New York, N.Y. (October 2, 2025) - The legal team of New York Partner Minyao Wang, Sacramento Partner Greg Johnson, and Nashville Associate Matthew Byron achieved a resounding victory before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC") on behalf of our client, the U.S. subsidiary of a major Chinese solar-related goods manufacturer, against a well-known leading American energy technology company (the "respondent"). The ICC issued an award of almost $2 million consisting of damages, fees and costs in favor of our client. The seat of arbitration was New York City.
The respondent initially entered a contract with the Chinese parent company of our client for the manufacturing of solar products and paid a deposit of US$1.5 million to the Chinese parent. Due to COVID-19, logistical and other business reasons, the parties to the initial contract agreed that the respondent and the U.S. subsidiary of our client should sign a new contract for the manufacturing and delivery of the solar products. The Chinese parent was supposed to refund the deposit and the respondent was then to immediately pay that deposit to the U.S. subsidiary.
However, due to Chinese capital control regulations and intermediary banking issues, the return of the deposit was delayed. In the interim and in response to the respondent's request that it needed the products immediately, our client began to manufacture the products even though it had not yet received the deposit. As our client would later learn during the litigation process, the respondent was in fact attempting to get a "better" deal from a competitor and was even providing proprietary information that belonged to our client to that competitor. Upon finally receiving the deposit from the Chinese parent, the respondent immediately informed our client that it no longer wanted the solar products, even though, by that point, some of the products specifically manufactured for the respondent had already cleared Chinese customs and were en route to the U.S. to the respondent.
The Lewis Brisbois team commenced a case before the ICC on behalf of our client to recover damages from the respondent. The respondent, represented by another major U.S. law firm, argued, among other things, that the contract it entered with our client was not a binding contract and that our client, by starting to manufacture the solar products before receiving payment of the deposit, waived its rights. We presented robust counter-arguments, both in written submissions and in a hearing before an ICC arbitrator. In a well-reasoned 63-page decision released earlier this week, the ICC adopted most of Lewis Brisbois' legal positions. The ICC ordered the respondent to pay our client the full amount of the deposit ($1.5 million) and reimburse our client for all legal fees (approximately $260,000) and other costs incurred in the arbitration.
Mr. Wang was responsible for presenting argument to the ICC Arbitrator. He is one of a very small number of experienced commercial litigators raised and educated in the United States who are also fluent in written and spoken Chinese. This unique background has allowed Mr. Wang to tell Chinese clients' stories in a compelling way that appeals to American judges and arbitrators.