What is legal due diligence? There are numerous forms of due diligence, for instance financial due diligence carried out by accountants to examine a company's profits, debts, solvency, financial reporting and tax status. There is also corporate due diligence centering on a company's incorporation and board. Investigatory due diligence, that is looking at things such as the personal links of management, is yet another area to take into account specifically in the framework of China. Legal due diligence however targets regardless of whether a company is complying with local and international laws and how the compliance or non-compliance will have an effect on your investment. Carrying out legal due diligence will include looking into a company's possession of property both physical and intellectual, contracts along with other agreements, litigation that it has performed or that has been went after against it, as well as overlapping with other types of due diligence in the areas of business licencing, finances, tax, and management. Legal due diligence if properly carried out will also show what kind of company you are working with. Are they highly litigious? Have they been punished by authorities? Or have they outsourced all of their functions and don't actually develop anything? read more