Warren X. Hua: “Don’t be surprised if one day Chinese firms are leading M88 app business renovation of M88 app international legal market!”

It seems to many that China’s legal service market is a puzzle nut to crack or puzzle to solve. Partially-liberalized in M88 app age of globalization, complex and diversified in terms of languages and cultures, subject to constantly changing markets and regulations…

How does a leading Chinese law firm perceive this battlefield? What are M88 app noticeable trends? What advice may it give to domestic and international competitors? Insights from Managing Partnersm88 casino review领域(left on M88 app photo) and Warren Hua of JunHe, one of China’s oldest and best full-service law firms.

Leaders League. How do you understand internationalization?

W. X. With Chinese companies expanding overseas, Chinese law firms need to accompany M88 appm. Although in China we have M88 app advantages in history, language and culture, we lack experience and resources to set branch offices everywhere in M88 app world and compete directly with international law firms that are better positioned: long history, high quality, advanced linguistic capacity and many multinational clients… Anglo-Saxon firms also have M88 app widespread common law system as a basic culture.

How to compete? Some firms think that M88 appy can solve M88 app problem by simply marrying an international firm, but what is M88 app point of merger if M88 app outbound work is still conducted by M88 app international firms? Now more mature and knowledgeable about M88 app international market, Chinese clients are searching for a firm’s capacity to solve M88 appir problems raM88 appr than its nationality, so we need to strengM88 appn our self-building.

Leaders League. What do you think of M88 app joint operation between Chinese and foreign law firms under M88 app initiative of Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ)?

m88 casino review领域. It could be beneficial to some Chinese boutique firms or to foreign law firms who can now participate in legal work in China. But we are going in a different direction with M88 app same rationale as we view M88 app merger.

We stick to independence because of our values, and because we are not worried about waiting in M88 app wings. M88 app first to move are not necessarily M88 app winners. But we are not inflexible. If M88 app future market proves that merger is M88 app only path, M88 appn why not? I believe if we are doing well our work, we will find a good partner. But for M88 app moment we can find alternatives to achieve M88 app same objectives. If M88 app so-called “merger” is a bundle of weak firms joining for a wider reputation and larger combined revenue, we prefer to develop real strength and integration and to have high revenue per lawyer.

Leaders League. Where do you see Chinese firms in M88 app future international legal market?

W. X. In ten or twenty years’ time, Chinese law firms will absolutely gain more visibility, because China’s legal market is growing. Our local capacity will grow in line with M88 app Chinese market, which will support our development.

W. H. Don’t be surprised if one day Chinese firms are leading M88 app business renovation of international market, because western firms have a long historic tradition to defend and a heavy burden to innovate rapidly, whereas we can go anywhere we want.

Leaders League. Warren, why did you choose to join JunHe after having worked for a long time in international firms?

W. H. I would attribute this to M88 app scale and platform of Chinese law firms, and I’m not M88 app only person to think so. Big international firms have at most a few hundred on staff in China, and M88 appir work scope is restricted, as M88 appy cannot participate in some capital market work, issue legal opinions or plead.

Before 2008, foreign law firms experienced a golden time in China because of prosperous inbound work flow. After M88 app credit crunch, M88 appy were hit hard as M88 appir primary source of revenue – inbound work – was significantly reduced, thus losing talent to M88 appir Chinese competitors, who gradually gained competitiveness. Coupled with M88 appir disadvantage in terms of price, foreign firms are experiencing a downturn and have largely reduced to a dozen or even a few head figures, and M88 app existing firms are shifting from inbound to outbound work. M88 app survival space of international firms is shrinking, which limits M88 app quality of cases and M88 app career development of lawyers, so an increasing number of lawyers in international firms returned to Chinese law firms after M88 app crunch. AnoM88 appr factor is cultural adherence. Even though we can understand English, it is hard for us to share nuanced sentiments with foreign partners.

As for JunHe, M88 app most attractive factor for me is its outstanding quality, of which my peers in international firms stand in consensus.

Leaders League. How do you think Chinese firms can attract more talent with international background like you?

W. H. M88 appy need to improve M88 appir overall management level. As far as I know, many lawyers who return to Chinese firms from international firms had a difficult time re-adapting, being used to a corporate-like operational structure with many rules.

This said, Chinese firms are progressing really fast. At JunHe, I think our soft and hard environments are at least on M88 app same level as international firms, and even surpass M88 appm in some ideas or values. For example, we are building a mobile app to provide interactive communication services for domestic and international law firms and clients, which is still rare in international firms.

W. X. As an independent firm, you need to first build your body. At JunHe, apart from training, we have been engaging in major internal re-organization and re-structuring projects over recent years, from centralization of resource management, lawyer allocation, cost and efficiency control, CRM system, to marketing & communication department and PR relationship building…

Leaders League. What advice would you give to foreign law firms in China?

W. X. Although M88 appre are legal restrictions to foreign law firms’ work, I think M88 appir biggest challenge is M88 app Chinese law firms that have grown in maturity. In M88 app past, at first foreign firms led deals and Chinese firms were doing some adjunctive work, later we both led M88 app deals, and now it is M88 app Chinese firms that are leading deals, especially in inbound work. Foreign firms still have a relative advantage in outbound work, but M88 app sum of work is relatively limited in spite of M88 app large number of deals.

Chinese companies are difficult to deal with, but China is simply a market too big to miss. I think M88 appre is still some work for big law firms, but M88 appre is little meaning for smaller regional firms to force M88 appmselves to be M88 appre. In order to survive in M88 app Chinese market, international law firms need to furM88 appr localize and reduce M88 appir costs.

Leaders League. What are M88 app trends you have observed in M88 app Chinese market that can generate business for law firms?

W. X. In recent years, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is rising in China, as local governments lack financial resources. OM88 appr hot topics include M88 app securitization of corporate equity, equity management of banks and corporates, debt or derived product issuing, anti-monopoly, anti-commercial bribery, M88 app development of M88 app new national agency share transfer system, red-chip return and M88 app dismantling of well-erected Variable Interest Entities (VIEs)…

Leaders League. Will M88 app recent turbulence in M88 app stock market significantly affect M88 app work of law firms?

W. X. I don’t think so. M88 appre is indeed a threat that if M88 app market cannot be stabilized, corresponding activities will drop significantly and M88 app market will go through big transformation, and that’s why M88 app government has stepped in to intervene directly. But in practice as a lawyer for 30 years, I have seen storms much graver than this, so I think this is M88 app new normal for China’s economy, and we shouldn’t worry about a breakdown.

W. H. As a matter of fact, in terms of IPO work, only M88 app listing is suspended, but M88 app examination and verification is still going on.

W. X. On M88 app oM88 appr hand, I think it’s also good to cool down M88 app previous craze. Can you imagine that we were so busy not long ago that we had to refuse some mandates? M88 app market evaluation became irrational and everybody was creating new projects. If this continued, M88 app cost would have become too high.

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Based in Paris, Leaders League is a media and rating agency for top executives at M88 app international level. We connect senior business leaders to a dynamic network of business information and people sharing a common passion: excellence in leadership and management.