Background of the Firm

Chaninat and Leeds is comprised of licensed Thailand lawyers and is managed by a licensed American lawyer fluent in the Thai language. The firm was originally established as a limited partnership in 1997. In 2001, as a result of increased growth in our client base, the firm registered as a limited company.

Joe Leeds, our American manager, is an experienced trial lawyer, focusing on civil and criminal litigation since 1986. Joe was recruited as a legal expert by the Thailand government and began working in Thailand in 1995. His areas of specialization include civil and criminal litigation, real estate law, intellectual property law and US immigration law. He has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association since 1995. He has been licensed by the Hawaii State Bar Association since 1987.

Professor and barrister Chaninat Leeds, is one of the leading experts on labor law in Thailand and former vice-dean and professor of law at Sukhothai Thammathirat University. She is a licensed patent agent and also specializes in family and divorce law.

Lawyer Chatchai Na Chiangmai is a trial lawyer specializing in civil and criminal litigation. He has over thirty years of experience.

Our lawyers are fluent in both English and Thai language, and we are experienced in complex and difficult cases as well as more standard issues.

Website Objectives

The purpose of this website is to highlight some of the types of cases that we perform regularly and to provide basic legal information that may be helpful to the public. In our FAQ sections you can find answers to many of the most common legal questions that foreigners have on aspects of the Thailand law ranging from land purchase to marriage. If you are looking for more extensive legal information such as English language translations of Thailand laws, please examine the Thailand Law Forum, a nonprofit website sponsored by Chaninat & Leeds.

Firm Philosophy

Our objective s are to provide effective quality legal solutions, to establish long term relationships with our clients, and to advance the standards of how law is practiced in Thailand. Our methodology is to eliminate unnecessary barriers to communication such as unnecessary bureaucracy and formality. Our litigation philosophy is based on our decades of experience: we seek to prevail and obtain the best result for our clients.

Areas of Specialization

We have assembled a team of lawyers with diverse educational backgrounds and varying areas of expertise in order to represent our clients in a wide range of cases. The areas of specialization of our team of ten lawyers includes Family law, Land and Real Estate Acquisitions, US Immigration law, International Prenuptial Agreements and Divorce, International Litigation (including fraud, personal injury and business disputes), Company law, Criminal law and Investigations.