Our Team
Our team is split between our two offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Shanghai, enabling us to better provide legal services to clients of all time zones.
Our Team
Our team is split between our two offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Shanghai, enabling us to better provide legal services to clients of all time zones.

Greg Pilarowski
Founding Partner
Founding Partner

Scott Wornow
Senior Counsel
Senior Counsel

Chao Yu
Partner
Partner

Lu Yue
Senior Associate
Senior Associate

Zhu Ziwei
Associate
Associate

Alexandra Ashbrook
Associate
Associate

Magdalene Bedi
Associate
Associate
Greg PilarowskiFounding Partner

Greg has extensive experience structuring and negotiating domestic and cross-border transactions and representing interactive entertainment companies in a wide range of corporate transactional matters.
Greg has lived and worked in or with China since 1994, is a fluent Mandarin speaker and is adept at navigating China’s legal environment.
Representative matters at Pillar Legal include:
- Representing leading international game companies in negotiating their online game license agreements for operations in China
- Representing investors or early stage companies in venture capital financing transactions
- Representing early stage companies in connection with financings and general corporate matters
Prior to founding the firm, Greg served as the general counsel for Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, the leading online game company in China at the time. While general counsel, Greg managed all of the legal matters for the company, including:
- US$169 million initial public offering
- US$275 million convertible bond offering
- US$106 million acquisition of controlling stake in Actoz Soft, a Kosdaq listed online game developer
- US$230 million acquisition of a minority stake in Sina, China’s then largest internet portal
- Successful defense of claims by the licensor of Shanda’s leading game, The Legend of Mir II
- Negotiation of numerous game license agreements with companies based in China, Korea, Japan and the United States
Greg also practiced in the New York, Hong Kong and Beijing offices of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, where he represented either the underwriters or the issuer in securities offerings by Tom Online, Ping An Insurance, Chi Mei Optoelectronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacture Company, MTR Corporation, Cathy Financial Holding Company, the Republic of Columbia, the Republic of Argentina and the Federative Republic of Brazil.
Education
J.D., Harvard Law School
B.A. International Studies, Ohio State University
Bar Admissions
California and New York
Languages
English (Native),
Mandarin Chinese (Fluent)
J.D., Harvard Law School
B.A. International Studies, Ohio State University
Bar Admissions
California and New York
Languages
English (Native),
Mandarin Chinese (Fluent)
Scott WornowSenior Counsel

Corporate legal departments led by Scott have won awards from The New York Stock Exchange for best corporate governance program at a Small to Mid-Cap Company, from the Financial Times as one of the Most Innovative In-House Law Departments (winning the Innovation award twice) and from the Association of Corporate Counsel for best In-House Employment Law Department. He has published extensively on the relationship between inside and outside counsel, the implementation of corporate governance and risk management programs, the use of alternative fee arrangements and the need for innovative law firm marketing strategies. He is a Board Advisor to several technology startups and serves as Vice Chairman of the Business Law Section for the San Francisco Bar Association.
Education
J.D., Harvard Law School
B.A. and M.A., Cambridge University
B.A., University of Virginia
Bar Admissions
California and New York
Languages
English (Native)
J.D., Harvard Law School
B.A. and M.A., Cambridge University
B.A., University of Virginia
Bar Admissions
California and New York
Languages
English (Native)
Chao YuPartner

Chao Yu has provided legal services for many leading international entertainment companies in connection with their commercial transactions and technology-related transactions, including brand and intellectual property licensing, digital game licensing and software development.
He also advises international companies on a wide range of corporate matters, including mergers and acquisition deals, private equity financing, debt financings, and other general corporate governance matters.
He represents plenty of start-ups in various innovative industries, such as education, media, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, Software as a Service (SaaS) and e-commerce.
Education
Global Business LL.M., University of Washington School of Law
Intellectual Property LL.M., Tongji University (同济大学)
LL.B., Harbin University of Commerce (哈尔滨商业大学)
Bar Admissions
Washington State
Bar Passage
PRC National Bar Examination
Languages
Mandarin Chinese (Native),
English (Fluent)
Global Business LL.M., University of Washington School of Law
Intellectual Property LL.M., Tongji University (同济大学)
LL.B., Harbin University of Commerce (哈尔滨商业大学)
Bar Admissions
Washington State
Bar Passage
PRC National Bar Examination
Languages
Mandarin Chinese (Native),
English (Fluent)
Lu YueSenior Associate

Lu Yue provides legal assistance in connection with venture capital investments, intellectual property transactions, general corporate matters and China-related regulatory and compliance matters.
Publications
Article – Shanghai University of International Business and Economics Journal
Standard of Review of Dispute Settlement Body of WTO on the Domestic Administration and Decisions, Volume 4, 2015, pp. 15-25.
Article – Present Day Law Science
The Closest Connection Doctrine in the Application of Law for Foreign-related Civil Relations, Volume 11, 2015, pp. 105-111.
Lu Yue also participated in drafting Anti-Trust Law Application in China From a Comparative Perspective, a textbook that was published by Law Press in September 2015.
Education
Ph.D. Law, East China University of Political Science and Law (华东政法大学)
LL.M., University of California Berkeley School of Law
LL.B., Wuhan University (武汉大学)
B.A. Literature, Central China Normal University (华中师范大学)
Bar Passage
PRC National Bar Examination
Languages
Mandarin Chinese (Native),
English (Fluent)
Ph.D. Law, East China University of Political Science and Law (华东政法大学)
LL.M., University of California Berkeley School of Law
LL.B., Wuhan University (武汉大学)
B.A. Literature, Central China Normal University (华中师范大学)
Bar Passage
PRC National Bar Examination
Languages
Mandarin Chinese (Native),
English (Fluent)
Zhu ZiweiAssociate

Ziwei provides legal assistance in connection with venture capital investments, data protection compliance, and general corporate matters. She principally focuses on work related to regulatory and compliance matters within the People’s Republic of China.
During law school, Ziwei participated in legal activities involving intellectual property and cross border transactions.
Education
Juris Master, Fudan University
B.A. Spanish Literature, Beijing Foreign Studies University
Bar Passage
PRC National Bar Examination
Languages
Mandarin Chinese (Native),
English (Fluent),
Spanish (Fluent)
Juris Master, Fudan University
B.A. Spanish Literature, Beijing Foreign Studies University
Bar Passage
PRC National Bar Examination
Languages
Mandarin Chinese (Native),
English (Fluent),
Spanish (Fluent)
Alexandra AshbrookAssociate

Alexandra provides legal assistance in connection with venture capital investments, corporate transactions and other general corporate matters, data privacy, and US-related regulatory and compliance matters. She has experience working with early-stage startups as well as San Francisco-based tech companies.
During law school, Alexandra participated in both start-up and corporate counsel clinics and was a staff editor for the Hastings Law Journal. In her time at the start-up clinic, Alexandra partnered with Pillar Legal on start-up privacy compliance issues. She also took courses surrounding intellectual property law and Chinese business law. Before attending law school, Alexandra lived in Beijing while attending Peking University’s Chinese language program.
Education
J.D., University of California Hastings College of the Law
B.A. International Studies, Allegheny College
Bar Admissions
California
Languages
English (Native),
Mandarin Chinese (Novice)
J.D., University of California Hastings College of the Law
B.A. International Studies, Allegheny College
Bar Admissions
California
Languages
English (Native),
Mandarin Chinese (Novice)
Magdalene BediAssociate

Magdalene provides legal assistance in connection with corporate and US-related regulatory and compliance matters. She has experience researching US regulation of blockchain games and working in- house with an advertising technology company on commercial matters involving data privacy and mobile game publishing.
During law school, Magdalene was the Executive Articles Editor for the Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal and a member of the UC Hastings Moot Court Board, through which she competed at the Kaufman Securities Law Moot Court Competition hosted by Fordham University School of Law. She also took courses in intellectual property law, Chinese business law, data privacy law, video game law, and internet law.
Outside of her legal interests, Magdalene also enjoys reading webnovels and learning about the Northern and Southern Dynasties period of Chinese history.
Education
J.D., University of California Hastings College of the Law
B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies: Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government, American University
Bar Admissions
California
Languages
English (Native)
J.D., University of California Hastings College of the Law
B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies: Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government, American University
Bar Admissions
California
Languages
English (Native)