People far too often focus on the law or the choice of law, when so often it is not the law so much that determines the best place to proceed with a lawsuit, but the intangibles. The reality is that most breaches of contract in the United States also constitute a breach of contract in China, in Russia, in the Sudan, or wherever else. Buying a product and then not paying for it is, as far as I know, a breach of contract everywhere in the world. Similarly, getting drunk and running someone over with your car gives rise to a cause of action probably everywhere in the world as well. I am not saying the choice of law is not important, but I am saying it is wrong to assume it is the most important.

Take negligence. Getting run over by a drunk driver is probably pretty much the same cause of action in both China and the United States and the laws for that cause of action will probably be pretty much the same. But let's get real here and ask where would you rather have that lawsuit if you are the plaintiff? In the United States where you could put your friends and relatives on the witness stand to testify in front of a jury on how you have never been the same since the accident and where multi-million dollar verdicts are commonplace, or in China where your only evidence may end up being a written doctor’s report and where you will be lucking to get $30,000?

Or take a breach of contract where you purchase a defective part to go into a piece of equipment you make and sell for a million dollars. In the United States you would have a good chance of collecting the profits you lost by not being able to sell your million dollar equipment, whereas in China your chances of getting those lost profits would be minuscule.

via China Litigation And Arbitration. Maybe. – China Law Blog: a blog about Chinese law and the legal issues of doing business in China..