今年上榜的十五位女律师在投资并购、资本市场、资产管理、知识产权、劳动法、竞争法等领域取得了卓越成就。她们用实际行动证明，在这个用专业力量创造价值的行当里，性别从来不是问题。
2021 ALB China 十五佳女律师有着平均18年的执业年限，活跃在境内外投资并购、资本市场、资产管理、知识产权、劳动法、竞争法等领域。尽管近年来经济环境、商业发展和法律监管日新月异，给法律从业者带来了不小的挑战，但她们抓住机会，在多个具有影响力的重大项目中屡创佳绩，涉足TMT、医疗、消费品等多个行业。ALB与几位上榜律师聊了聊，听她们分享各自的职业历程，身为女性律师的感悟，以及对未来的畅想。
从初心到现在
“过去一年，我和小伙伴一起合力完成了数单IPO、再融资、投融资及收购项目……可能是由于‘认知惯性’，有一部分人在没有正式会谈前多少会对女律师缺少一点点天然的信任，但年轻一代的女律师不妨更
自信一点，因为我所见到的年轻女律师真的都很棒。”— 胡琪，国枫律师事务所
胡琪律师自2009年获得执业资格起就一直执业于国枫律师事务所。短短三年后，胡琪律师于2012年升任国枫二级合伙人，继而很快又晋升为合伙人。胡琪律师专注于公司法和证券法相关业务领域，从业十几年来，她亲历并见证了中国资本市场一路走来的跌宕起伏与走向完善，并在这个过程中参与或主导了多个重大项目。
“过去的一年中，我和小伙伴们一起合力完成了数单IPO、再融资、投融资及收购项目，包括大型清洁能源综合服务商九丰能源的A股上市（发行募集资金26.77亿元）、汽车零部件领域企业标榜新材通过深交所上市委审核、营养保健品领域的全球细分龙头企业艾兰得健康控股有限公司的1.27亿美金融资、上市公司科锐国际非公开发行（募集资金7.59亿元）等。” 胡琪律师向ALB介绍道。
君合律师事务所合伙人许蓉蓉律师1988年从香港大学毕业后成为了香港房地产领域的一名律师。1995年，她移居新西兰，并在当地考取了律师资格后执业于新西兰Glaister Ennor律师楼。1999年，许蓉蓉律师回到香港，担任香港第二大电信服务公司九仓电讯有限公司（Wharf T&T Limited）的高级法律顾问。2004年8月，许蓉蓉律师从香港来到内地发展，加入君合律师事务所，担任并购与反垄断业务领域合伙人。
角色、领域和地域的多次转变为许蓉蓉律师的职业生涯带来了多个层面上的延展。从律师到法务，再从法务到律师的转折让许蓉蓉律师更善于站在客户的角度分析问题，切身处地地为其着想；在房地产、电信、并购、反垄断等领域的项目参与则丰富了许蓉蓉律师的行业知识，使她的执业经验更为多元化；而香港、新西兰、中国大陆的工作经历则让许蓉蓉律师拥有了更为国际化的视角，在面对各种复杂案件时能够更加从容不迫地应对。
在过去一年中，许蓉蓉律师带领项目组完成了两例半导体行业的高难度反垄断申报项目。在5G高速发展和国家大力支持芯片制造业发展的大背景下，有关半导体行业企业的反垄断审查非常严格，据统计，自2018年以来宣布的全球大型半导体交易中，有百分之69的交易所面对的最后一道障碍是中国国家市场监督管理总局的审查。在Cisco收购Acacia案的后续发展中，许蓉蓉律师与君合的团队代表Acacia完成了本次反垄断申报，并于今年初获得了中国国家市场监督管理总局的附条件通过。此外，在Analogue Devices Inc.（ADI）收购 Maxim一案中，该收购案也必需经过中国国家市场监督管理总局的审查。许蓉蓉律师与君合的团队代表ADI进行反垄断申报，在不到一年的时间里即获得了中国国家市场监督管理总局的无条件通过，使项目迅速而顺利地完成交割。
国浩律师事务所合伙人林琳律师自2000年从华东政法大学法学院毕业后就投入了律师工作。用林琳律师自己的话说，做律师是她一直以来的梦想。执业逾21年来，她的执业领域一直以证券、并购为主。在国浩上海执业的19年中，她参与并主导了许多重要的上市及并购项目。
以过去一年为例，林琳律师参与了中远海发向中远海运投资发行股份购买其持有的寰宇启东百分之100股权、寰宇青岛百分之100股权、寰宇科技百分之100股权并配套募集资金项目，其中，林琳律师作为上市公司律师参与收购及重大资产重组的全部法律服务工作。此外，在上市项目方面，林琳律师主要参与了：无锡振华上海证券交易所主板IPO项目，该公司现已成功发行并上市；我国半导体材料半绝缘型碳化硅生产、销售位于世界前三的山东天岳先进科技股份有限公司的科创板IPO项目，日前已获上海证券交易所上市委会议通过；上海唯赛勃环保科技股份有限公司登陆上海证券交易所科创板成功上市；上海建科集团股份有限公司上海证券交易所主板IPO项目，在该项目中，上海建科集团系上海国资体系内近期少有的国有集团非借壳的整体IPO项目，该项目已申报；以及某造车新势力新能源汽车企业重组并拟在香港H股上市项目，该项目正处于前期方案论证工作中。除了上市及并购，林琳律师在基金投资领域亦有涉猎，并参与了不少项目。
威尔逊‧桑西尼‧古奇‧罗沙迪律师事务所（以下简称“威尔逊”）合伙人欧阳丹律师从业已有16年。在加入威尔逊之前，欧阳丹律师曾经在美国瑞生律师事务所的纽约和香港办公室工作过五年，在达维律师事务所的香港办公室工作过三年，此后在普衡律师事务所北京办公室担任合伙人。2015年，威尔逊在亚洲的业务以PE和和兼并收购为主，而资本市场业务则刚刚起步两三年，在整个亚洲市场初露锋芒但还未建立深厚的市场地位。尽管如此，欧阳丹律师还是选择加入威尔逊资本市场团队，她坦言：“我当时的考量主要是威尔逊在亚洲的人事关系比较简单，资本市场业务虽然并不出名，但有很大的发展空间。当然，相较于在亚洲比较成熟的平台，对于我来说这也是一个巨大的挑战。”
“几位资深律师一路相随，让这本该孤独的旅程充满了理解和认可。律师这个职业是时间的朋友，客户能够在长期的合作中发现某个律师的职业和个人价值。我一直觉得女性以其特有的耐力、耐心和对事物的敏感度可以在这个领域取得非常高的成就。”
— 欧阳丹，威尔逊‧桑西尼‧古奇‧罗沙迪律师事务所
果如其言，这条创业之路充满了艰辛。欧阳丹律师经历了此前在亚洲较为成熟的平台上不曾有过的质疑、挫折和压力，但来自客户的信任和团队的鼓励支持着她一路向前。“我非常感激在我当合伙人的前两年里愿意把公司最重要的上市项目交到我手上的客户。对于一个年轻的合伙人和一家当时在亚洲暂未建立很长时间track record（过往业绩）的律所来说，那种信任是很难得的，并且一直温暖和鼓舞我在创业的路上继续努力。另外所幸的是，当时威尔逊资本市场业务的几位资深律师一路相随，让这本该孤独的旅程充满了理解和认可。”欧阳丹律师说。
在欧阳丹律师及其团队、同仁的共同努力下，威尔逊的亚洲资本市场业务在过去几年经历了从无到有、逐渐发展的过程。“最近一年间，我们参与了时代天使赴港上市项目，这在港股市场上具有里程碑意义，开创了消费股以及医疗股上市新时代；我们上半年完成的智能通讯云服务商容联云IPO也是今年最成功的上市项目之一；目前，我们团队正在参与的几个上市项目预计也会成为2021年最有影响力的上市项目。我认为，我们的优点是善于捕捉资本市场的风向，在看似平凡的项目中挖掘不平凡的投资故事和亮点。”欧阳丹律师说。
身为女性，十分自豪
职业女性有时在工作中不得不去面对并克服一些来自传统观念的偏见。许蓉蓉律师告诉ALB，在传统观念中，女性的工作能力时常会受到质疑，一些人倾向于认为女性没有男性工作能力强，因此，有的时候女律师在取得客户信任时需要付出更多的努力。
林琳律师也指出这一偏见的存在，但她也表示，这样的情况是少数，并且，随着服务的深入，只要足够专业，客户就会逐步消除疑虑。不仅如此，林琳律师还认为，身为女性对工作的影响是利远大于弊的。
“作为律师，我们主要提供的是专业化服务。客户最关心的是聘请这个律师或律师团队是否能够满足其需求，能不能真的解决问题。因此，性别的影响，尤其是对我们做非诉业务的律师来说，是非常小的。相反，女性的细腻、良好的沟通能力、持久力对执业反而更有利。”林琳律师说。
许蓉蓉律师也认同这样的看法。她也列举了女律师在工作中的三点优势：“首先，女性相对来说更加细心，能注意到工作中的更多细节，这种特有的细致让女律师更容易发现关键或问题所在，比如，在给客户提供意见时，女律师既会从不同的层面和角度做出专业分析，也会注意到用来签字的笔是否只能用中性笔这样的微小细节，使法律服务更加周全。第二，在面对一些较为麻烦或复杂的工作和问题时，女性更能以较为包容和沉稳的态度去应对，对于客户提出的复杂法律问题，尤其是多次的、来自客户内部不同部门的提问，女律师更能抱着耐心的态度去沟通，做出详尽的解答，使客户的各个部门能够全面准确地理解问题的核心，从而推动整个项目的进程。第三，女性较为敏感，在与人沟通的过程中更能够照顾到各方的心理感受，以更多的亲和力使自己在与上下级、同事、客户打交道的过程中更容易被接纳，成为彼此的合作伙伴。例如，在谈判过程中，女性更能察觉到对方的情绪变化，懂得缓和与调动情绪，促进谈判的顺利进行。”
欧阳丹律师在采访中也列举了女性律师的种种优势，她说：“律师这个职业是时间的朋友，客户能够在长期的合作中发现某个律师的职业和个人价值。我一直觉得女性以其特有的耐力、耐心和对事物的敏感度可以在这个领域取得非常高的成就。”
平衡家庭与工作不应是女性律师的“单打独斗”
宾夕法尼亚大学法学院国际事务副院长Rangita de Silva de Alwis及其学生Ziguo Yang近期的一项研究显示，中国女性法律从业者在职业发展中仍然面临着来自社会期望的阻力——比起追求事业，女性似乎被认为更应该去生儿育女。家庭责任似乎是职业女性面临的最大挑战之一，但在此次采访中，几位上榜女律师提出：平衡家庭与工作应该是每个职场人的必修课，无论男女。
“职业女性和男性都会面临家庭责任这一挑战，因为家庭责任本就是家庭成员的共同责任，需要相互理解和包容，” 胡琪律师说。
林琳律师则将家庭责任视作职业和生活的一部分，“无论男女，其实都可以用平常心来对待即可。”她表示，可以将家庭责任当成一个相对复杂、持久的“项目”来看待，在工作的同时要给家庭留好相应的时间和精力，根据家庭“项目” 的进展实时调整方案。
“以专业律师的智慧来说，我觉得不应是难事。”林琳律师说。
许蓉蓉律师也采取了类似做法，合理地安排工作任务与家庭责任的时间与精力。此外，近年来，律所也在帮助律师平衡家庭与工作方面提供了越来越多的支持。许蓉蓉律师告诉ALB：“君合提供的支持主要有两个方面，一是工作时间比较灵活，工作期间如果有紧急需要，比如说小孩生病或家长会等，君合会予以体谅和支持，律师可以申请尽量陪伴家人；二是提供各种资源，让律师的家人也参与到旅游与讲座等活动中，帮助律师增加陪伴家人的时间。”
国浩亦是如此。林琳律师表示：“在平衡工作与家庭方面，我们事务所非常给力，配备了足够的团队人员，提供了强有力的行政支持，使我能有足够的时间和精力在工作之余处理好家庭事务，特别是在家里遇到急事时可以放心去处理。这也让我每年在两个孩子假期的时候有时间陪伴他们旅行、看世界、共享天伦之乐。”
对年轻律师的建议
在欧阳丹律师看来，年轻律师首先需要认清律师这一职业的本质。她说：“律师是一个非常辛苦的职业，如果对于能够有创造性地解决他人的法律问题不是特别感兴趣的话，应该选择更为舒适的生活方式或职业。当然，如果有志于在律师这条执业道路上继续攀登，应该根据自己的性格和特点选择合适的方向，对于这个方向所需的时间、精力投入，以及未来发展前途要有一定的把握。”
而对于已经坚定不移选择律师这条职业道路的年轻人，许蓉蓉律师强调了身心健康的重要性。她表示：“律师首先要注意保持健康的体魄，由于律师每天工作时间较长且工作强度较大，唯有保持强健的身体素质才能更好地、长期地投入到工作中，并保持一个良好的状态。第二，要学会排解压力、保持心情愉快。律师经常要面对高压的工作和复杂的法律问题，需要保持稳定的情绪和心理状态才能全面、深入地分析和解决问题，而这也是一种非常重要的能力和可贵的品质。第三，要拥有团队合作精神。一个团队中的成员有各自的优势和不足，在同事需要帮助时如果能做到互相支持，那么无论对于个人还是团队来说都是大有裨益的。”
此外，对于女性年轻后辈，许蓉蓉律师还观察到，她们当中有不少人都习惯于默默地工作，并不善于沟通，这样不仅很难认识到自身需要改善的地方，还会失去很多与他人增进交流的机会。因此，许蓉蓉律师还建议女性年轻律师——无论是初级律师还是资深律师——在工作中都要敢于提问、积极沟通。
性别不是问题，经验也不是问题，心态才是关键。戒浮躁，沉下心，坚定专一，才能让执业道路越走越宽。对于执业于同领域的年轻女性律师，我的建议是：认准了执业道路，就勇敢地前进，坚持到底，终会开花结果。”
— 林琳，国浩律师事务所
胡琪律师鼓励年轻女律师要更加自信。她说：“可能是由于‘认知惯性’，有一部分人在没有正式会谈前多少会对女律师缺少一点点天然的信任，但年轻一代的女律师不妨更自信一点，因为我所见到的年轻女律师真的都很棒。”
“性别不是问题，经验也不是问题，心态才是关键。戒浮躁，沉下心，坚定专一，才能让执业道路越走越宽。对于执业于同领域的年轻女性律师，我的建议是：认准了执业道路，就勇敢地前进，坚持到底，终会开花结果。”林琳律师说。
展望未来
对于未来几年的工作，胡琪律师期待着在资本市场业务领域继续深耕与拓宽，并且会更积极地参与事务所管理、社会公益等工作，努力与客户、团队、事务所共同成长，力求卓越。
林琳律师告诉ALB，未来她也将继续深耕她所擅长的境内外上市、并购重组等资本市场业务，继续用专业服务好现有客户和新客户。与此同时，林琳律师还会培养好后辈律师，多传授业务经验，并不断学习新业务，开拓新的业务领域和模式。
许蓉蓉律师未来除了计划在现有的业务领域里继续深耕、再创佳绩，还有着另外两个规划和展望：首先，她希望能提供更多公益法律服务。在过去十多年间，许蓉蓉律师一直积极参与公益法律服务活动，例如，为南都基金会提供综合法律服务，为大自然保护协会在中国接受捐赠、进行市场营销行为、设立慈善基金等事项提供法律建议等。未来，许蓉蓉律师希望继续为各类公益组织、慈善机构、弱势群体提供更多的公益性法律服务，特别是为女性律师或者职场女性提供更多的帮助与支持。第二，许蓉蓉律师还希望为中国律师走向国际平台做更多工作。她指出，当前，在国际上大部分外国的女律师非常活跃，在不同的平台都能看到她们的身影，而中国女性律师在国际平台的发声比较弱，因此，许蓉蓉律师希望能够帮助中国律师更好地走向国际舞台，在涉外法律服务中发挥更大、更重要的作用。
欧阳丹律师则表示，尽管近年来境外资本市场受到各种市场和经济因素影响较大，但威尔逊近年来在亚洲资本市场领域取得的成绩已经使其成为一家备受认可的“黑马”律所，威尔逊北京办公室的律师团队规模从欧阳丹律师刚刚加盟时的六、七个人发展到现在的三十多人，俨然成为所有美国所在中国大陆办公室里最大的一个。2018年，威尔逊亚洲区代表了六家美国上市和11家香港上市，在美国和香港证券市场都进入了亚洲前五名，这其中包括腾讯音乐美国上市和药明康德香港上市，在这两个项目中，威尔逊分别代表腾讯和药明康德。
欧阳丹律师坦言，在她2015年刚刚加入威尔逊的时候，她就已经深感亚洲的资本市场非常拥挤。在这样一个强手如林、项目有限的市场上，律师需要不断摸索前进的道路和方向，对于美国所来说尤为如此。欧阳丹律师告诉ALB，每一个上市项目都要占用美国所大量人力，如果在评估项目的过程中选择了不可能成功的项目，就会浪费律师与公司宝贵的时间、精力和资源。所幸，作为团队领导者的欧阳丹律师同时也是一位热切的行业知识学习者。通过长时间的行业研习，欧阳丹律师一直帮助团队选择合适的上市项目。
“资本市场的风向每年都有一些变化，过去几年，我们的项目大量集中在TMT、医疗、消费品等领域。然而随着2013年以来移动互联网这一波红利渐渐消退，最近几年我们将试图在一定程度上延展产业集中度。对行业的理解和极具前瞻性的布局对于资本市场律师和业务来说是至关重要的。过去几年，我本人非常骄傲的一点是我们上市项目的成功率极高，我们参与的项目基本上都可以迅速上市。未来几年，我希望能有更多的客户和市场参与者了解我们的业务，把项目的质量和执行的质量都提升到一个新的高度。”欧阳丹律师说。
2021 ALB China Top 15 Female Lawyers
The 15 outstanding female lawyers on this year's list have an average of 18 years of practice experience and are active in a wide range of areas including domestic and overseas investment, mergers and acquisitions (M&As), capital markets, asset management, intellectual property rights, labour law, and competition law. In recent years, the economic environment, business development and legal regulation have changed with each passing day, which has brought a lot of challenges to legal practitioners. However, the listed lawyers have seized the opportunities to achieve great results in a number of influential major projects, involving in TMT, medical care, consumer goods and other sectors. ALB spoke to several of the lawyers on the list, and they have shared their career paths, what they have learned about being a female lawyer, and what they think about the future.
CAREER PATHS
“In the past year, my colleagues and I completed several big projects together... Some clients may lack a bit of trust on female lawyers before official meetings as a result of gender stereotypes, but young female lawyers should not let it dampen their confidence, because the female youngsters that I have seen are all very excellent at their work.”
— Hu Qi, Grandway Law Offices
Hu Qi has been working at Grandway Law Offices since she obtained the practice qualification in 2009. Only three years later in 2012, Hu was promoted to second-level partner at Grandway and then to partner soon after. Hu focuses on corporate law and securities law. In the past ten years, she has witnessed the ups and downs of China's capital market and how it grows more refined, during which Hu has participated in or led several major projects.
“In the past year, my colleagues and I completed several IPO, investment and financing, and acquisition projects together, for example, the $415 million A-share listing of Jiufeng Energy, a large comprehensive service provider of clean energy; auto parts maker Pivot Group’s application of listing in Shenzhen, which has passed the audit of Shenzhen Stock Exchange; the leading nutritional health products maker Aland’s $127 million financing; and the $118 million private offering of the listed company Career International,” Hu says.
Janet Hui, currently a partner at JunHe Law Firm, kicked off her career as a real estate lawyer in Hong Kong SAR after she graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1988. In 1995, she moved to New Zealand, where she practiced at Glaister Ennor after obtaining the qualification. In 1999, Hui returned to Hong Kong SAR to work as an in-house senior legal counsel at Wharf T&T Limited, Hong Kong SAR's second-largest telecommunications services company. In August 2004, she came to mainland China from Hong Kong SAR and joined JunHe as a partner in M&A and anti-monopoly.
The multiple changes of roles, fields and regions have extended Hui's career on multiple levels. From a lawyer to in-house legal counsel and then back to being a lawyer, Hui is better at standing in the client's point of view to analyse problems and maximize their interests; her experience in real estate, telecommunications, M&A, anti-monopoly and other fields has enriched her industry knowledge and diversified her practice experience; working in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Mainland China has given Hui a more international perspective, making her more confident and calm when dealing with complex projects and cases.
In the past year, Hui led her team to complete two complex anti-monopoly declaration projects in the semiconductor industry. In the context of the rapid development of 5G and strong state support for the development of chip manufacturing industry, the anti-monopoly examination of enterprises in the semiconductor industry is very strict. According to statistics, 69 percent of the world's large semiconductor deals announced since 2018 faced the final hurdle of review by China's State Administration for Market Regulation. In the follow-up to Cisco's acquisition of Acacia, Hui and JunHe's team represented Acacia in the antitrust filing, which was conditionally approved by the State Administration for Market Regulation in China earlier this year. In addition, the acquisition of Maximby Analogue Devices Inc. is also subject to review by the State Administration for Market Regulation of China. Hui and JunHe's team applied for the anti-monopoly declaration on behalf of ADI, which was unconditionally approved by the authority in less than one year's time.
Lin Lin, partner at Grandall Law Firm, has been working as a lawyer since she graduated from the Law School of East China University of Political Science and Law in 2000. In Lin's own words, becoming a lawyer has always been her dream. For more than 21 years, her practice areas have been mainly securities and M&A. During her 19 years of practice at Grandall Shanghai, she has participated in and led many important listings and M&A projects.
Taking the past year as an example, Lin participated in Cosco Shipping’s purchase of 100 percent of shares of Dongfang International Container (DFIC Qidong), DFIC Qingdao, and Huanyu Technology. She advised the company on legal matters related to acquisition and major asset restructuring.
In terms of listing projects, Lin and her team advised Wuxi Zhenhua on its successful IPO in Shanghai Stock Exchange’s main board. Lin has also advised SICC, a Chinese semiconductor material and semi-insulating silicon carbide maker that ranks the third in the world in terms of production and sales volume, on its planned IPO in Shanghai’s STAR Market, which has recently been approved by the listing committee. Additionally, they have also contributed to the successful STAR Market IPO of Wave Cyber (Shanghai), and the planned Hong Kong IPO of a new energy automobile company.
Ouyang Dan, a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, has practiced for over 16 years. Prior to joining Wilson, Ouyang spent five years working in the New York and Hong Kong offices of Latham & Watkins, and three years in the Hong Kong office of David Polk & Wardwell, after which she was a partner at the Beijing office of Paul Hastings. In 2015, Wilson's business in Asia was mainly focused on PE and M&A, and their capital markets practice has just started for two or three years. The firm has shown its edge in the entire Asian market but has not established a solid market position yet. Nevertheless, Ouyang still chose to join Wilson's capital markets team. Looking back the decision, Ouyang tells ALB: "my main consideration at that time was that Wilson's human relations in Asia were relatively simple, and although the capital markets practice was not well-known, but it had great development space. Of course, it was a big challenge for me compared to platforms that were more mature in Asia."
Just like Ouyang said, the path of entrepreneurship was fraught with hardship. Ouyang experienced doubts, setbacks and pressures that she had never experienced in a more mature platform in Asia before, but the trust from clients and encouragement from her colleagues supported her to move forward.
“I am very grateful to clients who were willing to trust me with their most important IPO projects during my first two years as a partner. That kind of trust was rare and very precious for a young partner and a law firm that didn't establish a long track record in Asia at the time, and it encouraged me and kept me moving forward on my entrepreneurial journey. It was also fortunate for me to work with several senior lawyers from Wilson's capital markets practice, filling what should have been a lonely journey with understanding and recognition,” Ouyang says.
In the past few years, Wilson's Asian capital markets practice has grown from scratch with the concerted efforts of Ouyang and her colleagues. She tells ALB: “In the past year, we participated in Angelalign's listing project in Hong Kong, which was a milestone in the Hong Kong stock market and ushered in a new era of consumer stocks and medical stocks listing. We've also just completed Cloopen’s US listing, which is one of the most successful listing projects this year. Currently, our team is involved in several IPO projects that are expected to be the most influential ones in 2021. I believe that our advantage is we are good at capturing the wind direction of the capital market and excavating extraordinary investment stories and highlights from seemingly ordinary projects.”
PROUD TO BE FEMALE LAWYERS
Professional women sometimes have to face and overcome some prejudices from gender stereotypes. Hui tells ALB that women's capabilities at work can sometimes be questioned by those with more traditional views, with some people thinking that women are not as competent as men. Therefore, female lawyers sometimes have to make extra efforts to win trust from clients.
Lin points out that such prejudice exists, but not always. Based on her experience, as long as a lawyer is professional enough, clients' doubts will gradually be eliminated during the service process. Not only that, Lin also believes that being a female lawyer actually has far more advantages than disadvantages in the workplace.
“It was fortunate for me to work with senior lawyers in capital markets... Being a lawyer is making friends with time, as the client can discover the professional and personal value of a lawyer in the long-term cooperation. I have always felt that women with their unique endurance, patience and sensitivity can yield very high achievements in this field.”
— Ouyang Dan, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Ouyang also believes in the advantages of being a female lawyer. She says: “Being a lawyer is making friends with time, as the client can discover the professional and personal value of a lawyer in the long-term cooperation. I have always felt that women with their unique endurance, patience and sensitivity can yield very high achievements in this field.”
EQUAL PARTNERSHIPS NEEDED
According to a recent study conducted by Rangita de Silva de Alwis, associate dean of international affairs at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and her student Ziguo Yang, the biggest headwind that professional women in China face in advancing their careers is society’s expectations when it comes to child-bearing. Family responsibilities remain one of the biggest challenges for professional women, but in the interview, the listed lawyers say that balancing the two should be a “mandatory course” for everyone, regardless of gender.
“Both working women and men need to face and bear family responsibilities, because it is supposed to be shared by family members who should give each other understanding and tolerance,” Hu says.
Lin sees family responsibilities as a natural part of work and life, and it should be treated as a relatively complex and long-lasting project with a “normal heart”. What people need to do is just to save time and energy for family in addition to work and adjust their “plan” according to the process of the “family project”.
“I do not think it is that difficult before the wisdom of a professional lawyer,” Lin says.
Hui takes similar action by arranging time and energy appropriately for work and family. In addition to her own efforts, JunHe has given great support as well. Hui tells ALB: “The support provided by JunHe mainly includes two aspects. First, the working hours are flexible. If there are urgent needs during the working period, such as children's illness or parents' meeting that needs attending, JunHe will give support. Secondly, JunHe provides various resources for lawyers' families to join activities such as tours and lectures so that lawyers can spend more time with their families.”
Grandall also provides support on this regard. Lin shares: “In terms of balancing work and family, our firm is very helpful. We are equipped with enough team members and strong administrative staff, so that I can have enough time and energy to deal with family affairs, especially when I meet emergencies at home. Grandall also gives me time to travel with my children and enjoy our time together each year.”
ADVICE TO YOUNG LAWYERS
Ouyang believes that it is very necessary for young lawyers to see the nature of this line of work. She says: “Being a lawyer is a very hard profession. If you are not particularly interested in creatively solving other people's legal problems, you should choose an easier job for a more comfortable lifestyle. Of course, if you want to continue on this road, you should choose the right direction according to your personality and characteristics, and have a certain grasp of the time and energy required for this direction, as well as the future development.”
For young people who have chosen this career path with determination, Hui stressed the importance of physical and mental health.
“Lawyers should first pay attention to maintaining a healthy body, because lawyers work long hours and work intensity every day. Only by staying healthy can a lawyer work in a good state. Second, learn to deal with stress and keep a good and stable mood. Lawyers often face high-pressure workloads and complex legal problems, so they need to maintain a stable emotional and psychological state to comprehensively and deeply analyze and solve problems, which is also a very important ability and valuable quality. Third, young lawyers should have team spirit. Members of a team have their own strengths and weaknesses. If colleagues can support each other when they need help, it will be of great benefit to both individuals and the whole team,” Hui says.
Furthermore, Hui also observed that many of the female young lawyers are used to working silently and are not good at communication, which not only makes it difficult for them to recognize their drawbacks to improve, but also deprives them of opportunities to enhance communication with others. Therefore, Hui also suggests that young female lawyers, whether junior or senior, should dare to ask questions and actively communicate in their work.
“The key is not about gender, nor about seniority, but about attitude. Don’t be impatient. Just keep calm and stay focused, as this is the only way to walk a longer and broader career path. For young female lawyers in my practice area, my advice is that if you have determined to work as a lawyer, just keep moving forward bravely, and you will finally see your achievements.”
— Lin Lin, Grandall Law Firm
Hu encourage female young lawyers to be more confident. She points out that some clients may lack a bit of trust on female lawyers before official meetings as a result of gender stereotypes, but young female lawyers should not let it dampen their confidence, “because the female youngsters that I have seen are all very excellent at their work.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
For the work in the next few years, Hu looks forward to continuing to deepen and expand practice in capital markets and will actively participate in the management of the firm, social charity work, and strive to grow together with clients, her team and the firm for excellence.
Lin tells ALB that in the future, she will continue to expand her expertise in domestic and foreign listing, M&A, restructuring, and other capital market-related practices, in order to serve existing and new clients with professional services. At the same time, Lin will also cultivate younger lawyers, pass on more experience, and keep learning knowledge and skills about emerging businesses to diversify her expertise.
In the future, in addition to keeping going on in her existing practice areas, Hui also has plans in two other fields: first, she hopes to provide more charity legal services. Over the past ten years, Hui has been actively involved in legal services for public interests, such as advising The Nature Conservancy's donation acceptance, marketing and charitable funds establishment in China. In the future, Hui hopes to provide more legal support to various kinds of public welfare organizations, charitable organizations and vulnerable groups, especially to provide more help and support for female lawyers or women in the workplace.
Second, Hui also wants to do more work for Chinese lawyers to reach the international platform. She points out that at present, most foreign female lawyers are very active in the world, who can be seen and heard in different platforms, but the Chinese female lawyers, on the other hand, are much less so. Therefore, Hui hopes that with her efforts, more Chinese lawyers can be shown on the international stage, and play a bigger part in foreign-related legal services.
Ouyang says that although in recent years the overseas capital markets are affected by a variety of market and economic factors, Wilson's achievements in the field of Asian capital markets in recent years have made it widely recognized as a "dark horse" law firm. When Ouyang first joined the firm, its Beijing office only had six or seven lawyers, and not it has more than thirty, making it one of the largest China domestic offices of American law firms. In 2018, Wilson Asia participated in six U.S. listing and 11 Hong Kong listing projects, including the US listings of Tencent Music and the Hong Kong listings of Wuxi Apptec.
Ouyang shares that when she joined Wilson Sonsini in 2015, she already felt that the capital markets in Asia were very crowded, full of strong competitors. Lawyers, especially in the United States, need to find their own way in this market. Every listing project takes up a lot of human resources in American law firms. Therefore, if the project is not likely to succeed, it will waste the valuable time, energy and resources of lawyers and the company. Fortunately, as the team leader, Ouyang is a passionate learner of industry knowledge. Through her constant industry research, Ouyang has been helping the team to choose the right listing project.
“The trends in the capital markets change a little bit from year to year, and over the past few years our projects have been heavily focused on TMT, healthcare, consumer goods, etc. However, as the advantages of Internet industry gradually fade since 2013, we will try to extend industrial concentration to some extent in recent years. An understanding of the industry and a highly forward-looking layout are essential for capital markets lawyers. Over the past few years, one of the things I've been very proud of is that we've had a very high success rate of all the projects we've been involved in that we've been able to help issuers complete listings very quickly. In the coming years, I hope that more clients and market participants will learn about Wilson's business and we can take the quality of our projects to the next level,” Ouyang says.
THE LIST
|
Ge Yin 葛音 Hu Qi 胡琪 Janet Hui 许蓉蓉 Jiang Yifeng 姜翼凤 Lin Lin 林琳 Liu Kun 刘堃（刘坤） Liu Shuang 刘爽 Tracy Liu刘琦 Nafisa Nihmat 乃菲莎·尼合买提 Ouyang Dan欧阳丹 Sun Li 孙莉 Jennifer Wang 王清华 Wei Shuangjuan 魏双娟 Christine Yiu 姚捷 Zhou Yao 周瑶 |
