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
Greg Pilarowski
Founding Partner
Scott Wornow, Senior Counsel
Scott Wornow
Senior Counsel
Chao Yu, Partner
Chao Yu
Partner
Lu Yue, Senior Associate
Lu Yue
Senior Associate
Zhu Ziwei, Associate
Zhu Ziwei
Associate
Alexandra Ashbrook, Associate
Alexandra Ashbrook
Associate
Magdalene Bedi, Associate
Magdalene Bedi
Associate
Greg PilarowskiFounding Partner
Greg Pilarowski
Greg established Pillar Legal in 2008 and currently splits his time between our San Francisco Bay Area office and our Shanghai office.

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)

Scott WornowSenior Counsel
Scott Wornow
Scott Wornow is affiliated with the firm as Senior Counsel. He has more than 30 years’ experience as a Law Firm Partner, Chief Legal Officer and Senior Corporate Executive. Scott served as a Partner in the New York office of Paul Hastings LLP and as a Partner in the Silicon Valley offices for both Goodwin Procter LLP and Baker Botts LLP, where he helped to start the West Coast technology practices for each of those firms. He has also served as the Chief Legal Officer for three publicly-traded technology companies (in the wireless, software and semiconductor sectors), as Executive Vice President for Legal and Business Affairs at an interactive television and IP licensing company and as the Chief Restructuring Officer for a technology company. He has advised on more than $25 billion of mergers and acquisitions and $15 billion of financing transactions. Over the course of his career, Scott has represented Fortune 500 companies, technology startups, middle market and emerging growth companies, “bulge bracket” investment banks, venture capital firms, private equity funds and management teams.

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)

Chao YuPartner
Charles Yu
Chao Yu joined Pillar Legal in 2012 and is a partner based in our Shanghai office.

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)

Lu YueSenior Associate
Lu Yue
Lu Yue joined Pillar Legal in 2016 and is an associate based in our Shanghai office.

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)

Zhu ZiweiAssociate
Zhu Ziwei
Ziwei joined Pillar Legal in 2020 and is an associate based in our Shanghai Office.

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)

Alexandra AshbrookAssociate
Alexandra Ashbrook
Alexandra joined Pillar Legal in 2021 and is an associate based in our San Francisco Bay Area office.

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)

Magdalene BediAssociate
Magdalene Bedi
Magdalene joined Pillar Legal in 2022 and is an associate based in our San Francisco Bay Area office.

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)