Marianne Chao

Marianne Chao’s practice encompasses a broad range of construction and infrastructure projects, complex and multijurisdictional arbitration and litigation, commercial dispute resolution, and competition issues.

Marianne represents contractors for government-owned and independent power plants and contractors and designers for LNG/oil infrastructure projects owned by CPC Corporation, Taiwan. She also recently represented an independent power plant in Taiwan in filing administrative appeals and lawsuits to challenge the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission’s decision to impose the highest fine ever in Taiwan arising from alleged participation in a cartel.

Marianne has represented the Taiwan Construction Industry Association in obtaining a favourable ruling from the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission to defeat the no-delay-damage clause, a breakthrough development in construction contracts. She led the Matra Transport cases in several highly publicized matters and successfully countered court actions brought by the Taiwan government to set aside and prevent the enforcement of an arbitral award in the amount of NT$2 billion. Marianne has advised on construction projects for CPC Corporation Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom, CKS Airport Link, Taipei MRT, Taipei 101, Taipower, Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taichung MRT, and power plants.

Marianne is experienced in litigation and arbitration involving multiple jurisdictions and has handled commercial disputes involving disputes between shareholders, issues related to corporate governance, financial institution litigation, and general commercial disputes.

Marianne has been honoured in many prominent international legal guides. She has served as an arbitrator in arbitrations conducted in accordance with the Taiwan Arbitration Act and the ICC Rules of Arbitration. She also served as an executive supervisor of the Taiwan Bar Association and president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, Taiwan Branch.

Jones Day:

Established in 1990, Jones Day’s Taipei Office grew from one attorney—Partner-in-Charge Jack Huang, who began as a partner in the New York Office—to approximately 30 lawyers today. Taipei was the third Jones Day office to open in Asia, after Tokyo and Hong Kong, and initially focused on providing corporate counseling to Taiwanese businesses in cross-border investments and mergers and acquisitions. Today, our practices include M&A, banking and finance, global disputes, capital markets, and intellectual property, all of which are consistently ranked in the top-tier by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, and Asialaw.

The Taipei Office is the only worldwide partnership in Taiwan that has attorneys experienced and legally qualified in both U.S. and Taiwan law. Because of the Firm’s seamless “One Firm Worldwide” platform, lawyers in Taipei work side by side, as part of efficiently integrated teams, with the Firm’s 2,400 attorneys in offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. Our Asia network numbers more than 200 lawyers and includes two offices in Mainland China (Beijing and Shanghai), Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore.

Public service is an essential part of our office and, since its inception, our Taipei attorneys consistently have been involved in the community. Institutions and government authorities in Taiwan often consult with us on law and policy reform proposals. Several of our lawyers hold board or other key positions in organizations such as the American Chamber of Commerce, the Taipei Bar Association, and the National Bar Association. Recently, some of our Taipei lawyers took leading roles and contributed to the amendment to Rules of Ethics by the National Bar Association and to the adoption of a set of regulations for listing by foreign companies in Taiwan for the Taiwan Stock Exchange. We are regularly engaged in pro bono activities on behalf of the rights of children, young adults, and the disadvantaged. We also undertake teaching projects with a number of Taiwan universities as well as the training of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors.