with matters in whichever jurisdiction they may arise.

William is highly regarded by clients for his practical, commercially-savvy legal and strategic advice.  William was recently short-listed for “Trade Lawyer of the Year” by the Asia Legal Business, an American Lawyer Media magazine.  He has been named on the Who’s Who Legal as a leading lawyer in Hong Kong (2016-2021) and has been listed as an eminent practitioner by World Tax and the International Tax Review (2017 - 2021).  He is a regular contributor to the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and is frequently consulted by major media outlets such as Bloomberg News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Singapore Straits Times on issues relating to Hong Kong, US sanctions, Chinese regulatory developments and international trade.

In his commercial practice, William focuses on cross-border contractual negotiations, drafting and disputes, regulatory controversy such as penalty enforcement and administrative appeals, internal investigations, as well as global business advisory to assist clients in navigating their global business concerns and develop their strategy.   William has been called upon by the boards of directors and CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies to help guide their expansion plans and to reconsider their global footprint in light of geopolitical risks.

In his whistleblower practice, William focused exclusively on areas of fraud and malfeasance related to customs fraud, export control evasion, sanctions circumvention and corruption matters.  He brings his long experience in Asia and deep expertise in these bodies of law to assist the whistleblowers in presenting an effective case.  Presenting a case in which the U.S. government elects to join will often come down to the quality of the information presented and the skill of the attorney in presenting a clear demonstration of fraud involving complex areas of law.

William has focused his pro bono efforts on combatting human trafficking.  He has been invited to speak at conferences around the world on this topic and, since 2018, he has been a leading pro bono counsel to the UN Migration Agency in its initiative to engage with companies to combat human trafficking in the supply Chain (IOM CREST).

Bar Admissions
  • Attorney, New York
  • Attorney, New Jersey
  • Solicitor, The High Court of Hong Kong
Career Highlights
  • Tiang and Partners (In association with PwC Legal International Pte Limited), Partner
  • Deloitte, Partner, Asia Pacific Leader Global Trade Advisory Practice
  • Baker & McKenzie, Partner, Head of Trade and Supply Chain Practice Group—China & Hong Kong
  • DLA Piper, Of Counsel, Trade and Tax
  • Abercrombie & Fitch, Senior Director & Global Supply Chain Counsel