年轻有为是今年十五位律师新星的关键词。当今中国杰出的年轻律师们正如冉冉升起的明星一般势不可挡，而在不远的未来，他们还将踏上更加远大的征程。
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Han Yang Huang Xuchun Li Amin Lu Juyi Ran Lu Shen Boya Willard Wang Wang Weibin Wang Yao王爻 Ye Han Yue Qi Zang Xin Zhang Jian Zheng Feng Zhou Wei |
今年入选“2021 ALB China十五佳律师新星”榜单的律师们有着硕果累累的履历：他们服务于多元化的行业，深受这些行业里头部企业的信赖，他们所参与的案件或项目数额动辄上亿。不仅如此，在律所内部，他们还承担起管理者的角色，为团队与律所的发展出谋划策。而这些律师的平均年龄只有37.8岁，平均执业年限仅为12.7年。
成功没有捷径，但成长却可以走上加速的赛道。这些杰出的中国80后律师为何能够快速崛起？他们给Z世代的年轻律师提供了哪些启示？他们的下一座山峰又耸立于何方？带着这些问题，ALB采访了部分上榜律师，听他们讲述成长的故事。
职业道路，步履不停
国枫律师事务所合伙人臧欣律师从北京大学硕士研究生毕业后，就进入国枫从事专职律师的工作。此后的十多年间，臧欣律师一直专注深耕于资本市场法律业务，已经作为项目负责人和主办律师为20多家主板、中小板、创业板和科创板企业首次公开发行股票并上市（IPO）提供法律服务，并为数十家上市公司提供再融资及常年法律顾问服务。2016年，出于业务发展的需要，臧欣律师从国枫北京办公室迁至上海办公室执业，并开始在上海建立本地化的律师团队。如今，臧欣律师的团队已经初具规模，业务发展也稳步提升。
中伦律师事务所合伙人周伟律师也同样在硕士毕业后直接投身律师行业，经历了业内较为典型和普遍的职业发展路径：从律师助理、律师成长为合伙人。周伟律师自2008年初入职场之时，就明确了证券合规、证券诉讼和公司诉讼的资本市场争议解决执业方向。
“当时，这还是律师业务的‘蓝海’，监管执法和司法实践仍在不断探索和完善成熟的阶段，作为开拓性业务的机遇也和挑战并存。多年来，我们始终立足于专业性，深化国内外理论研究，深研证券法律与监管政策，专注监管和司法实务案例，协助客户化解证券法律风险。” 周伟律师说。
在这样的“蓝海”中，周伟律师带领团队完成了数起行业首例、具有深远影响的案件。在证券合规领域，他们办理了全国首例证券行政和解案、首例场外配资违法案、首例EFT操纵市场案等新型案例；在证券诉讼领域，他们代理的多起案件入选最高人民法院年度案件，涉及极前沿、极具争议的法律问题。此外，周伟律师及其团队也积极参与司法解释修改的研讨，将办案经验总结成律师业务指引、著作或论文，以实践启发理论发展和制度完善。
“可以说，明确专业化方向并在该专业领域深耕和坚持，是我能够取得一定成绩的重要原因。”周伟律师说。
锦天城律师事务所高级合伙人王伟斌律师于2007年硕士毕业，随后便坚定地走上了律师之路，在上海市君悦律师事务所开启了职业生涯。王伟斌律师坦言：“由于在择业时从未有过犹豫和彷徨，所以对于执业初期的很多困难也没怎么当回事，就是想要成为一名优秀的律师，然后就这么一头扎进去了，带教合伙人安排什么就做什么，不挑不拣把工作做好就是。” 与此同时，王伟斌律师还保持着每月读一到两本专业书籍的习惯，不断完善和充实着自己的知识储备。回顾这段青葱岁月，王伟斌律师感叹：“这段执业之初的时光好像乏善可陈，可恰恰是这段枯燥乏味、平淡无奇的入门时间，为日后的展业打下了坚实的基础，磨练了心性，也逐步形成了自己的执业特点。”
随着执业年限的增长和客户的积累，王伟斌律师在2013年选择独立执业。对他而言，踏上这级台阶是需要鼓足勇气的。他告诉ALB：“客观上说，在非公司制的传统律所独立展业挑战还是比较大的，因为律所基本不会提供业务机会给到你。那时的我选择错位竞争，先立足于自己的律所，看看所内哪块业务是短板或者说没有很优秀的律师前辈，自己就去深耕哪一块，以此期待所内业务合作。基于这一设想，我研读了相当数量的并购案例，无论是产业并购还是财务投资，边学边做，慢慢地在所内形成了专业优势，逐步解决了执业初期的案源问题。”
而随着经济周期的波动，王伟斌律师早些年完成的并购项目中有一些发生了纠纷，作为当初参与并购交易的律师，他也顺理成章地成为争议解决案件的代理律师。“未料这一转变让自己发现了兴趣点，尤其是客户的鼓励让我更加坚定了要做一名优秀的争议解决律师的想法。”
2015年，王伟斌律师加盟锦天城律师事务所，他坦言：“更大的平台、更优质的客户群体让我的视野得以拓宽，除此之外，锦天城良好的市场声誉更有利于聚集优秀的毕业生，使我可以更好地去实现自己的团队梯队搭建。律师之间的竞争，有的时候比拼的是你团队力量后台的支撑，对诉讼律师来说尤为如此。我们近几年之所以能够有机会获得一些重要金融机构客户的委托，代其处理大标的的非标金融资管案件，很大程度上是因为整个团队的协同性和整体办案质量得到了客户的认可，否则一个案件周期动辄两到三年，期间还经常遇到涉及破产重整的案件，如果人员变动频繁或是不同人员专业工作不能稳定输出，那客户是不会放心将此类案件委托给你的。”
竞天公诚律师事务所合伙人王磊律师在迄今的职业生涯里经历了从律师到非律师，然后回归律师身份的转变。2007年至2012年，王磊律师执业于君合律师事务所。他坦言，对于律师而言，在好的律所平台一直执业下去也是不错的选择，但当时的他勇于尝试不同角色，于是在2012年加入建银国际担任助理副总裁。这段经历让王磊律师有机会以非律师的视角参与到项目处理之中，也为他未来回归律师身份后的执业积累了经验、提供了帮助。
2013年，王磊律师开始以资深律师身份执业于通力律师事务所。到了2015年，随着他加盟锦天城律师事务所，王磊律师也迎来了职业生涯的第二大转折点——成为合伙人。尽管这样的身份转变意味着肩负起更多重任，王磊律师始终保持着乐观积极的心态，借助这段经历激发、打磨了自己开发项目、组建团队的能力。在此后的职业发展过程中，王磊律师也始终保持着稳扎稳打的步伐。2017年，他加盟竞天公诚上海分所，已参与过多家企业的重组、投融资等项目。
“我是一个性格比较稳健的人，这也反应在我们团队的业务发展上。近年来，我们的业务量每年都保持着稳定的上升，这也是一个令我感到满意的状态。”王磊律师说。
给年轻律师的建议
虽然职业道路不尽相同，但几位律师都展现出了对专业素养的追求、面对挑战的坚韧以及拥抱变化的勇气。这些也成为了他们对年轻律师提出的建议。
王伟斌律师提出，首先要以专业为立身之本。“不要计较一时之得失，不要羡慕别人，只跟自己比，是不是每天都在进步，是不是每天都过的充实有意义。律师作为专业服务机构，一定不会产生财富神话，所以不要把对律师费的追逐放在首位，更应当被重视的是专业成就感，律师只有源源不断地从专业成就感中汲取营养，才会走的长远。”
其次，要恪守纪律。在王伟斌律师看来，律师的执业周期是很长的， 45-55岁往往才是律师职业的黄金10年，因此，“在那以前，你所做的所有努力都是积累，所以一定不要做违反执业纪律的事，因为年轻或是无知会断送我们的未来。只要不走错，持之以恒，你就会走在前面。”
第三，要懂得团队协作。王伟斌律师呼吁律师要找到最优秀的团队去一起共事。他说：“一个人的精力是有限的，你必须把团队建设放到一个非常重要的位置上去对待。虽然外界的市场环境可能会让你遭遇各种各样的不如意，但也不要将外界的失意和挫败向团队转化，而是要以极高的情绪管理标准去要求自己，合伙人要有自己的担当，对外要为客户攻城拔寨，对内要为助理挡风遮雨，不推卸责任、不迁怒助理，只有这样的日积月累才会构建一支能打胜仗、步调一致的团队，遇到复杂案件时，这种背靠背信任的团队所能输出的战斗力也是难以想象的。”
臧欣律师根据自己的经历和感悟，提出年轻律师若想要取得快速的成长，应有“三心”：决心、信心、耐心。“如果你立志做律师，就要坚定自己的目标，需要耐心地学习和积累。法律资格考试可以有速成班，但优秀的律师没有。”他还指出，在各项案件或交易中，律师都是以专业人士的角色出现，客户需要律师的专业知识保驾护航。而资本市场法律业务的特点要求从业律师必须具备全面的专业素质，不仅要对民商事法律谙熟于心、运用自如，还要对行政法、诉讼法等领域的法律有充分了解；不仅要熟悉证券发行等许可类业务的流程，还要善于处理投资、并购等交易类业务。
“所谓‘积跬步，至千里’，成功没有捷径可走，这些素质的养成都需要日复一日的积累方得始终。唯有在专业上下功夫，立志做所在领域的专家，仔细钻研并处理好自己承办的每一个项目，将经历过的问题都转变为自己的经验。虽然‘一万小时定律’有诸多争议，但我认为这是符合律师的职业发展规律的。”臧欣律师说。
王磊律师同样重视专业素质的培养与提高，除此之外，他还提醒年轻律师切勿好高骛远。“我不建议刚入行的年轻律师一定要严格地规划好自己未来五、六年的定位。职业发展道路上的变数是很多的，我建议刚入行的年轻律师在头三年练好专业的基本功，这对于未来发展是大有裨益的。相反，我们在招聘中年级律师的时候就发现，如果他们在初年级时期没有练就过硬的律师基本技能的话，在后面的工作中真的会难以改善。”
周伟律师还强调了事务所平台选择的重要性。她说：“对于年轻律师来说，我觉得很重要的一点是要了解自己，做好选择。年轻律师选择好执业领域、方向、团队、平台对其职业发展十分重要。而在做选择之前，首先要了解自己，明确自己感兴趣和擅长的领域，确定适合自己的发展路径和方向。在此基础上，坚持自己的选择。不忘初心，方得始终。这是我对年轻律师的一点建议。”
律所如何成为律师成长的助推器？
正如周伟律师所说，平台对于年轻律师的职业发展十分重要。那么律师事务所如何才能助推年轻律师的成长，将自己建设成为优质平台呢？
王磊律师告诉ALB，无论是公司制的律所还是团队制的律所，都应具备为年轻律师的成长提供帮助的条件，而在这其中，专业培训显然是最基本的标配。竞天公诚内部设置了完善的培训机制，同时，不同领域和方向的小组之间也会定期开展交流，促进律师共同成长。
臧欣律师也强调了培训与交流的重要性。他告诉ALB：“国枫‘师徒制’的模式能够使年轻律师得到一对一的指导，非常有利于其快速成长。此外，律所的平台作用还体现在两个方面：首先，综合性律所应多开展各领域的业务交流，可以让年轻律师开拓视野，挖掘新的发展机会；其次，律所层面对律师执业质量的严格要求也是非常必要的，可以通过制定标准化的业务流程、法律文本等方式，使年轻律师更规范、更便捷地开展业务。”
在专业化推动方面，周伟律师还提出，行业化是近年法律服务需求的新趋势和新特点，这对律师的法律服务方案提出了更加综合、全面的要求。从长期发展的考虑，律所也要考虑如何促进年轻律师对于行业的深入了解。目前，中伦已根据行业特色设立各行业委员会，开始行业领域的深化和拓展。
除了培训机制，晋升路径也是年轻律师非常关心的话题。王磊律师告诉ALB，在竞天公诚，从低年级律师到合伙人有着清晰的路径安排。他同时也表示，每家律所的体制不尽相同，其晋升路径的设置则立足于律所特点。
“或许律师在这家律所升得快些，在那家律所升得慢些。在我看来，差异化的存在反而是一件好事，因为这能反映出一个比较多元化的律师市场。律师也可以根据自身职业发展需求去进行选择。”王磊律师说。
成为管理者
王伟斌律师目前在锦天城担任管委会成员。从专注于执业的律师成长为肩负起管理职责的合伙人，他坦言，虽然管理事务不可避免地分散掉他一部分时间和精力，但更多的是拓宽了他对这个行业的认知。他说：“首先，每名律师能够在业内摸爬滚打十余载，他都有自己值得骄傲的技能，所以事务所管理的前提是尊重：尊重每一位律师的荣誉感。其次，物质基础决定上层建筑，律师行业的特点决定了除了少数公司制律所外，大多数律所还是合伙人掌握案源，那么在这一大背景下，律所管理就不能像公司或政府部门一样靠命令去推动，而是要建立在‘君子和而不同、求同存异’的价值观基础上去协调沟通。第三，律所发展的规模化和专业化是不矛盾的，甚至是相辅相成的，没有适度规模化，专业化无从谈起，反之，一个只有五六个人的律所也没法实现专业化。未来走得越来越好的律所，一定是在规模和专业协同上找到了最好契合点的律所。”
王磊律师也认同互相尊重、加强沟通的管理理念。他告诉ALB，自从承担起管理职责以来，他致力于营造平等的团队氛围、简单的人际关系和严肃认真的工作方式。除此之外，他还向ALB分享了在不同项目中的人员结构策略。“通常在一个体量较为适中的投资项目中，我会安排一名中高级律师和一名初级律师。而对于上市项目，我则会多配备一些律师。客户通常也比较认可这样的安排。同时，团队里律师的工作量、擅长领域也是我考虑的因素，我会据此尽量合理地做出相应的安排。而当团队成员想要尝试一些新的领域时，我也会在合适的时机给予他们合适的机会。”
在臧欣律师看来，做管理和做业务既有相似，又有不同。“相同的是，做业务时律师需要了解客户的需求，并针对客户的需求运用自己的专业能力解决问题、控制或化解风险；而做管理首先要着眼于人，也就是需要了解律师的需求，针对律师的需求为其提供更好的成长助力。不同的是，律师的成长因素往往更为复杂，作为管理者要具备相当的耐心。此外，无论是事务所还是律师个人的发展，归根结底还是要看业务层面的发展提升，管理者需要具备更开阔的视野和更开放的心态，洞悉法律服务市场的变化，才能为年轻律师创造更多的发展机会。”
展望未来
对于未来发展，王磊律师对团队的期许是保持服务能力和知名度的稳步提升，努力跻身业内顶尖梯队，同时还要促进团队成员的职业发展，助其成长。
王伟斌律师有着三方面的未来规划：“首先，作为一名年轻的老律师，希望未来五年能够带出一到两名能够具备合伙人潜质的律师助理，希望他们通过与我的合作也能实现自我的抱负和追求。其次，在专业领域上希望能有更深的造诣，除了知其然，力求做到知其所以然。第三，作为几家仲裁机构的仲裁员，希望得以有机会从代理人身份转向裁判者，同时也希望自己未来在裁处案件过程中能以专业知识维护心底的公平与正义。”
臧欣律师告诉ALB：“近年来，随着科技的进步，人们生活的方方面面发生了很多变化，法律服务行业也面临巨大的机遇和挑战。很多新的需求被创造出来，更多领域的发展需要法律服务的支持，也有很多新的问题需要运用法律去解决，可见未来法律服务的涉及面会更广，年轻律师也将有更多的发展机会。我期待与国枫的小伙伴共同成长，拥抱发展，拥抱变化，在执业律师的道路上行稳致远。”
周伟律师观察到，证券市场合规与争议解决领域正处于金融法制建设高速发展、行政执法实践与司法审判经验迅速积累的关键阶段。因此，律师一方面可以为资本市场参与主体提供专业法律服务，助力我国资本市场的合规化进程，另一方面也可以发现和总结实践中的问题，为执法、司法和立法的完善贡献些许力量。
“任何职业的发展都需要‘后浪’的不断涌现，我也希望能够通过自身的经历，鼓励更多年轻人对律师职业心生向往，并通过在工作中的不断努力和言传身教，给年轻律师提供更大的晋升空间，培养有追求、有梦想的年轻律师实现职业理想。”周伟律师说。
2021 ALB China Rising Lawyers
Drive and ambition are the two attributes common among those that made this year’s Rising Lawyers list, as they represent the emerging energy of China’s legal industry. As we congratulate the 15 winners, ALB speaks to them about their expectations for the future.
The winners of 2021 ALB China Rising Lawyers this year have impressive resumes: Their practice areas involve diversified industries, they are trusted partners of the leading companies in those industries, and the deal amount of most of the cases and projects they handled easily reach more than 100 million yuan ($15.4 million). Not only that, with an average age of 37.8 years and a mean of 12.7 years of legal experience, they have taken on management responsibilities in their firms, making plans and leading their firms and teams to achieve remarkable growth.
There is no shortcut to success. How have these outstanding Generation Y Chinese lawyers achieved rapid growth? How can their experiences inspire the next generation? What are their next goals when it comes to climbing the ladder of success? With these questions, ALB interviewed some of the lawyers who made the list this year to hear their stories of growth.
CAREER PATHS
Zang Xin, a partner at Grandway Law Office, joined the firm as a full-time lawyer after graduating from Peking University with a master's degree. Over the past more than a decade, Zang has been focusing on the practice area of capital markets. He led his team to act as the lead legal counsel for more than 20 companies in their IPOs on the main board, the SME board, the GEM board, and the STAR Market. And Zang provides refinancing and perennial legal advisory services for dozens of listed companies. The firm assigned Zang to Grandway Shanghai Office in 2016 to build a local team there for business expansion, which now sees steady business growth.
Zhou Wei, partner at Zhong Lun Law Firm, started her career in the legal profession after graduating with a master's degree in 2008. She has been focusing on the practice area of capital market dispute resolution in terms of securities compliance, securities litigation, and corporate litigation ever since she started her legal career.
"Back then, it (the securities related practice area) was a blue ocean in China's legal market, and the related regulation, law enforcement and judicial practice were in the stage of exploration and improvement. As forerunners in this area, we were faced with both opportunities and challenges. Over the years, we always endeavour to combine our expertise and in-depth study of securities related laws and regulatory policies, and regulatory and judicial practice cases, to help our clients resolve securities legal risks," Zhou says.
Zhou led her team to complete several first-of-its-kind cases with far-reaching impact in this "blue ocean" sector. In terms of securities compliance, they handled the first case of securities-related administrative settlement in China, the first case of illegal OTC capital allocation, and the first case of EFT market manipulation; and in the securities litigation area, a number of cases represented by Zhou's team involved cutting-edge disputed legal issues, and thus were selected by the Supreme People's Court (SPC) to include in the SPC annual gazette. Zhou also led her team members to actively participate in the revision of judicial interpretations and summarize their case handling experiences into works and papers on legal business guidelines, so as to promote theoretical development and system improvement through practice.
"I'm convinced that setting a clear career development direction and goals and working hard towards them, that's the way to success," Zhou says.
Wang Weibin, senior partner at AllBright Law Offices, started practicing law at MHP Law Firm after graduating with a master's degree in 2007. "A career in law was a natural path for me to take, as I've always wanted to be a good lawyer. I always tried my best to accomplish whatever tasks my mentor lawyer assigned to me," Wang Weibin says. Meanwhile, he kept the habit of completing reading one or two profession-related books a month, to constantly enrich his knowledge reserve. Looking back, "the early stage of practicing law seemed to be boring, but it was then when I gained the solid experiences and skills that prepare for my career development and help me to develop my own practicing characteristics," Wang Weibin recalls.
Having accumulated quite some practice experiences and built a consistent client base, Wang Weibin chose to practice independently in 2013. But still, it took courage for Wang Weibin to step into this role. "To put it plainly, I was faced with quite some challenges doing business development on my own in a traditional law firm as the firm usually would not give many business opportunities. So I decided to work on the business areas that there was no senior lawyer in the firm specializing in, in an attempt to form business cooperation within the firm. Based on that, I studied plenty of M&A cases, industrial M&As or financial investments, to build my practice strength, and then gradually solved the problem of limited sources of cases in the early stage of being a partner," Wang Weibin tells ALB.
Due to economic fluctuations, disputes incurred to some of the M&A projects completed by Wang Weibin earlier. He naturally became the representing lawyer in those dispute resolution cases. "Quite unexpectedly, by dealing with those dispute resolution cases, I found my new passion, to be a good dispute resolution lawyer, especially with the encouragement of my clients," Wang Weibin says.
In 2015, Wang Weibin joined AllBright Law Offices, "a larger platform and a stronger client base help broaden my horizons," Wang Weibin says. "Moreover, as a reputable firm in the market, AllBright attracts good law graduates to join us and build excellent teams. The competition in the legal profession sometimes is about how well a team works together and how strongly a team can support, in particular for litigation lawyers. We got the chance to be appointed by some major financial institutions to represent them in non-standard financial management cases involving large deal amount, I would say mostly it's because our team has been well recognized by our clients for our stable team, good services and teamwork. Most of the cases we handle usually take two to three years to close, plus the bankruptcy and reorganization cases might be involved in the process, if our team involves frequent personnel changes or our team members can't perform well stably, we can't build rapport with clients and clients won't trust us enough to entrust those major cases to us," Wang Weibin adds.
Willard Wang, partner at Jingtian & Gongcheng, has a slightly different career path than the above interviewed lawyers as he took a “detour” during him being a full-time lawyer. Willard Wang worked as a full-timer lawyer at JunHe LLP from 2007 to 2012. As a top-notch firm in China, JunHe provides an excellent platform for legal professionals to pursue their career development, Willard Wang says. But he took up the position as the assistance vice president at CCB International in 2012 as he wanted to try different roles. The work experience at CCB International was a beneficial experience, enabling him to see and handle projects from non-lawyer perspectives.
Later in 2013, Willard Wang returned to being a lawyer as he started working as a senior associate at Llinks Law Offices. Joining AllBright in 2015 becomes the second major turning point of his career, where he started to serve as a partner. Willard Wang polished his skills and abilities in project development and team management, and grew steadily from now on. When joining Jingtian & Gongcheng’s Shanghai Office in 2017, he already participated in and handled the restructuring, investment and financing projects of many companies.
"I am a calm person, always in a clear and sober mindset. This is reflected in the business development of our team, and I'm quite satisfied that we make a steady growth every year," Willard Wang says.
ADVICE TO YOUNGER LAWYERS
Although their career development paths are not quite the same, the lawyers we spoke to all demonstrate the passionate pursuit of professionalism, the resilience in the face of challenges, and the courage to embrace changes, which are also their advice to younger lawyers.
AllBright's Wang points out that professionalism is the foundation for a successful career. "Don't care too much about temporary defeats or temporary wins, and don't be jealous of what other people have achieved. Instead, you should compare yourself with you – Are you making progress every day? Are you leading a fulfilling and meaningful life? After all, lawyers are service providers; we can't expect that we'd certainly make a fortune from this profession. So instead of caring too much about the service fees, you should focus on things that give you the sense of professional accomplishment, which will lead you to the long-term success," Wang Weibin says.
Secondly, playing by the rules is also very important for the legal profession. In Wang Weibin's view, lawyers aged 45 to 55 are in the golden decade of legal career. "Until then, all your hard work is the accumulation of experiences and knowledge. So be careful not to get involved in anything that is in violation of practice rules as naivete and ignorance might ruin the future a lawyer. Staying on track and being persistent will make you among the top players in the industry," Wang Weibin continues.
And thirdly, learning and training yourself to be good team player. It's important for lawyers to find an excellent team to work with "as people have only limited energies and time. Therefore, you ought to give priority to team building. As a partner, you need to train yourself to be very good at managing your emotions, be able to inspire your team members and encourage high morale within your team, so as to lead your team to help clients accomplish their projects and objectives. Backed by a reliable and highly competent team, you together can make achievements beyond your imagination, in particular when dealing with complex cases," Wang Weibin says.
Grandway's Zang shares his success tips for younger lawyers, which are determination, confidence and patience. "If you're determined to be a lawyer, you need to set up the goal and stick to it, and be patient and persistent in the accumulation of knowledge and experience. You can take a crash course to pass the national qualification exam for legal professionals quickly, but there's no such a course to take if you want to be a good lawyer," Zang says, noting that lawyers need to use their expertise to assist their clients in achieving their goals. Furthermore, the characteristics of the legal business of the capital market require lawyers to have comprehensive professional qualities. They must not only be familiar with civil and commercial laws and use them skilfully, but also have a full understanding of the administrative law, the procedural law and other areas; not only must they be familiar with the process of licensing business such as the issuance of securities, but also be good at handling transactions such as investment and mergers and acquisitions.
“As an old saying goes, ‘the longest journey begins with a single step’. There are no shortcuts to success. Only with years of continued effort will these qualities get nurtured. To become mastery of your field, you need to get dedicated to the areas of practice, delve into every project you work on, and then you will gain the set of skills required. I believe the “10,000 hours of practice” rule, although being disputed by many, works when it comes to the legal profession,” says Zang.
Willard Wang also underscores the importance of developing and improving professional capabilities and competence. He also advises young lawyers not to be overly ambitious. “I am not suggesting a young lawyer who just starts his career to figure out a well-thought plan for the next five to six years. A lot could happen to the career path. Rather, I would suggest a green hand in the legal profession build up fundamental capabilities and competence in the first three years, which will greatly benefit the career profession. There are cases that some mid-level associate we hired was later found falling short of robust fundamental skill sets, an obstacle for them to improve later.”
Zhou Wei stresses the importance of law firms as career platforms. She says, “I think it is very important for young lawyers to make a choice based on a full understanding of themselves. Before choosing areas of practice, career orientation, the team to work with, and the platform, which are all of vital importance , young lawyers are advised to probe into themselves, identify areas of their interest and their expertise, and set a clear career path and direction that fits them. A sure success could be expected only if they remain committed and stay true to the vision. This is what I expect from young lawyers.”
HOW FIRMS CAN HELP YOUNG LAWYERS GROW
As Zhou puts it, the platform is crucial for the career advancement of young lawyers. How can a law firm promote career growth for young lawyers and offer itself a quality platform?
Willard Wang tells ALB that a law firm, either a corporate form one or traditionally team-based one, shall provide conditions to support career advancement of young lawyers, while professional training courses are one of the most fundamental elements. Jingtian & Gongcheng puts in place a well-structured internal training mechanism, which, coupled with regular interactions and exchanges between groups practicing in different areas, promote career growth for lawyers.
Zang also values training and communications. He tells ALB: “Grandway’s mentoring program offers one-on-one coaching to young lawyers, and helps them to acquire the skills quickly. Laws firms, as platforms, also demonstrate their strengths in two aspects: firstly, law firms offering comprehensive and multi-disciplinary services shall kick off exchanges and interactions among multiple areas, so that young lawyers may broaden their horizons and explore alternative career opportunities; Moreover, law firms shall set strict requirements over quality of services rendered by lawyers, and develop standardized business processes and standard legal forms/documents for young lawyers to conduct business in a more standardized and convenient manner.
Zhou notes that given the legal services are increasingly sector-focused in recent years, lawyers have to provide more full-fledged and multidisciplinary legal service solutions. For purpose of pursuing long-term growth, law firms need to think over how the young lawyers could gain in-depth knowledge about the sectors of their business coverage. In response, Zhong Lun has set up sectoral committees to try to gain more insights onto the sectors involved.
In addition to the training system, the career progression path is another topic at the heart of young lawyers’ concerns. Willard Wang tells ALB that Jingtian & Gongcheng sets a clear path from junior associate to partner. He also adds that as institutional systems of law firms may vary, the career progression path is a reflection of the uniqueness of each law firm.
"Lawyers may get promoted faster at one firm relative to another. In my opinion, the existence of such difference is rather a good thing, as it reflects a more diverse legal market. Lawyers may choose one that fits with the needs of their career development path,” says Willard Wang.
BECOMING A LEADER
Wang Weibin currently serves as a member of the management committee at AllBright. Climbing the career ladder from an associate dedicated to practicing to a partner with management duties, he admits that although it is inevitable for him to spend some time and efforts on dealing with non-business issues, such duties do broaden his cognition of the legal profession. According to him, “Showing respect is the first thing in managing a team, as I believe each lawyer who works more than a decade in this sector should have developed a set of skills or expertise to be proud of, and thus has a sense of honour that deserves respect. Secondly, the superstructure is determined by the base, and in most law firms, business sources are in the realm of partners. Against this context, running a law firm is more of communications based on the principle of “agreeing to disagree” and “respecting the differences”. Thirdly, a law firm should stress on both the growth of size and keeping good qualities, as the two are often accomplishing each other. A law firm that has a proper size and provides highly professional legal services can make a good platform for young lawyers to grow.”
Willard Wang also shares the same management philosophy of mutual respect and better communication. He tells ALB that since serving as an executive, he is committed to call for equality, healthy work relationships and a serious attitude towards work. He also shares with ALB the staffing strategies in different projects. “Usually for an investment project of properly moderate size, I will arrange a mid-senior associate and a junior associate. Whereas for an IPO project, I will allocate more work force. Clients usually approve such arrangement. And I also take factors like a lawyer’s workload, strengths, and interests into consideration. Of course if a lawyer hopes to expand his/her capabilities, I would assign him/her projects as long as the opportunities seem appropriate.”
In Zang's view, being an executive and serving clients, though being different, have something in common. “Regardless of running transactional issues or administrative affairs, one needs to tackle the needs and requests. A lawyer has to identify the needs of clients, and leverage his skill sets to cater for client needs and meantime control and mitigate risks. To manage a team well, one needs to identify the needs of lawyers, and provide better supports. Further, as the success of either a law firm or a lawyer ultimately depends upon the business performance, an executive shall keep an open mind, develop insights in the legal service market, and therefore bring about more opportunities for young lawyers.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Talking about the future outlook, Willard Wang expects the team to steadily improve service capabilities and popularity to become one of the top-tier teams in the industry, and meantime support the career advancement of the team members.
Wang Weibin has his plans covering three areas: “First, I expect to identify one or two paralegals who are capable of becoming partners in the next five years, and hope they could attain their ambitions and pursuits in this process. Secondly, I expect to attain more expertise in the specific area of my practice. Thirdly, being an arbitrator servicing several arbitration agencies, I expect an opportunity to serve as an adjudicator, and I would surely uphold fairness and justice in the process of adjudicating cases.”
Zang tells ALB: “Advancements of technology in recent years have brought changes in all aspects of people’s lives, creating vast opportunities and huge challenges to the legal service sector. With an increase in legal service demands from multiple areas to be tackled, the legal service sector is set to cover broader areas and therefore embrace a better area, and young lawyers could benefit from the resulting opportunities. I expect to work with Grandway colleagues, embrace changes in this dynamic sector, and walk my way steadily along the path of practicing law.”
Zhou observes that the securities market compliance and dispute resolution are at key stages and experiencing fast-paced construction of the institutional structure of financial regulation, a better time to gain more administrative law enforcement practices and judicial trial experiences. Law firms may provide professional legal services to capital market players to promote a better law-compliant capital market, and in the same time, they could identify issues in practice, and do its part in law enforcement, judicial and legislative improvements.
“The emergence of an increasing number of upstarts is indispensable for any profession to evolve. I will share my experiences with youngsters, and encourage young talents to get committed to the legal profession. I would work with young lawyers and give advice to them, and in such a way help with their career advancement, and encourage young lawyers to pursue career ambitions,” Zhou says.