GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Lebanon Office is located in the central financial and business district of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. It is a professional practice specialising in China-Lebanon cross-border legal services. Its team comprises senior Chinese cross-border lawyers, licensed practising lawyers in Lebanon, and Middle East financial and trade compliance experts. All team members are qualified to practise in Chinese, English and Arabic, with deep expertise in core areas including Lebanon’s post-war reconstruction, cross-border trade, finance and foreign exchange, and port logistics. The office strictly abides by the practice rules of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice and the Beirut Bar Association, and provides full-process localised and compliant legal solutions for Chinese-funded enterprises and overseas Chinese.
This document sets out the official standardised fee benchmark of GUOZUN Lebanon Office for 2026. All quoted prices are net prices exclusive of value-added tax (VAT), with the current VAT rate in Lebanon standing at 11%. Settlement is supported in three major currencies: US dollars, Renminbi and euros.
1. Compliant Fee Models of GUOZUN Lebanon Office
In accordance with the Lebanese Lawyers’ Practice Regulations and cross-border legal service industry conventions, and tailored to the characteristics of cross-border services for Chinese-funded clients, we offer 5 standardised billing methods that are fully transparent, auditable and traceable throughout the engagement:
1.1Fixed Package Fee
Applicable to standardised non-litigation basic services with fixed procedures and clear rights and obligations. The total price is confirmed upon contract signing with no subsequent add-on charges, and is suitable for standard services such as basic enterprise filing, document review and qualification agency services.
1.2Hourly Billing Model
Applicable to complex litigation, cross-border arbitration and customised compliance projects. Fees are calculated based on lawyers’ chargeable working hours, with a detailed time report issued monthly. It suits highly customised and complex legal matters.
1.3Tiered Fee Based on Subject Matter Value
Applicable to property-related commercial disputes, asset mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions and other cases. Fees are calculated on a tiered declining basis with the value of the dispute or transaction as the base, in line with the general standard of commercial judicial services in Lebanon.
1.4Win-Based Contingency Fee
Limited to debt recovery, tort claims and commercial payment collection cases permitted under Lebanese law. Fees are charged only upon successful recovery of funds at case conclusion, at an agreed ratio. The maximum fee ratio shall not exceed 30% of the total recovered amount.
1.5Annual Legal Retainer
Provides enterprises with year-round ongoing legal support for a fixed annual fee. A dedicated bilingual team is assigned for liaison, with a 48-hour rapid response mechanism, covering all-dimensional compliance and risk control needs in daily business operations.
2. Tiered Hourly Rate Standards
All practising lawyers of GUOZUN Lebanon Office have completed practice registration and qualification filing with the Lebanese Ministry of Justice. The tiered structure covers four levels: junior lawyers, senior lawyers, local partners, and cross-border experts seconded from the Chinese headquarters, to match cases of varying complexity.
For 2026, the unified hourly rate range is USD 110 – USD 520 per hour. The final rate is comprehensively determined based on the practice area of the case, urgency, cross-border collaboration requirements and team configuration, with no geographically discriminatory pricing.
2.1 Supplementary Billing Rules
2.1.1 For off-site case handling in cities outside Beirut (such as Tripoli, Sidon, Tyre), a travel and fieldwork allowance of 30%–45% will be applied.
2.1.2 For 48-hour urgent commencement and expedited services on public holidays, a 50% expedite fee will be uniformly added.
2.1.3 For cross-border cases involving US and EU sanctions compliance and multi-jurisdictional legal application, the rate will be increased by 25%.
2.1.4 For cases requiring trilingual simultaneous interpretation in court hearings, the rate will be increased by 15%.
3. Specialised Fee Schedules for Core Practice Areas
This fee framework focuses on the core needs of Chinese-funded enterprises in Lebanon, adapts to local regulatory features such as Lebanon’s foreign exchange controls, post-war reconstruction, port trade and financial compliance, and covers all judicial and non-litigation fields. Details are as follows:
3.1 Market Entry and Corporate Entity Compliance Services: USD 550 – USD 23,000
3.1.1 Full-process agency for registration of wholly foreign-owned enterprises, joint ventures and representative offices, as well as filing with the Ministry of Economy and Trade and business licensing.
3.1.2 Compliance review of Lebanon’s foreign exchange controls, foreign investment filing, and applications for industry access special qualifications.
3.1.3 One-stop services for enterprise settlement in Beirut Port Free Trade Zone and industrial free zones, tax relief, and customs filing.
3.1.4 Equity structure adjustment, business scope changes, localised revision of articles of association, and enterprise restructuring compliance services.
3.1.5 Annual enterprise tax compliance, foreign exchange declaration and audit, and establishment of a localised business compliance system.
3.1.6 Full-process agency for enterprise deregistration, liquidation and bankruptcy procedures, and compliant disposal of credits and debts.
3.2 Port Logistics and International Trade Compliance Services: USD 3,200 – USD 55,000
3.2.1 Drafting and review of contracts for maritime freight forwarding, port warehousing and cross-border logistics, and dedicated handling of bill of lading disputes and cargo damage claims.
3.2.2 Legal services for import and export trade compliance, customs clearance risk control, tariff planning, and response to anti-dumping investigations.
3.2.3 Compliance review of letter of credit settlement and cross-border foreign exchange receipt and payment, as well as trade fraud risk prevention and dispute resolution.
3.2.4 Customisation of international goods sales and supply chain cooperation agreements, and full-process agency for cross-border trade arbitration.
3.2.5 Due diligence for port operation and logistics enterprise M&A, and compliance services for franchise qualification transfer.
3.3 Post-War Infrastructure and Real Estate Investment Legal Services: USD 3,600 – USD 59,000
3.3.1 Bidding compliance for urban reconstruction, municipal engineering and commercial real estate projects, and establishment of engineering contract systems.
3.3.2 Compliance agency for real estate purchase, lease and mortgage, and qualification review for foreign nationals’ real estate investment.
3.3.3 Mediation, litigation and arbitration full-case agency for project payment arrears, construction period breaches and construction quality disputes.
3.3.4 Full-process legal services for land use right acquisition, building permit approval and environmental compliance filing.
3.3.5 Commercial real estate M&A, property operation compliance and risk control, and dedicated services for real estate title confirmation.
3.4 Labour Employment and Expatriate Compliance Legal Services: USD 180 – USD 16,000
3.4.1 Drafting of Chinese-Arabic bilingual labour contracts and employment systems, adapted to Lebanese labour law and trade union regulatory requirements.
3.4.2 Full-process compliance agency for expatriate employees’ work permits, residence visas and entry-exit filing.
3.4.3 Design of compliance schemes for economic layoffs and employee dismissal, to mitigate labour administrative penalty risks.
3.4.4 Wage and social security compliance, labour dispute mediation, and full-process agency for labour arbitration and litigation.
3.4.5 Enterprise employment compliance audits, and customisation of emergency response plans for surprise inspections by labour authorities.
3.5 Financial Foreign Exchange and Sanctions Compliance Legal Services: USD 1,500 – USD 42,000
3.5.1 Legal services for Lebanon’s foreign exchange control compliance, cross-border fund allocation, and bank account risk control.
3.5.2 International sanctions compliance review, and establishment of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing compliance systems.
3.5.3 Drafting and review of commercial bank credit and guarantee agreements, and dedicated services for financial credit recovery.
3.5.4 Cross-border investment and financing structure design, and access compliance filing for foreign-funded financial businesses.
3.5.5 Dedicated legal support for financial disputes, bill disputes and trust asset compliance management.
3.6 Intellectual Property and Digital Economy Compliance Legal Services: USD 200 – USD 22,000
3.6.1 Full-process agency for local registration, renewal and infringement enforcement of trademarks, patents and copyrights in Lebanon.
3.6.2 Brand counterfeiting and e-commerce infringement investigation, and one-stop services for administrative complaints and civil litigation.
3.6.3 Lebanon data protection compliance, cross-border data transmission, and customisation of user privacy policies.
3.6.4 Access compliance for cross-border e-commerce and telecommunications technology enterprises, and platform operation risk control review.
3.6.5 Drafting and compliance review of trade secret protection and technology licensing and transfer agreements.
3.7 Commercial Dispute Resolution and Cross-Border Judgment Enforcement: USD 1,200 – USD 390,000
3.7.1 Mediation and litigation agency for civil and commercial cases such as contract disputes, credit and debt issues, and commercial torts.
3.7.2 Full-process agency for proceedings before Lebanese commercial courts, the Middle East International Arbitration Center, and ICC arbitration.
3.7.3 Dedicated services for cross-border recognition and enforcement of bilateral court judgments and arbitral awards between China and Lebanon.
3.7.4 Agency for administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation, and response to government administrative penalties and licensing disputes.
3.7.5 Criminal compliance risk control, economic crime defence, and consular assistance services for detained persons.
Special note: For major cross-border economic crimes and violent criminal cases, quotations are customised separately according to evidence-gathering difficulty and the scale of cross-border collaboration, with no fixed upper limit.
3.8 Personal Visa and Family Wealth Legal Services: USD 500 – USD 3,200
3.8.1 Full-process agency for application and extension of business visas, investment visas and family reunion visas.
3.8.2 Consultation on Lebanon permanent residence applications and naturalisation policies, and supporting compliance services.
3.8.3 Compliance legal services for cross-border inheritance, family wealth preservation and real estate succession.
3.8.4 Consultation on marriage and family disputes and application of Islamic family law, as well as dispute representation.3.8.5 Personal criminal legal consultation, rights protection and supporting services for overseas legal remedies.
4. Core Factors Affecting Legal Service Fees
4.1 Jurisdictional and geographical complexity: Fees will increase accordingly for cross-border cases involving special free trade zone rules, foreign exchange control compliance and multi-national parties, as well as off-site case handling outside Beirut.
4.2 Industry professional barriers: Specialised fields such as sanctions compliance, foreign exchange finance and port logistics require niche practice experience, and fees are higher than ordinary civil and commercial basic services.
4.3 Case urgency and time input: For expedited case handling, long-term follow-up, and cases involving multiple rounds of hearings or negotiations, fees are adjusted according to manpower deployment.
4.4 Cross-border collaboration requirements: For projects requiring joint case handling by the Chinese headquarters and law firms across multiple Middle Eastern countries, or services with a dedicated trilingual team, fees are determined based on team scale.
4.5 Service procurement method: The comprehensive cost of an annual legal retainer package is 15%–20% lower than that of ad-hoc single-item services.
4.6 Judicial procedure difficulty: For cases with high procedural complexity such as cross-border evidence collection, multi-tier litigation and compulsory enforcement, fees are adjusted according to practical difficulty.
5. Schedule of Reimbursable Third-Party Expenses
The following expenses are not included in legal service fees, and shall be fully reimbursed at actual cost in line with official Lebanese pricing. Our firm charges no agency markup for these items:
5.1 Government administrative fees: Official charges including enterprise registration fees, licence filing fees, visa fees, court litigation fees, arbitration fees, and intellectual property official fees.
5.2 Notarisation and authentication fees: Local document notarisation in Lebanon, Hague apostille, and China-Lebanon consular dual authentication, settled per official standards.
5.3 Professional translation fees: Written translation of Chinese-Arabic-English legal documents and simultaneous interpretation for court hearings, charged per the unified standard of the Lebanese translation industry.
5.4 Professional institution fees: Service fees of third-party bodies for judicial expertise, asset valuation, compliance audits, due diligence and other services.
5.5 Field travel expenses: Transport, accommodation and fieldwork allowances for off-site case handling, reimbursed per actual expenditure.
5.6 Other sundry expenses: Cross-border bank handling fees, document postage, administrative document production fees and other miscellaneous charges settled on an actual basis.
6. Important Notes
All fee standards listed above are official reference prices. The final service fee will be clearly agreed in writing in the Entrustment and Agency Contract, based on your specific requirements, case circumstances and scope of services.