CKR Law, which touts a global presence but has had trouble paying its partners, said on Thursday that it is in negotiations with China’s Yingke Law Firm to create a new U.S. firm.

In an announcement on its website, CKR said it had struck a tentative deal to create an entity called YKR Law that would be owned by Yingke and some CKR partners. It said the proposed firm would operate in as many as 10 U.S. cities and concentrate on the U.S. market but “benefit from the global network of Yingke and CKR”.