William Spence Email & Phone Number

William A. Spence is a senior counsel at the firm and is semi-retired. He was Chairman of the China Practice and a member of the Litigation Group. He received a B.A. from Northwestern University, and a J.D. from Loyola University. Prior to joining the firm he was a law clerk to the Honorable Robert E. English, on the Illinois Appellate Court and he served for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois where he won 29 of 31 jury trials. He moved his family to Shanghai in 1994 while he taught law at the East China Law School and has represented some of China's largest corporations in litigation and arbitration matters. He also represented U.S. companies doing business in China. While in active practice, he lectured several Chinese government agencies about various aspects of American law. He was one of two foreign advisers to the State Pharmaceutical Administration of China and was appointed counsel to the Dalian High Tech Industrial Zone. Bill was appointed co-chairman of the Sister Cities China Committee by Mayor Daley and led several business delegations on more than 40 trips to China. He has spoken at the World Economic Forum in China and was invited to participate at the Aspen Institute program on Globalization and Asian Values.Mr. Spence was a founder of the China Roundtable within the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and was a member of the Chicago Bar Association, American Bar Association and served as a member of the Board of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and was Co-Chairman of the Freeborn & Peters Pro Bono Committee and was a member of the compensation committee. Specialties while in active practice: Corporate litigation and representation of Chinese companies in the United States and United States companies operating in China.Family: Bill lives in Chicago and is married with 3 adult children and 3 grandchildren.

Listed skills include Litigation, Public Speaking, Mergers And Acquisitions, Arbitration, and 8 others.

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  Senior Counsel

  Freeborn & Peters Llp