[Shenzhen Lawyers Association] Shenzhen and Chongqing Lawyers Associations Discuss the Development of the Legal Profession
On the afternoon of September 11, 2017, a delegation from the Shenzhen Lawyers Association, including Vice Presidents Yang Xiao and Wang Tengfeng, Council Member He Zhijun, and Deputy Secretary-General Liu Feng, visited the Chongqing Lawyers Association. They were received by Chongqing Lawyers Association Vice President He Hongtao, Supervisor Zhu Honggang, Council Member Chen Yu, and others, who held a discussion with them.
Vice President He Hongtao briefly introduced the current state of lawyer development in Chongqing. As of now, Chongqing has 824 law firms, including 465 partnership firms, 357 sole proprietorship firms, and 2 state-owned firms, with 9,247 practicing lawyers. The Chongqing Lawyers Association has adopted five major measures to further advance the development of the legal profession in Chongqing: First, implementing the “525” plan, which focuses on cultivating approximately 5 comprehensive brand-name large firms, around 20 specialized strong firms, and 500 high-quality livelihood-oriented firms, establishing a tiered development model for law firms; Second, establishing a set of systems, including creating daily work systems, revising assessment measures for interns, and formulating lawyer fee guidelines, to ensure that all association work has rules to follow; Third, firmly grasping the protection of professional rights, focusing on resolving the “three longstanding difficulties” in lawyer practice, ensuring that lawyers’ basic practice rights are protected; Fourth, actively seeking supportive policies, jointly issuing the Bayu Talent Lawyer Elite Training program with the Organization Department of the Municipal Party Committee, with government funding to support young lawyers in studying in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, helping Chongqing lawyers go global; Fifth, recognizing industry leaders, collaborating with media to commend outstanding law firms and lawyers of the year, guiding the standardized development of the industry, and showcasing the positive overall image of Chongqing’s legal profession.
Vice President Yang Xiao, on behalf of the delegation, expressed gratitude to the Chongqing Lawyers Association for its warm reception and provided a brief overview of the development of Shenzhen's legal profession. He stated that Shenzhen now has 725 law firms and 11,021 lawyers, and the rapid growth of the industry has posed higher challenges to industry management and services. Vice Presidents Yang Xiao and Wang Tengfeng introduced that the Shenzhen Lawyers Association injects momentum into the industry's development through four key initiatives: first, focusing on building an informatization platform, led by the Shenzhen Municipal Justice Bureau with active participation from the Shenzhen Lawyers Association, to connect information channels among public security, procuratorate, court, and judicial departments, and leverage informatization to provide legal services to society; second, focusing on researching the development status of small and medium-sized law firms, striving to create a joint office platform for small and medium firms to address the development challenges of small firms, especially sole proprietorships; third, actively implementing Shenzhen's “Ten Years, One Thousand Talents” training program, continuously offering young lawyer training courses to cultivate industry leaders; fourth, pioneering a circuit lecture training model, upgrading the Lawyers Cloud Academy, and building a diversified professional training system.
[5] Participants also engaged in thorough discussions on topics such as young lawyer training, law school construction, the impact of big data on the legal profession, and legal industry promotion and taxation. They unanimously agreed that the legal professions in both cities should fully seize the opportunities of judicial system reform and the establishment of circuit courts by the Supreme People's Court, strengthen industry exchanges, enhance lawyer professional skills, further promote the construction of a legal professional community, and jointly contribute to industry development and the rule of law.
