Arlo Kipfer Attorney

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Arlo Kipfer helps companies navigate the legal and commercial risks of overseas manufacturing, from vetting manufacturers and protecting intellectual property to structuring enforceable agreements and dealing with problems when they arise. He leads Harris Sliwoski's international manufacturing practice and drafts nearly all of the firm's manufacturing agreements. His clients have ranged from Fortune 50 companies to one-person startups, and from makers of advanced nuclear power products to makers of children's dolls. They manufacture in China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and elsewhere in Asia, as well as in Latin America, and Arlo gives them contracts that protect their intellectual property, tooling, and product designs and that hold their manufacturers to the deal.

Arlo Kipfer helps companies navigate the legal and commercial risks of overseas manufacturing, from vetting manufacturers and protecting intellectual property to structuring enforceable agreements and dealing with problems when they arise. He leads Harris Sliwoski's international manufacturing practice and drafts nearly all of the firm's manufacturing agreements. His clients have ranged from Fortune 50 companies to one-person startups and from companies making advanced nuclear-power products to makers of children's dolls. His clients manufacture in Latin America and across Asia, including China, Vietnam, and Taiwan, and Arlo drafts contracts designed to protect their intellectual property, tooling, and product designs and hold their manufacturers to the deal.

Arlo has spent more than 25 years working in and with China. He lived there for nearly two decades, including as the executive heading China operations for an international company. He speaks fluent Mandarin, and his years on the client side taught him how supplier relationships go wrong and what companies need in their contracts before that happens.

Arlo first came to Harris Sliwoski as a client. He later joined the firm as a paralegal, working on China manufacturing contracts under Steve Dickinson, who built much of the firm's China manufacturing practice. After Arlo passed the bar, the firm hired him as an attorney. He practiced alongside Steve for several more years and took over the practice when Steve retired.

Along with manufacturing agreements, Arlo regularly drafts NNN, product development, and mold and tooling agreements. Whatever the contract, he starts from the same premise: an international manufacturing agreement must be written with enforcement in mind. The manufacturer's location and assets, the governing law, contract language, dispute forum, and available remedies all matter. A contract that looks perfectly good to a U.S. lawyer can provide surprisingly little leverage when an overseas manufacturer breaches it.

China raises its own enforcement problems. A U.S.-style agreement written in English and governed by U.S. law does little to solve them when the factory and the assets you need to reach are in China. For China matters, Arlo drafts NNN Agreements and manufacturing contracts with Chinese law, Chinese-language drafting, and dispute provisions chosen for enforceability in China.

Arlo also advises foreign companies on China employment law, from hiring and employment contracts through restructurings, terminations, and employee disputes. Since becoming an attorney, he has led virtually all of the firm's China Hague Convention service matters.

Arlo writes regularly for the China Law Blog on China law and international manufacturing. He earned his J.D. from Purdue Global Law School and is admitted to practice in California. Outside the office, he runs and hikes with his wife, travels in his RV, and plays guitar.