In May last year, China’s Ministry of Justice issued policies allowing law firms from Taiwan Province to set up representative offices in five cities and provinces on the mainland: Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. Earlier, Taiwanese law firms could only have offices in the cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen in Taiwan.
Under the new policies, after three years of operation, these offices will be allowed to establish joint operations with local law firms. The ministry also allowed local law firms in those five regions to hire lawyers from Taiwan as consultants in matters related to the island’s legal system.
These policies have led to a surge in business for Taiwanese law firms. “We have had clients from the mainland in past years, but this year has seen an increasing number of enquiries focusing on investments, M&A and tax, ” said a partner of such a law firm, who asked not to be named.
Additionally, the ministry announced that Taiwanese lawyers would be allowed to handle a wider range of civil cases on the mainland. While previously they could represent clients on Taiwanese marriage or inheritance cases, they can now appear on 237 types of civil cases originating from Taiwan, including disputes related to contracts, intellectual property disputes, corporations, securities, insurance and negotiable instruments.
“Many Taiwan lawyers see great potential in mainland market,” said Vincent Lin, a partner of Taiwan’s Tsar & Tsai Law firm in Taiwan.
That said, the firms are bound by a number of restrictions. They can only provide Taiwan law advice, and the hiring of lawyers from the mainland is prohibited. As a result, the representative offices tend to establish alliances with mainland law firms.
HUGE POTENTIAL
From the perspective of clients, the alliances are able to provide “one-stop” legal services on cross-straits issues. “These alliances have turned out to be very effective and popular,” said Justin Shi, partner of Jin Mao PRC Lawyers, and the convener of the Mainland-Taiwan Affairs team. “They are able to provide clients the whole picture, and also explain the differences in laws across the straits. This two-in-one expertise is a real bonus.”
And they are tapping into a rich amount of potential. Cross-strait trade has increased more than 120 times in the past three decades, and the mainland today is Taiwan’s top destination for exports and largest source of its trade surplus. According to the statistics of the ministry of Commerce, mainland-Taiwan trade in 2017 amounted to $199.39 billion, with some 102,279 Taiwan-invested projects approved on the mainland.
Taiwanese companies today focuses on the following industries on the mainland: finance, securities, environment and resources, healthcare, IP and others. Meanwhile Mainland investors in Taiwan today comprise an increasing number of Internet and high-tech companies setting up subsidiaries or branches. They need advice on drafting and reviewing of important contacts, internal management manuals and more.
With more and more Taiwan compatriots studying, working, living, doing business on the mainland, their demands for legal services will penetrate into many other civil and commercial fields, thus offering more diversified practice areas for lawyers who want to practice across the straits. “The new policy aims to encourage more cooperation among law firms across the straits. More importantly, it aims to provide first-rate legal service for all the legitimate rights and interests of Taiwan compatriots,” Shi emphasized.
惠台新政，带来诸多利好
去年司法部进一步扩大法律服务对台开放，也扩大了台湾律所在大陆设立代表处的地域范围。新政的出台，助力了台湾律所的业务发展。
2017年5月司法部出台三项措施，其中一项是将台湾律师事务所在大陆设立代表处的地域范围由现在的福建省福州市、厦门市扩大到福建全省、上海市、江苏省、浙江省、广东省。
在此新政下，已在大陆设立代表机构、且该代表机构成立满3年的台湾律所允许与大陆律师联营。另外也允许上述地域的律所聘用台湾执业律师担任法律顾问，提供台湾地区法律咨询服务。
惠台新政，给台湾律所带来很多业务机遇。“这些年一直都有大陆客户咨询台湾业务，今年似乎特别多，案件主要集中在投资、小型并购、税务等非诉业务上。”一位未透露姓名的台湾律所合伙人道出这样的体会。
取得大陆律师执业资格并获得大陆律师执业证书的台湾居民在大陆执业可代理涉台民事案件的范围扩大至五大类237项，在2008年已开放的涉台婚姻、继承诉讼业务基础上，新增了涉台合同纠纷、知识产权纠纷、与公司、证券、保险、票据等有关的民事诉讼以及与上述案件相关的适用特殊程序案件。
“很多台湾律师都看好大陆市场的潜力，想去大陆发展。”台湾常在国家法律事务所合伙人林哲诚告诉ALB。
尽管如此，各代表处现阶段还受一些限制，比如只可以从事相关涉台法律服务活动，也不得聘用大陆执业律师，因此各代表处大多采取与大陆律所建立联营的方式来拓展业务合作与交流。
潜力巨大
从客户角度讲，通过联营双方中的一家律所可以很方便地获得涉及台湾地区和大陆法律的服务，两岸律师各司其职，为客户提供“一站式”服务。上海市金茂律师事务所合伙人、两岸法律事务组召集人施君认为，“在讲求术业有专攻的今天，战略合作及联营方式非常普遍和高效，但如果有两岸律师能在某个领域非常精通，对该领域涉及的两岸法律差异性很敏感、对其间涉及的重点与风险点了然于胸，就相当于把两件事合成一件事来做，这对客户来说是一个加分项。”
市场潜力巨大，毋庸置疑。回顾过去三十年间，两岸贸易额增长120多倍，大陆已成为台湾最大出口市场、最大贸易顺差来源地和最大岛外投资目的地。据商务部数据显示，2017年大陆与台湾贸易额为1993.9亿美元，截至2017年12月底，大陆累计批准台资项目102279个。
活跃的经贸往来也同样反映在多样性的法律服务需求上。如今投资大陆的台商，法律服务需求多集中在金融证券、公司投资、环境资源、医疗健康、知识产权等领域。陆资方面，如今也出现很多互联网和高新技术企业赴台设立子公司或分公司以此优化资源配置，其法律服务需求主要集中在重要业务合同的起草审核、内部管理制度的制定修改上等。
随着在大陆经商、就业、求学、定居的台胞日益增多，与之对应的法律服务需求也从商事领域逐渐延伸至民事领域，意味着今后参与到两岸执业的律师背景会越来越多元化。“新政致力于有效推动两岸法律界交流合作，但更重要的是为台胞台商台企提供更精准化的优质法律服务，从而保障他们的合法权益。” 施君强调。
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