Guangdong launches pilot program for joint operations between mainland and Hong Kong/Macau law firms
Starting this year, Guangdong will launch pilot programs for partnership-type joint operations between mainland and Hong Kong/Macau law firms, as well as for seconding mainland lawyers to Hong Kong law firms' representative offices in Guangdong to serve as mainland legal advisors. This move will provide Hong Kong law firms' representative offices in Guangdong, which were previously isolated from mainland legal business, with broader room for expansion. Clients involved in legal services concerning mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau will no longer need to shuttle between mainland law firms and Hong Kong firms' representative offices in Guangdong, as they can enjoy one-stop services.
Zhu Xuefeng, a section chief from the Lawyer Management Office of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Justice, revealed to a reporter from the Legal Daily today that to implement the CEPA supplementary agreement and further deepen new opening measures for cooperation between mainland and Hong Kong law firms, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Justice submitted to the Ministry of Justice last year the "Request for Review of the Pilot Work Plan for Seconding Mainland Lawyers to Hong Kong Law Firms' Representative Offices in Guangdong as Mainland Legal Advisors" and the "Request for Conducting Pilot Work on Partnership-Type Joint Operations between Mainland and Hong Kong/Macau Law Firms in Guangdong Province." Currently, these applications have been approved by the Ministry of Justice.
It is reported that the pilot plan approved by the Ministry of Justice requires that participating mainland law firms must have been established for at least three years, have more than 20 practicing lawyers, possess strong capabilities in foreign-related legal services, and have not received administrative penalties or industry sanctions within the past three years. The seconded lawyers must have been practicing for at least three years, have strong professional skills and communication and coordination abilities, and have not received administrative penalties or industry sanctions within the past three years. Law firms from other provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) that have been approved to establish branches in Guangdong are allowed to participate in the pilot.
During the pilot period, the scope of business and practice methods for mainland legal advisors are clearly defined. In addition to providing consulting services on mainland legal information and legal environment to the Hong Kong law firms and their representative offices to which they are seconded, mainland legal advisors may, during their secondment, provide clients with consulting and agency services involving the application of mainland law in their capacity as mainland lawyers. They may also cooperate with Hong Kong law firms and their representative offices in handling cross-border or international legal affairs through a division of labor, and major legal matters should be referred to the mainland law firm they belong to for joint handling with the Hong Kong law firm.
According to the requirements of the pilot plan for partnership-type joint operations between mainland and Hong Kong/Macau law firms, mainland law firms and Hong Kong or Macau law firms may establish partnership-type joint operations in designated areas of Guangdong. This involves one or more Hong Kong (Macau) law firms and one mainland law firm forming a partnership-type joint operation law firm in Guangdong based on the rights and obligations agreed upon in a jointly signed agreement, providing legal services and bearing legal liability under the name of the joint operation law firm. The joint operation law firm is established in the form of a special general partnership.
The pilot plan proposes that Hong Kong (Macau) law firms participating in the joint operation must have been engaged in legal services in Hong Kong or Macau for at least five years, have more than 10 practicing lawyers, and have not been penalized by Hong Kong or Macau lawyer regulatory bodies within the three years prior to the application, nor have their representative offices in the mainland been penalized by mainland regulatory authorities. Mainland law firms must have been established as partnership law firms for more than five years, have more than 30 practicing lawyers, and have not received administrative penalties or industry sanctions within the three years prior to the application, including their branches in Guangdong. Law firms headquartered in other provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities but with branches already established in Guangdong may also participate in the joint operation.
In joint operations, a joint venture law firm may only accept and handle litigation and non-litigation legal matters in civil and commercial fields, and may not accept or handle criminal litigation or administrative litigation legal matters involving the application of Mainland laws. Lawyers dispatched by the Mainland side handle business in accordance with the provisions of the Lawyers Law and the Measures for the Administration of Lawyers' Practice; lawyers dispatched by the Hong Kong and Macao sides handle business in accordance with the provisions of the Measures for the Administration of Representative Offices of Law Firms from the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions in the Mainland, and may not handle Mainland legal matters. For matters accepted by the joint venture law firm, the dispatched lawyers from each side shall cooperate and handle them collaboratively based on the above principles.
In addition, the municipal lawyers association in the location of the joint venture law firm exercises industry management over the practice activities of the joint venture law firm and its lawyers. Lawyers dispatched from the Hong Kong and Macao sides of the joint venture may join the provincial or municipal lawyers association as "Hong Kong and Macao lawyer members," participate in the activities of the lawyers association, and accept industry management.
Zhu Xuefeng stated that the above two pilot projects represent a breakthrough in the cooperation between the legal professions of the Mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao. Through resource integration, complementary advantages, and close cooperation, they better provide clients with convenient legal services, facilitating direct mutual learning and reference between Mainland and Hong Kong-Macao law firms. Currently, there are 21 representative offices of Hong Kong law firms in Guangdong Province, and the Guangdong Provincial Department of Justice is actively soliciting extensive opinions and revising implementation rules, which will soon be officially announced and implemented.
