Getting Things Done for a Global Industry

McNair has played a central role as the Carolinas have become a focus of manufacturing activity by truck and automotive original equipment manufacturers and suppliers. We advise OEMs and numbers of leading Tier One and Tier Two suppliers that manufacture both truck and automotive components, and regularly work with some of the world’s leading manufacturers of heavy trucks and heavy duty mobile equipment.

Our lawyers help industry clients with contracts, business structures, project and enterprise funding, intellectual property protection, environmental, labor and employment and other regulatory guidance and economic development incentives, and even provide legal services on location at client facilities when the legal need is hands on. We understand the industry’s global sourcing and distribution needs, and are knowledgeable about industry technology and business practices.

How we Get Things Done
When requested, McNair lawyers work in-house at the company’s operations, side-by-side with client personnel. In addition to general corporate work, we provide ongoing counsel in every facet of their operations: dealer and distributor relations, intellectual property, financing and economic development, litigation, environmental law compliance and more.

Facilitating Business Relocation

Truck and automotive industry companies have been major players in the $25 billion that foreign companies have invested in South Carolina since 1990, and McNair has been part of this. We have advised clients based in more than 20 countries on opening or expanding their operations in the region, and our skill at developing the most effective combination of local and state economic development incentives is a major reason why. Our truck and auto industry clients have parent companies in Germany, Italy, the U.K. and other worldwide industry centers.

How we Get Things Done
In the early 1990s, McNair began working with the owners of a small German manufacturer that had purchased a business that produced truck rear-view mirrors and was looking to relocate it. Our firm campaigned for South Carolina’s economic development incentives, and subsequently negotiated with state and county economic development officials to secure incentives to bring the operation here. Our client opened its new South Carolina facility in 1994 with five people.

Today, after relying on McNair for help with contracts, corporate restructuring, labor and employment, intellectual property, economic development incentives, international financing, tax guidance, licensing and other matters, our client employs 300 people at a 160,000 square foot plant and has achieved a position of global leadership in its industry. And we continue to help them expand globally, including establishing new operations in Brazil and Mexico.

Navigating the Global Economy

Few industries have a greater global reach than auto and truck manufacturing, and McNair takes the lead in meeting our clients’ worldwide needs. We regularly help clients with sophisticated cross-border financing, licensing and business acquisition transactions, particularly as our clients establish new production operations in Canada, Mexico and Latin America.

McNair lawyers are accustomed to 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. conference calls as part of doing business globally, and frequently deal directly with local counsel in other countries as part of industry transactions. As the only South Carolina member of TerraLex (a leading global network of 160 law firms with 15,000 lawyers based in 100 countries), we have access to an established network of proven and reliable local counsel in every part of the world.

Our immigration law services also are comprehensive and client-focused, as we help industry clients secure the services of skilled foreign nationals in executive and engineering positions. We help global suppliers maximize profitability through efficient application of tax treaties and export regulations.

Charleston, South Carolina is one of the top ports on the U.S. East Coast, and our Charleston office offers complete assistance with trade regulation and compliance matters involving the International Trade Commission, the US Customs Service, the Office of the US Trade Representative, and many other trade-related authorities and agencies.

How we Get Things Done
As part of our global corporate work for industry clients, McNair lawyers regularly negotiate outsourcing agreements with manufacturers based in China. We structure all aspects of the business arrangements, including pricing, intellectual property protection and quality standards. Often we are at the negotiating table with lawyers from some of the biggest firms in the US, and we frequently work with both European counsel and Chinese counsel in Hong Kong. Our lawyers give our clients the assurance of sophisticated counsel and in-depth experience – at more competitive regional rates.