Hong Huynh
Attorney
Hong Huynh earned her Bachelor of Criminal Law at the University of Law of Ho Chi Minh City, then obtained her Law Practice Certificate from the Vietnam Ministry of Justice. She advises and represents clients on all legal matters relating to domestic enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises, and Vietnamese individuals residing overseas.
Consultancy Experience:
- Advising non-local clients and overseas Vietnamese individuals on civil, marital, wills, and trusts matters;
- Consulting and performing all legal services related to the establishment, amendment, dissolution, and bankruptcy of a company;
- Advising and representing corporations in resolving internal corporate issues;
- Providing legal advice to corporations in civil litigation matters, business law, labor law, and administrative law;
- Consulting corporate clients in immigration matters, including submitting their visa applications and obtaining temporary residence cards and work permits; and
- Assisting foreign companies in tax assessment and tax planning.
Litigation Experience:
- Drafting and preparing letters and pleadings;
- Appearing as an authorized representative in various types of legal proceedings;
- Participating as defense counsel in various types of legal proceedings; and
- Negotiating successful settlements for many clients in the course of participation in legal proceedings.
Clients Represented for Business Consulting:
General Engagements-
- Toyota Co, Ltd.
- Mekong Auto Co, Ltd.
- Fairy Park – Mekong Co, Ltd.
- Sopet Gas One Co, Ltd.
- Twin Doves Golf Club
Specific Engagements-
- Daewoo Bus Co, Ltd., Korea
- Fei Yueh Co, Ltd. – Nikko Saigon Hotel, Japan
- Ozora Co, Ltd., Japan
- Korea United Pharm Int’l
Litigation Experience-
- Carboline Co, Ltd., Korea – Damages compensation litigation
- Stamford Vietnam Co, Ltd., Singapore – Commodity trading litigation
- City Clinic Co, Ltd., Singapore – Labor litigation
- Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co, Ltd., – Construction litigation
Phuong Anh Tran
Partner
Biography:
Phuong Anh “Anne” Tran is our Partner in the HCMC Vietnam office. Ms. Tran specializes in corporate and investment law. She has extensive experience in the Healthcare and Real Estate industry. She has held various positions as in-house legal counsel. Ms. Tran has also provided legal advisory services on risk management issues. Ms. Tran obtained her law degree from Ho Chi Minh City University of Law. She is also a licensed Real Estate Broker and a member of the Binh Duong Bar.
Ms. Tran was a legal advisor of the leading hospital group in Vietnam, FV Hospital and she is the former head of the Legal and Compliance Department of TMMC Healthcare Group. Prior to that she worked for the Vietnamese pharmaceutical and biotech corporation, RAAS Corporation with a network of US$16B, and was the lead attorney at the IBL Law Firm.
Experience
- FV Hospital in HCMC. Ms. Tran was responsible for formulating the legal framework for the hospital and setting up their legal department. She also worked with the Department of Health on procedural issues for the daily operations of the clinic.
- TMMC Healthcare. As the head of the Legal and Compliance Department for TMMC Healthcare, Ms. Tran was responsible for establishing the legal and corporate framework for the entire company. She managed all investment matters for the company, its subsidiaries, and its shareholders. Under her tenure and with her guidance, TMMC transformed into a large corporation with a complex corporate structure involving four hospitals, one clinic, and one college. There, she led the Mergers and Acquisitions process, negotiating and preparing all financial and corporate transactions and documents. Ms. Tran was responsible for setting up new companies and restructuring the corporate model.
- International Business Law (IBL) and Partners Law Firm. Ms. Tran advised clients on a variety of corporate and real estate issues. She advised on matters relating to the establishment and operation of enterprises and investment projects in Vietnam. Ms. Tran managed, developed and maintained corporate documents for many clients in Vietnam.
- RAAS Corp (Rare Antibody Antigen Supply, Inc.) Ms. Tran was a legal consultant where she drafted and reviewed all the contracts for the corporation. She directed the company in its reorganization, which involved various registration issues.
Languages:
- Vietnamese
- English
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Joseph Schuchert
Partner
JSchuchert@SKTLawyers.com
Biography:
Joseph S. Schuchert is a Partner at Schuchert, Krieger, Truong, Spagnola & Klausner, LLP. Mr. Schuchert joined the firm in 2015, following more than thirty years in the practice of law. Mr. Schuchert has a substantial background in securities law, having served as a principal in a private equity fund, a hedge fund, and a family investment office. Throughout his career, Mr. Schuchert has also been a partner in several law firms dedicated to the representation of financial services firms and their principals.
Experience and Trials:
Mr. Schuchert continues his emphasis on securities and corporate law, representing corporations and their founders in a broad range of corporate and litigation matters. Mr. Schuchert has tried to conclusion more than ninety trials or arbitrations. He is also regularly engaged to represent corporations and their founders in connection with formation, the raising of capital, the purchase or sale of assets, and Board of Directors’ best practices.
Lectures:
In 2017, Mr. Schuchert was appointed as a law lecturer at UC Irvine School of Law, teaching “Alternative Investments- Diverse Legal Issues in an Expanding Asset Class.”
Charitable and Personal:
Mr. Schuchert resides in Southern California with his wife in close proximity to their four adult children. They are passionate in their support of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and are members of the Peninsula Committee Children’s Hospital, a group solely dedicated to raising money for CHLA. They also support and volunteer in connection with Las Floristas and its various programs benefiting Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey.
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Kristi Ngo
Attorney
Biography:
Kristi Quynh Ngo manages SKT’s Immigration Practice Group. She specializes in EB-5 investments, various employment-based visa categories, and family-based immigration matters. Ms. Ngo represents foreign investors in obtaining U.S. permanent residency through Regional Center and direct EB-5 investment. She also advises businesses on regional center formations and ensures immigration law compliance.
Ms. Ngo received her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. She subsequently earned her Juris Doctor from Chapman University School of Law with an emphasis in Advocacy and Dispute Resolution.
Ms. Ngo is a member of the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Southern California. She is fluent in Vietnamese.
Immigration Experience:
- Extensive experience in assisting individuals and companies in various employment-based and investment-based immigration matters, including L-1 intracompany transferee visas and EB-5 investment visas.
- Helps hundreds of families unite through family-based petitions and appellate-related work.
- Drafts rebuttals, appellate briefs, and motions to reconsider or reopen USCIS decisions.
- Knowledgeable in the adjustment of status and consular processing.
- Successful defense of clients before the Immigration Court in deportation and removal actions.
- Has represented foreign beneficiaries whose United States relative sponsors passed away before receipt of immigrant statuses resulting in humanitarian re-statement of immigration petitions and green cards for all beneficiaries.
- Advised and assisted foreign beneficiaries on challenging the admissibility of immigration-based misrepresentations and criminal history.
- Speaks at various conferences and seminars on I-526 petitions and source of funds issues, developments on EB-5 adjudication, and alternative visa options.
Litigation Experience:
- Has litigated numerous marital dissolution, paternity, and domestic violence actions.
- Represented a spouse in a marital dissolution action involving over a million dollars in assets, which resulted in a favorable settlement with permanent spousal support and no reimbursement for Watts charges and Epstein credits.
- Represented owner of a national technology company accused of breach of contract and fraud, resulting in a favorable settlement for less than 10% of the damages sought.
- Represented defendant in a conversion action involving high compensatory and punitive damages, which resulted in the dismissal of the case with prejudice at the demurrer stage.
Publications:
- Co-author, “House of Gold: Documenting Property-Related Source of Funds for Vietnamese Investors,” EB5 Investors Magazine.
Languages:
- English
- Vietnamese
Memberships:
- Vietnamese American Bar Association of Southern California.
Admissions:
- California Bar
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
Phoebe Ortega
Legal Assistant
Biography:
Phoebe Ortega is a Legal Assistant in our Los Angeles County office. As Legal Assistant, Phoebe is our Immigration Team’s right hand. She assists with everything from filing petitions/exhibits, writing first drafts, to maintaining client documents. Phoebe can seamlessly handle any task that’s thrown her direction.
Phoebe is incredibly smart, creative, and hardworking, and enjoys being a part of the Schuchert, Krieger, Truong, Spagnola & Klausner, LLP (SKT) team because everyone has a caring and positive attitude toward each other, the clients, and everyone else who walks through our doors.
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Eliot Krieger
Partner
Biography:
Eliot F. Krieger is a founding partner of Schuchert, Krieger, Truong, Spagnola & Klausner, LLP (“SKT”). Mr. Krieger has over 25 years of trial experience and is regarded as one of the top litigators in Southern California. Mr. Krieger oversees the firm’s international offices, regularly traveling between the U.S., Vietnam, and the Philippines. Additionally, Mr. Krieger has associated and consulted with attorneys and law firms in the Philippines for over a decade on various legal issues from criminal defense to assist in negotiating land deals for Philippine corporations.
Mr. Krieger’s extensive trial experience comes from his years at one of the most prestigious Los Angeles law firms, a major international law firm and as an Assistant United States Attorney. During his time in the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. Krieger oversaw all federal immigration-related cases for the Central District of California and ran the Los Angeles County Immigration Task Force which coordinated local, state and federal immigration fraud prosecution and assisted immigrants and non-immigrants seeking immigration status in Los Angeles County.
Mr. Krieger has been named to the Southern California Super Lawyers list as one of the top 5% of attorneys in Southern California and has been recognized as one of the Top One Percent of Attorneys in America. He has also been honored by the FBI for his prosecution of fraud and corruption. In addition, Mr. Krieger has been appointed as a Judge Pro Tem by the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Awards:
Education:
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, Massachusetts
J.D. / Cum Laude
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
Ph.D., Philosophy
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
M.A., Philosophy
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
B.A. / Magna Cum Laude
Litigation Experience:
- Present high profile politician’s wife charged in Federal District Court with money laundering millions of dollars. Resulted in probationary sentence.
- Represented defendant accused of money laundering and structuring 6 million dollars. Resulted in civil compromise with no criminal prosecution.
- Represented defendant accused of using a false passport and aiding a fugitive by the federal government Resulted in no prosecution.
- Represented defendant accused by the US Attorneys Office of misusing millions of dollars of charity money and money from government grants. Resulted in no prosecution.
- Represented defendant accused of sale of millions of dollars of precursor chemicals to methamphetamines, facing over twenty years under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Resulted in 3 1/2 year sentence.
- United States Department of Justice: Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section
- Prosecuted white-collar crime. Cases included public corruption, money-laundering, health care fraud, HUD fraud and immigration fraud.
- Prosecuted and tried only case in the Central District that convicted defendant of money-laundering for the purposes of tax evasion.
Trials included:
- United States v. Sorochkin (weapons);
- United States v. Batista (bank fraud, identity theft);
- United States v. Ramirez-Molina (immigration);
- United States v. Boujaoude (passport fraud);
- United States v. Laser Eye Center (health care fraud);
- United States v. Greybor Medical Transportation (fraud, money
- laundering, tax evasion)
- Received award from FBI for Laser Eye Center prosecution.
- Served as Indian Crimes Coordinator and Tribal Liaison for the Central District of California. Coordinated all tribal issues involving the United States Attorney’s Office arising in the Central District of California.
- Served as Immigration Fraud Coordinator
- Headed Department of Justice pilot program designed to effectively prosecute fraud crimes perpetrated against undocumented aliens.
- Served as member of Immigration Fraud Task Force
- Served as chairperson of multi-jurisdictional task force targeting fraud perpetrated by immigration consultants and attorneys. Law enforcement members of the task force included representatives from the United States
- Attorney’s Office—Los Angeles County; the District Attorney’s Office—City of Los Angeles; the California Attorney General’s Office; the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the California State Bar. Full task force also included non-law enforcement groups, including the Mexican American Bar Association, the Coalition for Human Rights, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and a US Immigration Courts judge.
- International Business Experience
- Worked with local counsel in negotiating several land deals regarding structuring of foreign investment in the Philippines.
- Advised and negotiated real estate deals for various Philippine corporations including:
- Cambridge Real Estate Corporation
- Orsal Development Corporation
- Eco-Alternative Building Concepts Corp.
- Developed and arranged funding for three townhouse complexes near Clark, Philippines
Lectures and Classes:
- White Collar Crime, Adjunct Professor / Instructor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
- “Thinking about Thinking: Integrating Law, Philosophy & Science”, Teaching Fellow / Instructor, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Philosophy, Visiting Assistant Professor (Part-Time), University of Maryland at Baltimore County
- “Government Investigations: I-9s, LCAs, and Other Immigration-Related Investigations”, 16th Annual American Immigration Lawyers Association, California Chapter
- “Remarks on Federal Law Enforcement in Indian Country within the Central District of California”, Tribal and State Law Enforcement Summit, Rancho Mirage, California
- Civil Enforcement of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act”, Federal Bureau of Investigation Conference on Gambling. Las Vegas, Nevada
- Rifts Over RFRA: Divergent Approaches to the Free Exercise Clause”, Southern California Philosophy Conference, University of California Irvine, California
- “The Utility of a Philosophy Degree for Lawyers”, California State University, Long Beach Pre-Law Program, Long Beach, California
Published Work:
- “Protected Expression: Towards a Speaker-Oriented Theory”, 73 Denver Law Review 69
- The Court Declines in Fairness: Teague v. Lane”, 25 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 184
Other:
- Los Angeles County Superior Court, Judge Pro Tem
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Karl Truong
Partner
KTruong@SKTlawyers.com
Biography:
Karl Truong is a partner of Schuchert, Krieger, Truong, Spagnola & Klausner, LLP (“SKT”) and oversees the firm’s International Practice Group. He focuses on international business transactions, business litigation, intellectual property, and immigration.
Mr. Truong is highly regarded for his expertise in guiding businesses into the U.S. market and foreign investment projects into Asia. His robust involvement working closely with domestic and foreign government officials and agencies dates back to his time in Washington, D.C. Mr. Truong routinely acts for clients doing business internationally, assisting them with corporate expansions & acquisitions, regulatory compliance, and copyright & trademark defense. Furthermore, he assists his clients with their immigration needs, whether it be L1 or EB-1 visas for his corporate clients or the EB-5 visa for individual investors and their families. Mr. Truong regularly rotates through SKT’s offices in Asia.
Mr. Truong’s extensive experience in the international practice of law includes serving as in-house counsel for an international media corporation where he handled regulatory and legal issues. Subsequently, he was invited to Capitol Hill to work for a Member of Congress in the House of Representatives with the responsibility for Commerce, International Relations, Immigration, and Science & Technology issues. Prior to joining SKT, Karl was with the Inter-American Development Bank (“IDB”) in Washington, D.C. where he navigated complex transnational contractual issues, liaised with foreign government officials, and provided legal and technical analysis on Bank and government projects.
Mr. Truong received his J.D. from Chapman University Fowler School of Law and his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of California of Riverside.
Experience:
- Represented an international media corporation accused of copyright infringement. Resulted in a favorable settlement for less than 5% of damages demanded.
- Facilitated the entry of large Asian corporations into the U.S. market through business entity formation, the acquisition of necessary licensing, and adherence to regulatory commercial law.
- Negotiated and secured large real estate leases and acquisitions for foreign manufacturers into Asia.
- Obtained industrial certification and licensing for foreign corporations operating in Asia.
- Advised and liaised with government officials in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, and Mexico for transnational energy, transportation, and social projects.
- Negotiated and prepared licensing agreements worldwide for international entertainment corporation.
- Guided Vietnamese and Chinese EB-5 investors through each step of the EB-5 visa
Speaking Engagements:
The Future of the Legal Profession feat. Keynote Speaker Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito
“The Global and Multi-jurisdictional Practice of Law”