Attorney Avon Successfully Represent Australian Client in Chinese Divorce Lawsuit
At the beginning of this year, lawyers Avon Zhao and intern lawyer Bryan Zhang from Landing (Shenzhen) Law Office received a request for assistance from an Australian client. The client had previously registered a marriage with a Chinese citizen in China. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, the client was unable to proceed with the divorce procedures in China after signing a divorce agreement. Nevertheless, the client had fulfilled all financial obligations as per the agreement.
In this context, his spouse initiated divorce proceedings in a Chinese court, making unreasonable requests beyond the divorce agreement. Therefore, the client entrusted us to handle the legal matters and represent them in this litigation.
After accepting the client's case, we engaged in negotiations with the client's spouse, aiming to resolve the dispute through mediation while considering the client's actual situation. Taking the client's travel arrangements into account, we applied for authorization procedures to be conducted on-site by the client, saving them from the need for notarization, certification, and the cross-border service of legal documents. This streamlined the litigation process, ensuring its efficiency.
Before the court hearing, as the client could not express himself in Chinese, our lawyers met with the client in advance to have face-to-face discussions. We addressed the client's concerns, which included child custody and visitation rights after the divorce, property division, and the execution of the divorce agreement.
During the court hearing, our lawyers assisted the client in communicating with the court and the court-appointed translators, in order to accurately convey the client's intentions. Through active communication and negotiations, the court hearing proceeded smoothly, and the client successfully reached an agreement with the opposing party.
Anticipating the client's potential need to use legal documents outside of China, we requested the Chinese court to issue a judgment based on the mediation agreement between both parties, a request that the court supported. Additionally, since the court's documents were in Chinese, we coordinated with qualified translation agencies to translate the relevant documents to ensure the translated versions are recognized abroad.
To ensure the judgments and other documents are internationally recognized, our lawyers assisted the client in notarizing and certifying the relevant documents, ultimately sending the original documents to the client.
In this case, our lawyers maintained open and thorough communication with the client, always considering the client's needs at each stage of the case. Their diligent, responsible, and efficient work earned high praise from the client.
