If you have investment in China, have jobs in China, or do business with Chinese counterparts, you may have to deal with Chinese lawyers from time to time.
The statistic shows as of March 2018, there are around 30,000 Chinese law firms, 365,000 Chinese lawyers and 200 representative offices of foreign law firms. However, very few of them can provide bilingual, professional and affordable legal service. Therefore, you definitely need some effective tips to find lawyers that match your expectation. Here we have some tips for you:
Tip 1: Look for Chinese lawyers directly, not by middleman
Foreign lawyers are generally not allowed to practice PRC laws in China. Therefore, for PRC legal issues, a foreign law firm have to work with or refer to PRC lawyers, which means there will be extra expenses. So no doubt looking for a PRC lawyer directly will help you cut unnecessary expense.
Tip 2: Look for Chinese lawyers not only speak English but with capacity and experience to providing service to foreign clients
Generally speaking, large multinational law firms (both China-based and foreign-based) do have excellent skill and good management, however they charge relatively high hourly rates. There are also many local law firms in China but often lack the foreign language skills and experience when providing legal service to foreign clients. Therefore, Chinese lawyers with good foreign language, foreign background, project management and customer service skills would be better choices.
Tip 3: Look for Chinese lawyers from law firms with certain scale, have insights for your concern and clear service agreement
We also have the following tips:
- Look for law firms with certain scale. Scale does not decide the quality of service, but generally speaking large law firms have professionals to handle different practice areas.
- Choose lawyers who have insights for your project. Often law firms offer certain free consultation to get to know the cases, you can notice whether the lawyer has understanding of your project, and whether the lawyer can provide reasonable solutions for you.
- Finally you need to officially engage a lawyer. Make sure the law firm offers you a clear engagement letter in terms of who is doing what, when for how much money.
