Lawyer Profile
Lawyer Derek Chen, member of the Communist Party of China, graduated from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law with a Master of Laws degree. He obtained his Lawyer Qualification Certificate in April 1994 and his Legal Professional Qualification Certificate in March 2004.
He previously served as a judge in the Civil Division and Criminal Division of a district court in a central urban area of Shanghai, Director of the Stability Maintenance Office of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of a District Party Committee, and Deputy Director of the Subdistrict Working Committee of the Standing Committee of a District People’s Congress. He has received the "Commendation" from the District People’s Government five times, and was awarded the titles of "Outstanding Communist Party Member of District Organs" in 2009 and "Advanced Individual in Legal Publicity and Education" for the period 2001–2005.
Lawyer Derek Chen possesses systematic logical thinking and strong verbal communication skills. In May 1999, he won the title of "Excellent Debater" in the 12th "Fair Cup" Debate Competition at Zhongnan University of Political Science and Law. In April 2005, he was awarded "Best Debater" in a debate contest on the "Education Campaign to Maintain the Advanced Nature of Communist Party Members" held by the political and legal system of a Shanghai district.
He has published more than 30 theoretical research and practical analysis articles in newspapers and journals including People’s Court Daily, Shanghai Legal News, Shanghai Judicial Practice, and Shanghai People’s Congress Monthly.
Lawyer Derek Chen specializes in handling complex civil and commercial cases as well as criminal defense cases. He excels at uncovering crucial facts from case details to alter the course of litigation. He has successfully handled numerous cases including civil and commercial second-instance reversed judgments, criminal retrials resulting in acquittal with subsequent applications for state compensation, and full acquittal defense cases.
Key Cases：
Civil and Commercial Cases:
Appeal of Zhao Hua, Zhou Yan v. Yueguang Antai Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd. and third party Liu Long, regarding dispute over shareholder capital contribution. The district court in Beijing ruled that the appellants should make a repeated capital contribution of RMB 37 million. Our firm was retained by the appellants at the second instance stage and successfully had the original judgment reversed. (2025)
Longtan Technology Co., Ltd. v. Xuri Energy Saving Co., Ltd.(dispute over house sales contract).The defendant refused to pay the remaining RMB 3.6 million purchase price on the grounds that fire-fighting equipment was unqualified. We represented the plaintiff and successfully recovered the full purchase price plus statutory interest. (2024)
Case of Property Division after Divorce between Plaintiff Cheng Fang and Defendant Wang Ping. Taking advantage of the plaintiff’s limited capacity for civil conduct, the defendant deceived the plaintiff into signing an agreement to waive all jointly owned marital real estate, as well as the relocation resettlement housing and resettlement compensation funds belonging to the plaintiff’s father.Acting for the plaintiff, we obtained a judicial expert opinion confirming that the plaintiff was a person with limited capacity for civil conduct, and successfully recovered the jointly owned real estate and resettlement benefits worth tens of millions of yuan. (2025)
Yue Ping v. Jinghong Property Services Co., Ltd. (Dispute over Right to Health).The appellee improperly placed an anti-slip mat at the elevator entrance, causing the appellant to fall and sustain a disability. A district court in Shanghai held the property company liable for only 20% of the damages.We were retained by the appellant in the second instance and successfully obtained a revised judgment holding the property company liable for 60% of the liability. (2025)
Bai Moumou v. XX International Travel Service Co., Ltd. (Case concerning breach of contract and compensation for “Swiss Tourist Visa” service). We collected evidence proving that the travel service seriously violated the fundamental principle of good faith during contract performance and was negligent in fulfilling its core contractual obligation to collect the passport in a timely manner. As a result, the applicant was forced to rebook air tickets and cancel hotel reservations without just cause, suffering direct economic losses. We successfully obtained full compensation on behalf of Ms. Bai. (2019)
Criminal Defense Cases:
Petition and retrial case: Li Han v. People’s Procuratorate (Li Han was initially convicted of fraud and sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of four years; acquitted upon retrial). As the agent during the petition stage and defense counsel at retrial, we argued that Li Han had not engaged in any act of fabricating facts or concealing the truth, and addressed the nature of the involved funds of more than RMB 39 million. Our defense opinions were adopted by an intermediate people’s court in Shanghai, which quashed the original first-instance and second-instance criminal judgments and acquitted Li Han. (2024)
Case of Fan Jun suspected of extortion, acquitted. From the perspectives that the case arose from normal labor rights protection, the victim unit was partly at fault, and the suspect did not actually obtain the demanded money, we put forward defense opinions. We successfully obtained a decision by the Public Security Bureau of Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province to dismiss the case on the grounds that “the circumstances are obviously minor, the harm is insignificant, and the act is not regarded as a crime”. (2023)
Case involving Ni Xiaomin suspected of the crime of assisting in organizing prostitution. From multiple perspectives including that the client only engaged in general service and labor work, received normal remuneration only, had no illegal gains, and there was doubt over the client’s age, we submitted defense opinions.We successfully obtained the release of the client by the public security authority upon expiration of the criminal detention period. (2019)
Case involving Liu Min and Huang Qiang suspected of jointly defrauding more than RMB 870,000 from scenic spot electronic ticket fees through technological means. As defense counsel for Liu Min, we successfully secured a favorable suspended sentence for her. (2025)
Case concerning application for state compensation by Li Han, who was acquitted after retrial upon completion of his four-year fixed-term imprisonment sentence. We represented Li Han in filing an application for state compensation and successfully obtained state compensation in the amount of RMB 1,012,624.84. (2024)