Acted on behalf of several multinational corporations in high-profile criminal customs disputes involving the assessment and calculation of customs duties and penalties. In addition to our representation in active customs investigations and inquiries, our customs experts regularly counsel clients in a variety of compliance and operational matters related to the import and export of goods and services in Thailand.
Dispute Resolution and Litigation
Tilleke & Gibbins fights for the rights and assets that matter most—from large monetary sums to crucial business relationships to invaluable intellectual property rights to personal freedom. And we win before trial and appellate judges, arbitrators, government adjudicators, and at negotiation tables. We are a litigation powerhouse.
We assemble lean, focused teams comprised of experienced litigators, specialized practitioners, and, as our most valuable member, our client. We collaborate with each client to develop a strategy that matches the client’s particular goals and budget. We staff our litigation teams with multilingual attorneys to ensure fluent, effective client communication.
Our size, experience level, and depth permit us to handle an active caseload covering the full spectrum of civil and criminal matters. As a firm, we offer our clients over 120 years of litigating the most challenging cases in the region, 28 top litigators, and access to over 70 other legal experts. We are dedicated to finding the facts that matter, making the arguments that prevail, and taking each case through to successful resolution.
Among our recent victories, Tilleke & Gibbins has:
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Represented an American manufacturing conglomerate in four complex defective product claims in Thailand. In all cases we successfully defended the client and secured favorable judgments after comprehensive trials in connection with power generation equipment with a value of approximately USD 3,000,000 each.
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Negotiated a favorable settlement of a highly contested termination of a company director involving our client, the director, and the company of the spouse of the director. The dispute included two criminal cases and two civil cases (one of which involved a claim of THB 20,000,000). We successfully gathered evidence of the director’s misconduct and leveraged that evidence to secure a favorable settlement for our client.
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Represented an industry leader in edible coatings. Our client purchased products from a supplier, the quality of which was certified by a third party. Although the third party was dismissed from the case by a lower court, we successfully convinced the Supreme Court to amend the judgment below and hold the third party liable for failing to examine the product.
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Represented a well-known Japanese manufacturer in the prosecution of both civil and criminal matters related to use of confidential trade secret and theft of client property. Our client reached a favorable settlement in the civil claims. In the criminal matter, we worked with the police and the public prosecutor and successfully secured sufficient evidence to support prosecution of the criminal claims.
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Represented the precious metals division of a large Japanese multinational corporation in claims it filed against its shipper and freight forwarder for the loss of gold dram.
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Represented an international investment banking and asset management company in recovering funds provided to a Thai property developer (claims total USD 15,000,000).
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Planned and executed the layoff of 1,900 employees. Thereafter, 279 of the affected employees submitted claims against the client in the total amount of THB 300,000,000. We successfully proved that our client had cause to terminate its employees and that such was done fully within applicable Thai law, resulting in judgment in our client’s favor. This was a high-stakes matter because, if we had lost the labor cases, the approximately 1,600 additional employees would have filed claims totaling approximately THB 2,000,000,000. We also act as ongoing labor compliance counsel.
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Protected the right of a charitable foundation to a newly-constructed center for disabled persons and preserved all of the benefits that flowed from the center to the community and needy persons. The foundation purchased a plot of land and constructed a center on the land to benefit disabled persons. Before the transfer of the property, but after the building was completed, the land was attached by a judgment creditor. The court of first instance and the appellate court declined to release the land. With little hope of success, the foundation came to our firm. We convinced the Supreme Court that the land should be released because the foundation had a preferential right. The land and the center for the disabled was returned to the foundation.
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Defended a global multi-industry company against an international insurance provider in four civil cases pertaining to gas turbine engines, and led the court to dismiss all four claims.
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Represented a subcontractor in a construction dispute against the prime contractor of a controversial wastewater management project (claims exceed USD 33,000,000).
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Assisted a client whose wife had abducted his daughter and wrongfully withheld assets valued at over USD 1,000,000. We successfully mediated this case, which involved both family and criminal matters. The parties agreed to a divorce and the daughter was returned to our client.
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Represented a foreign brewery in a dispute against a local brewery pertaining to a joint venture agreement. The local brewery alleged that our client had terminated the joint venture improperly and took the case to arbitration. Our litigation strategy (based on both the issue of termination and the issue of bad faith) gave us leverage to successfully settle the case.
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Negotiated the resolution of a large medical malpractice claim involving several health professionals.
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Defended one of the leading global hotel management companies in a civil lawsuit for trademark infringement brought by a well-known real estate development company in Thailand. With our strong legal arguments and reliable documents and evidence, we convinced the IP&IT Court that our client was entitled to use its trade name and trademark in connection with its hotel business. The civil lawsuit was dismissed and the Trademark Registrar granted the registration of our client’s trademark application according to the judgment of the IP&IT Court.
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Secured a victory for the top producer of welding electrodes in Thailand against a local infringer in a landmark case before the Supreme Court of Thailand. The client’s resounding success may be attributed to the defensive strategy of using multiple separate trademark registrations to collectively cover the entire package design.
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Represented our client before the IP&IT Court and obtained a very favorable settlement just prior to the rendering of judgment in what has been widely regarded as the largest and most complex patent infringement case in Thai history. In this multijurisdictional case, our team not only secured a rare Anton Piller order to seize infringing goods, which enabled us to successfully prove infringement, but also formulated extensive strategies for protecting the validity of our client’s patent.
| Name | Position | Office | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Chusert Supasitthumrong |
Partner | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5793 |
|
David Lyman |
Partner | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5597 |
|
John King |
Partner | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5502 |
|
Nandana Indananda |
Partner | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5879 |
|
Srila Thongklang |
Partner | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5529 |
|
Thawat Damsa-ard |
Partner | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5500 |
|
Thomas J. Treutler |
Partner | Hanoi |
+84 4 3772 5633 |
|
Tiziana Sucharitkul |
Partner | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5777 |
|
Alongkorn Tongmee |
Associate | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5807 |
|
Areeya Pornwiriyangkura |
Associate | Bangkok |
+66 2653 5882 |
Date |
Title |
|---|---|
| June 1, 2011 |
Tiziana Sucharitkul Moderates Lex Mundi Webinar Tiziana Sucharitkul On May 31, Tiziana Sucharitkul moderated a webinar for managing partners of Lex Mundi firms. Providing an update on the Asia Pacific region, the webinar looked at recent trends of foreign firms... |
| May 16, 2011 |
PLC Which Lawyer Recognizes Dispute Resolution Practice Tiziana Sucharitkul, Thawat Damsa-ard, John King The Tilleke & Gibbins Dispute Resolution practice has been endorsed as a highly recommended practice in Thailand by PLC Which Lawyer. This recommendation was based on research... |
| March 17, 2011 |
David Lyman David Lyman, Chairman & Chief Values Officer of Tilleke & Gibbins, was recently invited to participate in the inaugural BRT Business Leaders Lunch. Held at the JW Marriott in Bangkok, the... |
| February 25, 2011 |
Chambers Asia-Pacific 2011 Honors Seven Tilleke & Gibbins Attorneys Cynthia M. Pornavalai, Darani Vachanavuttivong, Hassana Chira-aphakul, Michael K. Lee, Sriwan Puapondh, Thawat Damsa-ard, Thomas J. Treutler On February 25, 2011, Chambers Asia-Pacific released its rankings for law firms and individual lawyers. Based on thousands of interviews conducted by a team of 50+ full-time... |
| February 14, 2011 |
PLC Which Lawyer Endorses Tilleke & Gibbins Attorneys Alan Adcock, Darani Vachanavuttivong, Srila Thongklang, Sriwan Puapondh, Thawat Damsa-ard The Practical Law Company’s PLC Which Lawyer publication, regarded worldwide as the essential guide to lawyers and law firms in more than 110 countries, has endorsed the following Tilleke... |
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Date |
Title |
|---|---|
| November 22, 2011 |
Pursuing a Case Against the Right “Carrier” Noppramart Thammateeradaycho In the complicated business of carriage of goods by sea, multiple parties may be involved in a single shipment of goods, including a freight forwarder, shipping agent, customs agent, ship owner,... |
| October 25, 2011 |
The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Business Crime 2012 – Thailand Chapter Michael Ramirez This updated version of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Business Crime for 2012 is a general guide to Thailand’s laws relating to business crime and compliance issues. It... |
| October 6, 2011 |
Getting the Deal Through – Product Liability 2011, Thailand Chapter Michael Ramirez Updated for 2011, this annual guide published by Law Business Research provides insight on Thailand’s product liability regime in a question-and-answer format. Thailand has seen an increased... |
| September 14, 2011 |
Trademark Protection for Three-Dimensional Shapes in Thailand Nandana Indananda Anyone with even a basic knowledge of intellectual property law knows that a trademark must enable consumers to distinguish the product of one enterprise from the products of other enterprises. To... |
| August 31, 2011 |
Damages Awards Increasing in Thai IP Cases Suebsiri Taweepon In pursuing civil litigation in court, most IP owners will first and foremost seek an injunction against any infringing activities. In addition, IP owners will often demand adequate damages as... |
