China’s Ministry of Justice is opening the door for foreign lawyers and law firms to join the Shanghai Bar Association. In an inauguration ceremony in July 2012, the Shanghai Bar Association granted approval on 216 lawyers, who are working in the shanghai offices of international law firms, the legal department of well-know foreign invested enterprises or government departments, to become the special members of the Shanghai Bar Association.
Among the 216 lawyers, there are 22 forging lawyers coming from Shanghai offices of international law firms, including Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Baker & McKenzie, Gide Loyrette Nouel and Jones Day.
As special members, these 22 foreign lawyers enjoy the same benefits as mainland lawyers, such as attending legal training programs, lawyer representative meetings, seminars, conferences and networking events hosted by the Shanghai Bar. However, the special membership does not, as advised by the Shanghai Bar, provide any additional practicing rights for foreign lawyers.
Shanghai has the country’s largest number of foreign lawyers, many of whom have extensive experience in dealing with capital market, M&A, securities, IP and maritime law. In our eyes, the new development on the special membership will certainly facilitate the knowledge exchange, communication and cooperation between local lawyers and foreign lawyers. Also, the health competition and cooperation between the local and foreign law firms will contribute to the improvement of quality of legal service in mainland, which will in turn help Shanghai to achieve the aim of becoming a leading international financial centre.
However, in our opinion, such move would worry some mainland lawyers because it would bring more competition to mainland lawyers instead of benefit. Although the PRC laws stipulate that the foreign law firm can serve only “advisers on the Chinese legal environment” and are prohibited from practicing law, many of foreign law firms’ offices in China, under the table, provide the legal service to those foreign invested companies located in China. As such, many of mainland lawyers are concerned that such move will help those international law firms keep their business in China, and more and more foreign related case in China would be grabbed by those foreign law firm. We recall that in 2006, many of local lawyers in Shanghai signed and issued a memorandum attacking foreign law firms in China for engaging in illegal activities and promising harsh action against those firms. We are not sure whether those mainland lawyers would get offended again this time.
Also, partners of international law firms are concerned that such move would help local firms to poach their professionals. In Shanghai, there are several precedents where some top-flight lawyers join local firms from international firms in China.
Additionally, with more and more of the foreign lawyers becoming the special members of the Shanghai Bar Association, an opportunity arises to advocate the reform from within Chinese judicial system, which is not just and badly in need of reform. Also, those foreign lawyers, who get used to deal with human-rights case in their own country, would probably have more chance than Chinese lawyers to advance the protection of human rights that Chinese citizen are entitled to under Chinese laws.