About

Founded in 1899, VF is one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies with socially and environmentally responsible operations spanning numerous geographies, product categories and distribution channels. Theo Pang, vice president and general counsel for Asia Pacific, oversees a team of nine lawyers, one paralegal and one personal assistant. During the past 12 months, the team has expanded from seven lawyers to nine lawyers, adding two additional headcounts in China. The legal team has dealt with some significant legal and regulatory matters during the last 12 months, such as the spin-off of VF’s jeans wear global business into another independent publicly traded company. In the next 12 months, the company aims to ‘win in China and combat counterfeiting activities against our brands in the region, in particular Vans, The North Face and Timberland’, Pang states. The legal team will contribute by building a ‘partnership with the business to guide them through the complex legal landscape in China and forming an internal IP enforcement team’, he explains. The team uses referral and social media to hire and retain legal talent. ‘[There is] no rush into hiring. It is important to find lawyers with the right fit for the legal department and for the company. [We also offer] above market remuneration package and a wide spectrum of legal work to keep legal work more interesting’, says Pang. Due to recent developments in legal technology, ‘legal research becomes easier and legal costs on external outside counsels are lowered’, Pang comments.