Global Businesses Get Things Done Using McNair

By some measures, South Carolina has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global economy, with more than $25 billion dollars that foreign companies have invested since 1990--ranking the state number one in the U.S. in per capita international investment. McNair continues to play a key role in this globalization, as we represent a large number of offshore-based companies that have established operations in the Southeast. In fact, 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.

However, if you are the owner or executive of any-sized offshore-based business operation, there are plenty of other reasons to rely on McNair’s international insight. We regularly help clients with sophisticated cross-border financing, licensing and business acquisition transactions. Our immigration law services are comprehensive and client-focused. And we can help you maximize profitability through efficient application of tax treaties and export regulations.

Economic Development

We have a strong record of success working with global businesses that relocate operations to South Carolina, having advised companies with bases of operations in:

• Europe (Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Serbia/Montenegro, Switzerland, the United Kingdom)
• Asia/Pacific (China, India, Japan, Korea, Philippines)
• Africa/Middle East (Nigeria, Lebanon)
• North America (Canada, Panama)

McNair understands the political and business factors involved in establishing effective development incentives, and knows how to help all parties involved achieve their economic objectives.

How we Get Things Done
In the early 1990s Governor McNair, while a member of a state delegation that traveled to Europe to help boost South Carolina’s international trade, met with the owners of a small German manufacturer. The company had purchased a business that produced truck rear-view mirrors and was looking to relocate it. Governor McNair advocated for South Carolina’s economic development incentives, and our firm subsequently negotiated with state and county economic development officials to secure financing and other incentives to bring the operation here.

Our client opened its new South Carolina facility in 1994 with five people. Today, after relying on the McNair firm for help with incentives, international financing, tax guidance and licensing, our client employs 300 people at a 160,000 square foot plant that has achieved a position of global leadership in its industry. And we continue to help them expand globally by establishing new operations in Brazil and Mexico.

Comprehensive Services

As a full-service business law firm, McNair is the only law firm you need in the Carolinas for dealing with any of the regulatory complexities that foreign-based businesses face. International trade is one example. 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 U.S. Customs Service, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and many other trade-related authorities and agencies.

McNair lawyers also take a global focus to help employers secure the services of highly skilled foreign nationals, including engineers, scientists, researchers, professors, doctors, nurses, statisticians and executives. We advise each employer on the best visa to pursue in a given situation, and create the appropriate processing strategy covering H-1B and TN visas for professionals, L visas for intra-company transferees, EB5 investor visas, and many others. We understand the unique needs of multinational employers in industries such as food service, manufacturing, technology and health care.

How we Get Things Done
Although we counsel major multinationals like one of the world’s leading film and imaging corporations (which has one of its largest facilities in South Carolina, where several of our lawyers have served as General Counsel), McNair provides guidance that helps entrepreneurs and small businesses find success in the global economy. In the mid-1990s we began advising a former military logistics officer on his development of a company to help military operations worldwide outsource food, laundry and other services. As his business grew we assisted with forming foreign business entities (such as a cement company in Russia), drafting international contracts and employment agreements, and creating tax-efficient foreign payroll structures.

Our client has done business from Iraq and Afghanistan to any other country where military service outsourcing could be done – and McNair’s lawyers have provided the creative counsel and 24/7 service that helped his business grow.

Transactional Sophistication

No matter what your cross-border transactional requirements, McNair can help you get the deal done. 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 quality local counsel in every part of the world. Our own lawyers regularly deal with such international business needs as transfer pricing analysis, the establishment of tax-efficient offshore payroll companies, and cross-border acquisitions and licensing agreements. We also regularly work with cross-border leasing and financing arrangements, particularly as our manufacturing clients establish new production operations in Canada, Mexico and Latin America.

How we Get Things Done
In a transaction that illustrates both the global nature of today’s business and McNair’s commitment to personal service, we represented a business owner in the time-sensitive sale of his company. When a buyer based in Great Britain suddenly emerged, the future of the deal, and the company, hinged on closing the sale within six days. Because our client was on vacation in Nassau, several McNair lawyers made a hurried trip to the island and negotiated the entire multi-million dollar transaction using laptops and wireless Internet connections. Emphasizing the true commitment to client service, one member of the McNair team gave up his tickets to the Master’s Golf Tournament – and caught glimpses of the golfers on television while completing the deal.