中国航天科工集团公司经过公开征选，已与大成律师事务所、国浩律师集团(北京)事务所、北京盈科和万商天勤等11家律师事务所与达成战略合作，标志着该集团外聘法律事务机构名录制度正式实施。

第一期名录有效期为3年，适用于其集团公司总部以及京区8家单位，11家律师事务所共有87名专业律师入选。该名录制度已于今年5月1日起开始正式执行，外聘律师事务所（律师）工作统一由各单位法律事务机构归口管理。各单位有法律服务需求时，原则上应由本单位法律事务机构从名录中择优选聘律师事务所和律师。

航天科工集团副总法律顾问王耀国先生表示，集团总部着眼于统筹使用外部法律资源、降低成本、提高法律服务质量，经过公开选聘、初审、评审及个别会谈程序，综合衡量了各律师事务所的规模、律师执业能力、律师业务方向以及服务报价等因素，建立了外聘律师事务所（律师）名录制度。共有50多家北京律师事务所参与了此次公开选聘过程。

航天科工现有7个研究院、2个科研生产基地、6家上市公司、600余户企事业单位，遍布全国各地，现有职工11万余人，总资产逾千亿。在不断发展的过程中，航天科工需要大量的法律服务。此次被选聘的11家律所将主要提供知识产权、金融融资、公司与证券、房地产及建筑工程、投资与兼并收购、项目合作及招投标、国际投资与贸易、劳动人事争议、等专业领域的咨询和服务。

国外跨国企业实施外聘法律事务机构名录制度已有多年历史。目前，该制度正在国内企业间迅速普遍，特别是众多国有企业和地方国资委已开始建立并实施此名录制度。外聘法律事务机构名录制度在国内企业间的普遍采用，必将为法律服务市场带来更多良性竞争机制并且促进国内律所不断提升法律服务质量，并完善法律服务支撑体系。

Having a panel of law firms to complement a well-established in-house legal department has been normal for foreign multinational companies for many years. However, now this model is being increasingly endorsed by domestic companies, particularly large SOEs, heralding another major phase in the evolution of the PRC legal market.

Beijing-headquartered China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation (CASIC) has manifestly embraced the idea. The group recently established its first external legal panel (for its headquarters and eight Beijing-based subsidiaries) in a bid to streamline the legal outsourcing process and ensure cost-effective provision of services.

The procurement process was co-led by CASIC's associate general counsel Wang Yaoguo. He said: "As a large conglomerate, we need to work with law firms on a very regular basis. In the past, we experienced many problems without a formal outsourcing procedure.  Establishing the panel is our solution to these problems."

Before the panel was set up, CASIC, which consists of seven research academies, two R&D and manufacturing bases, six listed companies and over 600 subsidiaries and affiliated companies, had dealt with a significant number of law firms through individual business units. Wang found the service quality, fee levels, professional standards, skill sets and technical competencies vary greatly from firm to firm.

"Forming a panel of external legal service providers enables us to centralise the management and assessment of the firms working for the group. Therefore, we can ensure all our business units and companies receive timely and high-quality services at the best rate," Wang said.

During a detailed tender process, initiated last October, around 50 Beijing firms competed to advise on a range of areas, including IP, finance, corporate and securities, real estate and construction, investment and M&A, international trade and employment.

The firms were reviewed rigorously on a wide range of criteria, including past performance, technical excellence, expertise in relevant areas, social networks, reputation and the ability to deliver sustainable cost-effective legal services. The size of the firms, in terms of number of lawyers and geographical coverage, was also an important consideration. Firms with less than 20 qualified lawyers were not eligible to bid for the tender.

Grandall Beijing office, Dacheng and Yingke are among the 11 successful appointees on the new panel. The panel firms, which are appointed for three years, will provide legal services to the group on a needs basis.

"Most firms on the panel are large, full-service firms, which not only have strong expertise and resources in the areas concerning our group but also have wider knowledge of the economy and legal system," Wang added. "Often a case or a project involves complicated legal issues and only a multi-disciplinary team of lawyers drawn from a firm's different practices can come up with the best solution." ALB

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