Harris Bricken

Harris Bricken is a boutique international law firm with lawyers in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Barcelona and Beijing. Our focus is on small and medium sized businesses that operate internationally and on multinational companies that require specialized legal assistance.

We have lawyers licensed in China, Russia, Spain, Germany, Australia and various states in America. Our language capabilities include Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.

Though we are small in size, we are big in reputation, both for our legal knowledge and for the relationships we establish with our clients.

Harris Bricken Blogs

Canna Law Blog™

China Law Blog

Blog Authors

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Latest from Harris Bricken

China Law Blog

China Employment Contracts: You Are Not Too Late to Have Yours Checked

By Grace Yang

December 9, 2019

If you have employees in China, you must have a written employment contract with each and every one of your employees. Employing anyone (Chinese citizen or expat) in China without a current, enforceable, China-centric employment contract puts you at massive risk for financial penalties and worse. Late last month, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued a few (Chinese-language) employment and dispatch sample forms for reference for both employers and employees, emphasizing again…

Canna Law Blog™

Charlotte’s Web Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Improperly Marketing CBD Products

By Alison Malsbury

December 9, 2019

We’ve written extensively about hemp-derived CBD and the myriad issues faced by manufacturers CBD edibles. You can read more about this topic here: Is Hemp CBD Really Unlawful in California? The FDA Issues Hemp-CBD Warning Letters and a Consumer Update Litigation Update: JustCBD Files Motion to Dismiss Class Action Lawsuit CBD Topicals are Not Immune from FDA Scrutiny, as Recent Warning Letters Show CBD Products and False Advertising Under the Lanham Act Cannabis Company Disasters: …

China Law Blog

China’s Undiplomatic Behavior Has Only Just Begun

By Fred Rocafort

December 8, 2019

No sooner than President Trump signed the Hong Kong human rights and democracy act into law, China announced retaliatory measures, banning U.S. warships from Hong Kong and restricting the work of American NGOs. These responses were narrowly tailored—perhaps in part because China is wary of rocking the boat too much, in a way that could lead to additional economic pain, at a time when it’s feeling the economic strain of tariffs and other…

Canna Law Blog™

Hemp-CBD Across State Lines: Missouri

By Nathalie Bougenies

December 8, 2019

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“2018 Farm Bill”) legalized hemp by removing the crop and its derivatives from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) and by providing a detailed framework for the cultivation of hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill gives the US Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) regulatory authority over hemp cultivation at the federal level. In turn, states have the option to maintain primary regulatory authority over the…

Canna Law Blog™

Your Hemp Questions Answered (Part 2)

By Nathalie Bougenies

December 7, 2019

Last month, Daniel Shortt and I put on a webinar on the US Department of Agriculture’s (“USDA”) new interim hemp rules. We got some great questions from our viewers but were unable to answer all of them in real-time. In this two-part series, Daniel and I will respond to a number of those questions. In the first part, Daniel focused on licensing and transportation questions. Today, I will focus on questions related to…

China Law Blog

Doing Business With China: The Only Guarantee is That There Are No Guarantees

By Dan Harris

December 7, 2019

Had lunch yesterday with two long-time friends, both international lawyers who have spent many years living and working in China. During a discussion about an international real estate matter on which one of the lawyers was working, someone asked if we remembered back when foreigners were able to freely buy real estate in China. We all said yes, and then we ended up talking about how when the laws on that changed, so many people tried…

Canna Law Blog™

Your Hemp Webinar Questions Answered (Part 1)

By Daniel Shortt

December 6, 2019

Last month, Nathalie Bougenies and I put on a webinar on the US Department of Agriculture’s (“USDA”) new interim hemp rules. We got some great questions from our viewers but were unable to answer all of them in real-time. In this two-part series, Nathalie and I will respond to a number of those questions. This first part will focus on licensing and transportation questions. In tomorrow’s post, Nathalie will respond to questions relating to…

China Law Blog

How to Form a China Joint Venture, Part 4, What’s Hong Kong Got to Do With It?

By Dan Harris

December 6, 2019

This is Part Four of our new series laying out the issues companies typically face and the steps our China company lawyers typically go through when forming a China Joint Venture. In Part One, we talked about how despite the increasing difficulties with doing business in China (or perhaps because of those difficulties), our China corporate lawyers are seeing an increase in foreign companies looking to do joint ventures in China. We then discussed…

Canna Law Blog™

Federal Agencies Provide New Guidance for Hemp Banking

By Griffen Thorne

December 5, 2019

The tides have been rapidly changing for hemp companies to gain access to banking, which has not traditionally been available to hemp companies due to the fact that hemp was (sort of) federally illegal until about a year ago. As we previously explained: Commercial marijuana activity remains a federal crime, and the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) generally prohibits financial institutions from accepting marijuana-generated dollars. Financial institutions that work with marijuana businesses must conduct due…

China Law Blog

“Mid-sized American Companies are Already Moving Away from China” and You Should Too

By Dan Harris

December 4, 2019

CNN Business did a story today, entitled Mid-sized American companies are already moving away from China. The story is based on an Umpqua Bank survey of 550 executives at companies with between $10 and $500 million in annual sales. The survey was released today and it revealed the following: 1. “Midsized US companies are realizing that they need to diversify away from China and have already begun to take action.” 2. “Middle-market companies have…

Harris Bricken

Harris Bricken Blogs

Blog Authors

China Employment Contracts: You Are Not Too Late to Have Yours Checked

Charlotte’s Web Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Improperly Marketing CBD Products

China’s Undiplomatic Behavior Has Only Just Begun

Hemp-CBD Across State Lines: Missouri

Your Hemp Questions Answered (Part 2)

Doing Business With China: The Only Guarantee is That There Are No Guarantees

Your Hemp Webinar Questions Answered (Part 1)

How to Form a China Joint Venture, Part 4, What’s Hong Kong Got to Do With It?

Federal Agencies Provide New Guidance for Hemp Banking

“Mid-sized American Companies are Already Moving Away from China” and You Should Too

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