Highlighted Legal Experience, Representative Matters and Cases

REPRESENTATIVE INTERNATIONAL/LEGAL PRACTICE EXPERIENCE 

OF WENDY NICOLE NN DUONG

I.  TRANSACTIONAL AND ADVISORY WORK: 

●Business developer and transnational legal advisor for Southeast Asian practice of global law firm (1993-94).

●Advised a petroleum/energy multinational on the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and territorial disputes between China and the ASEAN nations with respect to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea (1994).

●Serviced international transactions and business development needs of retail, beverage, food, and technology Fortune 500 companies in Southeast Asia (1993-94).

●Served as outside counsel for multinational petroleum corporation on the closing of a controversial oil exploration contract in a Southeast Asian country following lifting of U.S. trade embargo, combining, inter alia, Russian, U.S. and Japanese interests. Transaction valued at approximately US $100 million (1994). 

●Managed and handled all legal work for a petroleum/energy multinational corporation’s exploration work program adjacent to disputed waters in the South China Sea (Spratley Islands). Served as 1) ad hoc consultant for downstream activities (refinery and marketing) and 2) lead counsel for the establishment of the multinational’s presence in Southeast Asia for both upstream (exploration, development & production) and midstream activities (including the preliminary stage of the joint consortium to build pipeline project, with British multinational as lead developer). Transactions valued at US $100 million (upstream) and ultimately US$1.1 billion (midstream) (1994-96).

●Managed and handled all legal work for the “farm-out” of a U.S. multinational corporation’s exploration interests in the South China Sea to a U.K.-based multinational and a state –owned national oil company of an Asian country, and for the acquisition bidding of certain contract areas in the South China Sea, including taking over previous bid left by another multinational. Transactions valued at approximately U.S. $150-$200 million in the aggregate (1994-96).

●Conceptualized and handled the withdrawal of a petroleum/energy multinational corporation’s interest from Papua New Guinea, and managed the transfer/assignments of working interests and operatorship to multiple Australian partners. Project was noteworthy due to legal complexity and sensitive partner and government relations. Also assisted the general counsel of an affiliate of the multinational in establishing its onshore exploration joint venture in Kazakhstan (the first in the Republic) (1994-96).

●Managed and handled all legal work for a power company’s bid for an independent power project in Southeast Asia. Supported the company’s Vice President for Business Development for Asia-Pacific region, and represented offshore bidding consortium (consisting of the developer, a multinational engineering and construction firm, and a state-owned power company) (1996-97).

●Coordinated and supervised the review and assessment of Y2K liability exposure for all international facilities of a Houston-based energy multinational corporation, including contractual review of power plants in Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.  Designed and streamlined procedures for standardized legal review, coordinated the work of reviewing attorneys who had no international expertise, and liaised with the General Counsel’s office of the multinational client (1998-99).

II.  LITIGATION: 

Former special trial attorney of the SEC Office of General Counsel; fast-track promotion within two years of employment to the equivalent of GM-15 on government pay scale;

Successfully prosecuted (as co-counsel and then lead counsel) Big-Eight CPA’s and others for violation of securities laws in disciplinary proceedings and obtained agreed settlement consent order (ex: In re Clark and In re Ford (CCH));

Recommended that the Commission drop stale prosecution based on public policy grounds and the doctrine of laches (1990);

Part of team representing the SEC in contractor’s bid protest regarding the development and implementation of the EDGAR electronic public filing system for publicly traded companies. 

In private practice with AV-rated national/global law firms, participated in

1) the defense of contractor in government contract protest valued in excess of U.S. $300 million (involving the nation’s Air Traffic Control System);

2) representation of Wall Street arbitrageur Ivan Boesky in settlement with the SEC for securities violations;

3) representation of Justice Department employees in injunctive proceeding against mandatory drug testing (1986-88);

4) massive review of take-or-pay gas contract matters between a publicly held energy company and FERC; and

5) part of team representing corporate debtors (a bus line, a chain convenient store and a national bank ) in Chapter 11 business reorganization, including appellate work in the federal courts.