The 2009 Cross Strait Four Regions Lawyers Summit provides a great opportunity for prominent legal professionals from the Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan to discuss trends and developments in the legal services industry in order to help build a bridge into the future.

The legal systems within the four regions have their own distinctive characters and unique traditions: some, for example, are civil law systems, while others use common law. They are also heavily influenced by their respective social and political systems and historical origins. Whatever their background, legal professionals all face a similar set of concerns. The four regions have experienced strong economic growth over the last two decades, and legal professionals in all areas are trying to discover how to profit from this recent success while generating know-how and innovation through strong business ties and effective interaction built on shared Chinese languages.

The cross-strait legal services professions can take pride in the robust growth of their legal talent, especially in Mainland China where, by the end of 2008, more than 150,000 lawyers were in practice and approximately 15,000 law firms were doing business. At the time of that survey, lawyers numbered over 20,000 in Beijing, over 10,000 in Shanghai, around 6000 in each of Shenzhen and Guangzhou and more than 5000 in other major cities in the Pearl River Delta.

The cross-strait legal services industry has already put in place substantial business cooperation in a number of areas relevant to practice, including finance, trade, securities, labor, investment and real estate.

The legal profession in Hong Kong strives to promote mutual development across the four regions. Hong Kong lawyers and Mainland lawyers have worked side by side for years to provide cross-boundary legal services in the areas of listing, M&A, finance, banking, insurance, international trade dispute resolution and intellectual property. For example, a variety of firms including Baker & McKenzie have advised Mainland Chinese companies to conduct global share offerings so that these companies can take full advantage of their unique positions and strong growth. Such work has contributed to continuous economic growth in both regions.

In 1995 Hong Kong opened its local legal services market, allowing registered foreign lawyers to be employed in Hong Kong and permitting foreign law firms to establish offices in Hong Kong to handle legal matters related to their home jurisdictions. The number of registered foreign lawyers in Hong Kong has soared from around 100 in 1996 to nearly 1400 at present. This opening-up helped transform Hong Kong from a local legal services market into a regional and international legal services market. The shift created new opportunities for more widespread growth of legal services throughout the region and helped to develop a larger pool of legal talent while increasing the depth of legal experience and know-how.

In the face of these accomplishments, we must continue to ask how the cross-strait four-regions legal services industry will face new challenges and seek further development in the new era of Chinese social and economic growth.

Coordinated development of the legal services industry in the regions will need to be supported by a more open systematic environment, which is also required by the nature of the legal profession. In September 2009, the Ministry of Justice amended the ‘Administrative Measures on Associations Formed by Law Firms of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Macao Special Administrative Region and Mainland Law Firms’, which relaxed restrictions on joint operations by Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong law firms. This action demonstrates the Central Government’s determination to create closer economic and trade connections between Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland. It is also
further evidence of the growth of the industry in the regions.

We believe it is imperative to continue opening up the legal market in order to deepen the expertise and continuing development of the legal profession, to keep pace with the continuing development and rise of China and the other cross-straits regions as a major economic entity. Looking back, the rapid economic development of the region would have been unimaginable without the services made available by even the limited opening-up of the legal market in China, such as allowing foreign law firms to have representative offices in China. In the experience of Baker & McKenzie, the opening of legal markets has facilitated the economic development of other, previously closed jurisdictions including the former Soviet states and Latin America.

Opening new legal markets in the region not only provides new business opportunities but also helps to build the foundations for longterm sustainable growth of regional legal talent, which in turn will provide the necessary services and support to the growing economy.

Fast economic growth in the region, internationalisation of Mainland enterprises, continuous development of enterprises from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and their exploration of the Mainland market all require high quality legal services in order to safeguard the predictability and security of cross-border, multi-jurisdictional complex commercial activities. This is both an opportunity and a sizeable challenge. We must nurture a larger pool of legal professionals who are fully competent and capable of meeting these demands.

Being a good lawyer takes more than just knowing the rules in one or two jurisdictions. A good legal professional should be able, in complex multi-jurisdictional circumstances, to understand a client’s business and come up with commercially pragmatic legal advice to help the client accomplish the intended results. This level of sophistication in legal professionals and their firms may take years of practical experience to cultivate. The lawyer’s proficiency and the firm’s business models are influenced by daily exposure to these types of clients and legal matters.

For the regional legal industry, opening the legal services markets brings about real opportunities to cooperate and to learn. The traditional working method of chuan, bang, dai enables junior professionals to grow by interacting with top tier and energetic senior lawyers. Lawyers from different jurisdictions increasingly have the opportunity to learn about local business models and the specific characteristics of their local clients which, in turn, greatly accelerates the process of cultivating and growing even more qualified legal professionals. In an open legal market, valuable legal thinking, new business models, new insights and new dispute resolution strategies can be formulated and accumulated. Ultimately, legal professionals armed with such valuable experience and insights come out ahead and become the means of upgrade the overall quality and standards of the cross-strait legal services industry.

The Law Society of Hong Kong has urged full-scale cooperation between Mainland and Hong Kong lawyers, for example by using the xian xing xian shi principle to allow Hong Kong law firms to employ Mainland lawyers to handle Mainland legal matters. This proposal is aimed at developing the quality and real competitiveness of the legal professionals on both sides. Ultimately, having a large group of legal professionals with highly rated legal expertise, business acumen and  knowledge of the business culture across the region is a long term core strength that will allow the regional legal service industries to compete at the global level.

Besides external factors such as the opening-up of legal markets, it is crucial that legal professionals are proactive and willing to take on leadership roles whenever possible. Every legal professional aspiring to benefit from the opportunities presented by cross-strait development must seek to overcome present difficulties and explore every possibility. In the face of risk and uncertainty, law firms and law associations in the region should take as their goals to generate wisdom, be innovative and seek new and effective ways forward in the circumstances presented by the existing frameworks of each jurisdiction.

The Law Society of Hong Kong and the Shenzhen Lawyers Association convened a joint conference in July this year where substantial progress was achieved in terms of trans-boundary infrastructure construction projects, regular Shenzhen-Hong Kong legal service promotion conferences, young lawyers training cooperation mechanisms, common training materials for Hong Kong and Shenzhen lawyers, and short-term training programs offered by Hong Kong law firms to Shenzhen lawyers. All of these new are praiseworthy efforts to create an unprecedented cooperation platform for Shenzhen and Hong Kong lawyers. We also look forward to seeing these initiatives present similar opportunities to our colleagues in Taiwan and Macau to expand their cooperation with their fellow professionals in the Mainland.

The Cross Strait Four Regions Lawyers Summit comes on the sixtieth anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. As a growing legal professional community in Greater China, we share the same ambition and commitment to promoting coordinated development for regional legal services as our contribution to China becoming a wealthy, strong, democratic, harmonious, civilized, modern nation. 

Lawrence Lee and Jing He
Baker & McKenzie

如何造就兩岸四地法律服務行業協同發展的新機遇? 

2009年兩岸四地律師高峰會的召開提供了一個新的機會，使得來自兩岸四地的一流律師人才能夠深入審視法律服務行業的發展趨勢，為未來十年至二十年的發展機遇，形成新的默契和共識。

兩岸四地法律制度各異，既有側重成文法的大陸法系，又有以判例法為淵源的普通法系，同時都帶有各自不同的社會政治制度和歷史變遷的巨大影響。在中國內地經濟保持舉世矚目的發展速度的大背景下，兩岸四地的經濟發展各具特色，身在其中的法律服務人才，具有無限的空間和機遇，可以激發出的智慧和創意難以估量。

兩岸四地法律服務人才逐漸壯大，尤其是在內地發展迅速。截至2008年年底，中國內地執業律師已超過十五萬人，全國律師事務所已近一萬五千家。其中北京執業律師接近兩萬人，上海突破萬人，廣州和深圳均有近六千名執業律師，珠江三角洲其他主要城市的執業律師人數總數估計至少在五千人之上。

四地的法律服務行業已經有相當實質的業務協作，從法律服務的領域而言，主要是金融、貿易、證券、勞務、投資、房地產等商業非訴訟業務為主。

香港律師界一直矢志不渝的在推動兩岸四地法律服務行業協同發展。比如，香港律師界和內地律師人才多年來優勢互補，充分發揮香港獨特地位，推動兩地在企業上市、合併、融資、借貸、保險、國際貿易糾紛解決、知識產權等跨地域法律服務的合作。譬如，包括貝克麥堅時律師事務所在內的一批律師事務所為內地的中國企業在全球範圍內發行股票提供建議，使得這些企業能夠充分發揮它們在各自行業中的獨特優勢並實現它們的強勁增長。這一切為兩地經濟的持續發展壯大做出了難以忽視的貢獻。

從1995年開始，香港開放本地法律服務市場，允許外地律師在港受聘，允許外地律師事務所設立分支機構處理所屬法律轄區的業務。在港註冊外地律師從1996年的一百多名而上升到接近一千四百名。法律服務市場的開放，根本上促成了香港從一個本地化的法律服務市場轉變為區域性的國際法律服務中心，為兩岸四地法律服務行業的交流和發展創造了新的空間，培養了一大批國際法律專才，積累深厚的實務經驗。

在已有的成就面前，兩岸四地法律服務界如何因應新的國際發展環境和挑戰，尋求新的發展，自如應對所面對的困難，徹底實現兩岸四地未來經濟社會大發展的需要，是必須不斷思考的新命題，要求不斷採取新的行動。

兩岸四地法律服務市場的協同發展，必須在制度層面有更開放的環境去支持，這是法律服務行業發展的內在要求。今年9月，中國司法部修改了《香港特別行政區和澳門特別行政區律師事務所與內地律師事務所聯營管理辦法》，放寬了香港、澳門與廣東省律師事務所的具體聯營條件，這種漸進的方式體現了中央政府落實香港澳門與內地建立更緊密經貿聯繫的決心，順應了兩岸四地法律服務行業發展的趨勢。

我們相信，擴大開放法律市場、加深法律服務行業的專業素養和持續發展法律服務行業，是兩岸四地作為一個崛起的巨大經濟實體不斷發展壯大的必然要求。回顧歷史，很難想像如果中國完全沒有開放法律市場(比如允許外國律師事務所在中國開設辦事處)，經濟快速增長的制度需求如何可以得到滿足。貝克麥堅時律師事務所在世界其他地方的經驗也見證了法律市場的開放是如何促進那些原本市場不開放地區的經濟發展，例如在前蘇聯和拉丁美洲。 兩岸四地的法律市場相互之間的開放，並不是一個簡單的創造商業機會的問題。從深層次講，關係到的是造就兩岸四地法律人才的長遠成長問題。人才的成長反過來又會服務和支持不斷增長的經濟。

兩岸四地的經濟高速發展，內地企業的國際化過程，港澳臺企業對內地市場的開拓和本身不斷的發展，內在的要求兩岸四地法律服務行業提供優質的法律服務，保障跨境、多區域的、複雜的商業活動的可預見性和安全性。這既是機會，也是巨大的挑戰。兩岸四地法律服務行業是否能夠滿足這一現實要求，其核心基礎是有一批優秀和充足的法律人才。具體到每一家律師事務所，就是必須能夠有相當的律師人才的儲備、培養和不斷的素質提升。

律師人才的成長有其客觀的規律。單純的講清楚一個地方甚至多個地方的法律條文規定遠遠不等於是一個好律師。好的律師必須在多法域的複雜情況下，懂得客戶的業務，幫助客戶設計合適的法律架構，幫助決策，最終使得客戶取得所需要的結果。這對於律師的要求是綜合性和全面性的。一個律師事務所都需要經年累月的積累和大量的相關業務的支持，才能夠充分的磨煉和造就所需要的人才。法律服務行業說到底是一個智力服務的行業。律師的專業水準和律師事務所的經營模式很大程度上取決於他們所接觸的客戶和參與的交易專案。

對於兩岸四地的法律行業而言，開放的法律服務市場帶來了實實在在的、深入的合作和學習機會。當來自不同法域、帶有不同文化商業背景、不同資歷的律師工作在一起，律師業傳統的「傳、幫、帶」工作方式使得年輕一代的律師得以從那些精幹又富有能量的資深律師身上耳濡目染學習到新鮮的執業經驗，不同背景的律師可以真正的瞭解熟悉當地商業經營模式和當地客戶的特點，必定會極大加速律師的成長和律師事務所的發展。在這種新的開放市場當中，會積累寶貴的法律思維、經營模式、先進的法律理念、糾紛解決策略等等。最終，一批批承載著這些寶貴經驗和思維的律師會脫穎而出，成為兩岸四地律師行業的中堅力量，為兩岸四地法律服務業的整體品質和檔次的提升奠定基礎。

香港律師會一直以來呼籲內地和香港律師同業充分合作，進一步開放法律服務市場，先行先試，允許香港律師事務所聘用內地律師從事中國法律業務，也是著眼於兩地律師素質和競爭力的真正培養。通過開放的法律服務市場促成一個具備精湛的專業知識水準、懂兩岸四地市場、懂兩岸四地企業文化的律師人才隊伍的形成，也是兩岸四地法律服務行業能否立足於全球法律服務市場上的根本。

兩岸四地法律服務行業的協同發展，除了開放法律市場等外部環境因素外，法律服務人士自身的主動性，以及在機遇面前展現出領導者的風範也是極其重要的。每個有志於尋求捕捉兩岸四地經濟社會發展的歷史機遇的法律人士，必須主動投入，展現克服現時的困難，一步一步開拓和嘗試一切可能的意願。面對風險和不確定性，兩岸四地法律服務行業的律師事務所和律師協會組織可以發動智慧，以創新的精神，遵循各個法域的現有政策精髓，找到新的模式。

香港律師會於今年七月與深圳律師協會召開深港律師會理事會聯席會議，在爭取跨地域基礎工程建設法律機會、定期舉辦深港法律服務推介交流會、建立青年律師培訓合作機制、兩地律師會會員共用培訓材料及深圳律師赴香港律師事務所參與短期培訓等事宜都取得實質性的進展。這些新的兩地律師合作模式的嘗試都是值得嘉許的努力，提供一個以前未有過的平臺，我們期待著一線參與的律師和律師事務所將積極主動的介入，帶來實在的效果和業績，也期待著這些新的模式，在未來可為臺灣和澳門的律師界在與內地同行擴大合作方面帶來同樣的機遇。

本次兩岸四地律師高峰會恰逢中華人民共和國建國六十周年大慶。作為成長在大中華地區的法律專業群體，更加有力推動兩岸四地法律服務協同發展，貢獻富強民主文明和諧的現代化國家的建設進程是我們的共同心願與擔當。

李金鴻
何菁
貝克麥堅時律師事務所