优秀律师越来越抢手，但也越来越难留住，中国的法律人才市场正愈发凸显“卖方市场”特点。在这样的背景下，ALB的年度雇主调研就像一份“清单”，帮助律所了解在人力策略上，他们做对了什么，又有何改进之道。
中国法律服务市场的人才竞争正变得愈发激烈，数字就可以直观证明这一点：2021年，ALB共录得超过130宗发生于中国内地的横向招聘，这一趋势在2022年得以延续：第一季度虽然夹杂着大小节日和不间断的疫情爆发，ALB仍录得了超过30宗横向招聘。
对于初级律师的抢夺也很火热：“3万元俱乐部”的出现就能说明问题。自去年4月有律所率先将应届毕业生月薪上调至3万元人民币后，一众律所尾随追平，部分甚至涨薪到3.5万元。
与此同时，人才留存也是难题。对律所来说，花费多年心血培养的合伙人一旦跳槽，尤其在新兴领域，可能意味着整块业务的坍塌；普通律师的流失虽然不至致命，但频繁的“招聘-培训”对于律所来说耗时又费力，尤其根据ALB的一份调研，受访的约300位五年级以下律师中，高达92.9%坦言“曾有过离职想法”，更值得律所警惕。
种种迹象表明，中国的法律人才市场正在向“卖方市场”转变。今年的年度雇主调研正是在这样的背景下展开。今年共有3434名律所员工参与调研，最终上榜律所数量为15家，其中包括9家全国性律所、2家在华国际律所，以及4家区域性律所。
今年的调研，依旧从总体满意度、薪酬、培训指导、律所制度、律所文化、人才留用等角度展开。在受访者构成上，55%左右为律师及顾问；25%左右为律所行政人员；合伙人及高级合伙人以上级别，各占10%左右。工作年限方面，近一半入职时间在两年以内；25%在2-5年之间；约15%在5-10年间；还有约10%为十年以上的老员工。
上榜律所在总体满意度方面表现惊艳，达到了95.9%。不过，仔细研读员工们的留言会发现，如今得到青睐的律所都是“六边形战士”：专业上，他们要名气高、客户好、项目素质强；硬件上，他们要有舒适的办公环境，以及有竞争力的薪资待遇；软件上，则要氛围佳、关怀员工、成长空间大；最后，在精神层面，他们还要能够为员工提供归属感和价值感。
可感知的压力
面对白热化的市场，过去一年，上榜律所也采取措施，以应对人才压力。
最明显的手段莫过于调薪。植德律师事务所创始合伙人金有元律师告诉ALB，去年年中植德跟随第一波涨薪，将应届生月薪调至2万元，“但随后出现了3万元大潮，我们慎重考虑后没有再跟”，金律师说。“大家把起薪提这么高，对于植德这种创业型律所是有压力的。但我们对人才慢慢也有了自己的理解：并非起薪越高，招来的人越好，或者说越符合植德对人才的画像或者需求。”
铸成律师事务所创始合伙人司义夏律师也坦言：“疫情带来机遇和挑战，中国法律市场的人员流动趋势肉眼可见，身处其中，难免被波及。”因此过去一年，铸成一方面大幅提高员工薪酬福利；另一方面通过优化薪资制度，细化分工量化梳理，搭配明确、透明的薪酬体系，建立了“能者多劳、多劳多得”的有效机制。在司律师看来，有竞争力的薪酬制度不仅能够吸引人，还能留住人，帮助律所见证“一辈又一辈铸成人从毕业懵懂，到成家立业，再到成为铸成的顶梁柱”。
“说实话，大家都希望把好的人才招入麾下，正常的招聘压力每一家律所都有。”中豪律师事务所合伙人、董事局副主席郑毅律师坦言。因此在薪酬方面，中豪会根据市场情况每年对底薪进行10%左右的调整，也会伴随执业年限提升，每年调薪10-20%。
不过，谈到是否会急于用更高的薪资去争抢人才，郑毅律师对此持保留态度。“中豪的人员流动性在行业中处于极低水平，我们80%的合伙人是从律师助理一步步培养上来的。”郑律师说，“借助公司化管理制度，招聘权统一归属人力资源部，这样更容易吸收长期主义者，保持人员稳定性。”
“中国向来是个竞争激烈的市场。”作为国际律所代表的高伟绅律师事务所中国区联席管理合伙人符国成律师、王彦峰律师告诉ALB。“和其他律所一样，2020年我们在中国经历了疫情后的快速复苏，2021年全年业务发展势头强劲。在这个动荡的时期，关注我们的员工并在职业和个人两个层面给予支持极为重要。”
2021年在正常的年度薪资调整基础上，高伟绅还额外在年中上调了大中华区办公室的律师薪酬。“我们将持续关注市场的律师薪资水平，以保持高伟绅在市场上的竞争力。”两位律师说。
过去一年，天达共和律师事务所也调整了薪资结构并提升了福利待遇，不过在管理合伙人汪冬律师看来，此举更多反映了律所的“人才战略，吸引、培养、保留优秀的律师人才是律所长远发展的基石”，而非迎合市场上的高薪风潮。
“高薪聘请和吸引优秀的人才的确是建设高素质员工队伍的重要举措，但高薪不是万能的。”汪律师坦言，“虽然司法部提出2022年律师从业人数要突破60万，法学院也在持续扩招，但我们依然感受到了用人压力。法律服务不是标准化服务，更像是高级定制服务。优秀的合伙人除了执业经历、业务能力，更需具有共同的事业理念、领导力、决策力、规则意识、成本意识等综合素质。因此，培养法律人才无法一蹴而就，必须在实践中、在业务中锤炼与成长。”
更复合的需求
的确，在高薪潮引发的人才焦虑中需要保持冷静，作为一个从天性上就必须对抗浮躁的行业，正如汪冬律师所指出的，律所在其他福利、制度、能力上的给付对于培养优秀律师也至关重要，换句话说，才能帮助律所扎扎实实地成为“最佳雇主”。
因此，过去一年在调薪之外，天达共和还做了不少事情，包括进一步优化人力资源管理体系、明确雇主品牌定位、注重管理的灵动性与个体差异、兼顾内部公平性与外部竞争力、规划可持续发展人才梯队。“这不仅是基于当前市场需求的应变之策，更是基于天达共和事业稳健、可持续发展的必要考量。”汪冬律师说。
植德的金有元律师深感认同。他坦言：“我们愈发了解到，高薪之外，现在的律师也十分注重律所的理念、文化、价值观、内部氛围、团队合作、成长机会、晋升机制等等。大家考虑的因素越来越综合，因此律所的软实力建设也非常重要。”
有时候，实力也体现在细节中。
例如郑毅律师告诉ALB，中豪的福利体现在方方面面：办公室里统一配备有苹果电脑和视频电话设备；为吻合年轻一代的审美偏好，中豪在上一次装修时放弃了以深色木质家具为主，转而选用更具设计感的鲜艳色彩搭配，还特设公共休息区和瑜伽室；出差时为员工设置了高标准的交通、住宿安排；遇到员工生日及家庭重大事务，律所也有统一的慰问补贴制度……“这些软性福利体现了对员工的关怀，也能帮助我们更好地吸引和留住人才。”郑律师说。
在此方面铸成也有许多实践。司义夏律师告诉ALB，律所安排了丰富的团建活动，还有各种定期组织的活动，例如“青年法律人沙龙”、铸成家庭日、铸成秘书节，以及每周的“铸成元气爱心早餐”和“鲜果时间”……“这都体现了铸成的理念和情怀，以及全所一家、共同成长的‘家’文化。”
细节关怀之外，上榜律所也指出，归根结底，律师到律所来的首要目的是做业务，能否提供丰富的业务管线和好的成长机会是最重要的。
司义夏律师对此深有体会。“2021年铸成顺势谋变求进，积极对全球市场布局、客户结构和业务结构进行了调整，实现了全球市场布局更加多元化、国内客户结构更加优化、业务结构更加多样化，为今后的发展奠定了坚实的基础。”他说，“随之而来的是客户量井喷式增长，可观的业务量为铸成吸引了一批人才骨干。”
同样，高伟绅的符国成律师、王彦峰律师认为，“我们的律师在职业成长和发展方面有着强烈的进取心”，而衡量一个平台是否优秀，不仅仅在于实现企业自身的商业目标，还要看它是否有能力和意愿助力个人实现其职业理想。“高伟绅有大量备受市场关注、复杂度高、结构创新的交易储备，能为我们的律师提供足够的锻炼机会成为一流涉外法律人才。同时，除律所的全球网络资源之外，我们还为中国背景的年轻律师量身订制了更符合其职业发展需求的本地化培训项目。我们的人才培养机制，不一味强调海外学历或执业背景，而是秉承国际律所标准，立足中国，着力培养既精通法律实务又能深刻理解中国市场和客户需求的国际化法律人才。”他们说。
符合律师特性的制度
律所在许多方面都区别于普通企业，在制度设计上是否贴合律师的心，也是其能否成为最佳雇主的关键。正如一位受访者在调研中所指出的：律所制度应该能够符合律师的工作特性，既可以发挥作用，又能保持个性。
上榜律所在此方面也下足了功夫，这首先体现在内部培训及带教制度的设计上。
以天达共和为例，汪冬律师向ALB介绍道，天达共和在人才培养方面分层分级地建立了符合不同专业方向、能力层级的律师能力发展需求的机制，有机囊括了新员工培训；诉讼、非诉、呈现表达、项目管理等不同技能的培训；以一主两辅作业制度为基础的定期业务交流；以及以夯实业务基础、提升执业技能为目标的团队带教与定期业务交流、考核。
此外，“针对合伙人和高潜人才，天达共和还注重培养他们的领导力，提供了以战略分解、市场拓展、团队管理、绩效目标管理、领导力发展等为内容的一系列管理课程”，汪律师说。
投资和升级内部资源以支持员工获得可持续的职业发展也是高伟绅的关注点。“我们引以为傲的高伟绅学院（Clifford Chance Academy）能够为律所内不同年级和执业领域的律师提供有关法律、商业和管理技巧的全方位课程。此外，我们还经常组织本地和全亚太区的工作坊、研讨会和午餐交流会等。”符国成律师、王彦峰律师分享道。
“我们意识到，系统性学习还需要辅以工作之余的引导，合伙人和资深顾问律师在初级律师的职业成长过程中扮演着重要角色。”他们说。2021年，高伟绅在亚太区启动了导师项目，“将律师和更富经验的导师一对一组合起来，为律师提供职业规划建议、拓宽他们的内部社交网络，并助其提升专业知识和技能” 。
此外，“成为合伙人后也不意味着停止学习”，高伟绅还会鼓励合伙人参加高级管理课程，提升领导力和管理技巧，而合伙人的学习效果在每年度的评估里通过其他合伙人及初级律师的反馈中也有所体现。
内部培训指导外，合理透明的晋升制度也很重要。上榜律所中，84%的律所员工认可机构拥有透明的晋升制度，这为个人成长提供了合理预期，也更为长效地调节着员工的满意度。
司义夏律师深知这一点的重要性。“铸成一直以来都以公司制管理体制为年轻律师提供高起点的工作平台和明晰的晋升途径，让新员工有明确发展方向和成长路径。”他说。此外，铸成还配备有“完善的考核奖励机制，使优秀员工能够脱颖而出，实现跳跃式发展”。
传统的制度建设维度外，ALB调研发现，员工也愈发重视律所的知识管理及IT系统，约93.7%的受访者对上榜律所上述系统的建设表达了认可，决定员工满意度的因素包括：律所是否具备定期更新的先进系统；是否有专门的知识管理和IT团队且响应速度快；是否开发了移动端程序；是否组织员工展开IT培训等。
“在知识管理和科技层面，高伟绅一直致力于成为行业引领者。”符国成律师、王彦峰律师告诉ALB。一方面是为了更高效地为客户服务，另一方面也是因为“法律科技工具能提高效率、促进合作、更快地完成工作，从而将律师解放出来，更多关注于法律问题”。在法律科技工具之外，高伟绅也通过配备法律项目经理和利用位于英国纽卡斯尔及印度德里的法律支持中心为业务提供支持。
司义夏律师也体会到了技术促进律所成为更好雇主的重要性。他分享道，2021年铸成经历了数字化管理的丰收年，业务管理系统完成全部验收，优化了300余个工作流、1500余例标准文书、3000余个时限配置的法律业务超级航母平台，此外还投入使用了RPA机器人流程自动化系统、PowerBI商业智能数据平台等一系列科技项目。这样的IT配置“极大程度减轻了员工的工作强度，进一步提升整体满意度与工作效率”，他说。
打造“无毒”文化
制度之外，一家律所的文化也是员工的关注重点。除了传统的价值观，如今的律所员工更关心机构鼓励怎样的职业氛围。虽然员工明白律所执业有着繁忙的本质，是否能达成工作与生活平衡很多时候取决于个人，但他们也希望律所至少对于员工私人时间有着尊重态度，不故意打造“有毒”的氛围。
被调查者中，有87%对律所工作生活平衡给出了积极评价，除了不创造“加班文化”、积极组织休闲活动，今年员工还对律所的身心健康培训、弹性办公制度做出了反馈。
符国成律师、王彦峰律师告诉ALB，“我们持续不断地通过新举措促进律所的合作文化，致力于成为员工心目中的好雇主。真正做到以人为本是高伟绅的核心价值观之一，也是我们人才发展战略的关键。近些年我们打造了强有力的全球资源网络来支持员工的身心健康。律所定期组织健康有趣的社交活动，比如研讨会、工作坊、团建和旅行。2021年我们还把艺术家、营养师、运动教练、理疗师和咖啡师带到了办公室，倡导更平衡的生活方式。”他们说。
“律师的工作是高强度、高负荷的。”天达共和的汪冬律师坦言，但他也指出，基于律师的工作性质，过于轻松的氛围或许并不适合于律所。“律师是7*24小时工作，不是因为自己要‘卷’，初心是服务好每一位客户。天达共和不支持内卷，也不赞同躺平，适当的强度和韧性是开展业务与培养律师的必须。”
因此，除了丰富的团建与兴趣俱乐部活动，天达共和也重视让律师，尤其年轻人接触更多的业务类型、尽早通览业务全貌、感受和谐的团队文化等。“我们更注重在‘日常的琐碎’里为员工营造开放、包容、平等的文化氛围……让大家有幸福感。”汪律师说。
更受年轻人欢迎
根据今年参与ALB调研的律所员工入职年限判断，其中多数应为30岁以下的年轻人，这也吻合了90后已成为中国律所主力员工的现实，上榜律所有否观察到年轻一代对于雇主的不同要求？
“天达共和新一代律师已经是95后了。”汪冬律师说。在他的观察中，“这些年轻人更有活力，教育背景更优秀，留学人员占半数以上，精通英、日、法语，有的还掌握德、俄、韩等小语种，思维更开放、观点更独立、沟通更直接。这些优秀的年轻人更愿意尝试、体验，在不断探索中发现事业方向，调整人生坐标”。
“年轻一代的确已经成为现今法律行业的主力军。”符国成律师、王彦峰律师也如此认同，他们将年轻人的特性总结为充满好奇心、热忱、乐于面对新挑战，“我们还注意到年轻人有着不尽相同的职业预期和关注领域，也会多元化地表达个性”。
“年轻一代被称为‘数字原生代’，他们在互联网、移动设备和社交媒体的时代中长大，重视自我意识、独立思考和兴趣。”两位律师进一步分享道，“我们希望能创造让年轻一代有归属感的工作环境；与此同时，我们也鼓励年轻人选择自己更熟悉的数字科技交流方式，并提供灵活办公选项。”
郑毅律师也坦言，面对代际差异，中豪对律所文化及制度都做出了一定调整。“以前，中豪的文化认为律师就应该拼命工作，生活重心向工作倾斜，但年轻一代更多希望兼顾生活和工作。”他说，“此外，年轻人更希望在让自己愉悦的环境中工作，他们很关心整体工作氛围是否轻松自在、是否可以进行自由表达。”
此外郑律师还观察到，“年轻人不太习惯师徒制培养模式，认为这种模式的权威、管教意味太浓……中豪因此采取了统一管理的方式，强调年轻律师作为事务所员工、而非某个人徒弟的身份，这样的氛围让年轻律师觉得更自由、更有自我、更能够实现价值”。另外，中豪也利用公司制优势对每位员工的成长路径做出清晰规划，“让他们了解实现成长是切实可行的”。
与此同时，倾听年轻人的声音也很重要，中豪的青年工作委员会，铸成的“青年法律人沙龙”、员工与合伙人的直接对话机制等，都是此方面的努力。
归根结底，一家机构的宗旨是将优秀的人和恰达的资源进行匹配，以此哺育一代又一代既高精专、又有幸福感的法律人。“不为年轻法律人的事业发展设定天花板。”汪冬律师如此总结天达共和的使命， “以开放包容互助共赢的文化，通过业务领域跨专业、跨行业、跨区域的协同合作，交叉互补为年轻律师的业务成长提供更开阔空间，实现年轻一代的综合历练与培养，通盘掌握业务线全貌，而不是作为流水线上的螺丝钉”。
而在中豪，不光业务，律所管理也正在向更年轻一代转移。“我今年已经超过40岁，就没有资格再担任业务部门的大合伙人，要把中间层管理岗位留给30至35岁的年轻人，使他们成为兼具管理能力和业务承办能力、有综合素质的合伙人。”郑毅律师说，“只有这样，当他们更为资深后，才能更好地帮助那时的年轻律师成长，形成‘一代帮一代’的机制，从而实现把中豪做成百年老店的远景目标。”
2022 ALB China Employer of Choice
The biggest challenge facing law firms today relates to talent; quality lawyers can be hard to find and harder to retain. In this context, ALB's annual Employer of Choice survey not only spotlights the outstanding firms when it comes to taking care of people, but also shows their peers some of the best practices they can use when it comes to their people strategies.
Competition for talents is getting increasingly fierce in China's legal market. In 2021, ALB recorded more than 130 lateral hires in Mainland China, a trend that continues into 2022. In the first quarter of this year, ALB recorded over 30 moves despite on-and-off holidays and intermittent pandemic outbreaks.
The battle for junior lawyers is also intense, evidenced by the emergence of the "30,000 yuan club.” Since last April, where some firms raised the monthly pay of fresh graduates to 30,000 yuan ($4,700), a number of other firms have followed suit, and some have even raised the figure to 35,000 yuan.
At the same time, talent retention is another challenge. For a law firm, once a partner whom it has spent years training changes jobs, especially if the partner specializes in emerging fields, the firm may see the collapse of an entire practice area. On the other hand, although the departure of younger lawyers is not fatal, having to constantly recruit and train new joiners is still time-consuming and resource-draining.
Various signs point to the shift of China's legal talent market to a "seller's market.” This is the background against which this year's annual employer of choice survey is carried out, with a total of 3,434 participating law firm employees. Fifteen law firms made the list, including nine national firms, two international firms and four regional firms.
This year's survey continues to look at overall satisfaction, remuneration, mentorship, firm management, firm culture, talent retention, etc. Firms on this year's list have all achieved amazing overall satisfaction, reaching 95.9 percent.
However, more careful reading of the messages of employees reveals that firms that are most sought-after today are "all-round players": Professionally, they should enjoy high reputation, serve top clients and have projects of high quality; in terms of hard power, they should have a comfortable working environment and offer competitive remunerations; in terms of soft power, they should have a good atmosphere, care for employees and give them ample space to grow; and, finally, at the emotional level, they should be able to let employees achieve a sense of belonging and value.
ATTRACTING TALENT
In the face of a red-hot market, the winning firms have also taken measures in the past year to cope with the pressure of talent retention.
Salary adjustment is the most obvious means. Jin Youyuan, founding partner of Merits and Tree Law Offices, shares with ALB that in the middle of last year, his firm followed the first wave of salary increase and raised the monthly pay of fresh graduates to 20,000 yuan. "However, we did not follow the 30,000-yuan wave. We have gradually come to have our own understanding of talents: higher starting pay does not guarantee a talent will better meet our needs," says Jin.
According to Simon Tsi, founding partner of Chang Tsi & Partners, "the pandemic brings about both opportunities and challenges. The trend of personnel movements on China's legal market is clear, and one will inevitably be caught in the midst. Therefore, in the past year, Chang Tsi & Partners increased the salary and benefits of employees by a large margin. On the other hand, we also optimized our remuneration system and established an effective mechanism where those who are more capable do more work and get more rewards.”
"Frankly speaking, all firms want to recruit the best talents. So we all face normal recruitment pressure," says Ian Zheng, partner and vice chairman of the board of directors of ZHH & Robin. Therefore, the firm adjusts base pay by about 10 percent each year depending on the market, and also adjusts salary by 10-20 percent on a yearly basis as the years of practice increase. However, Zheng has his reservations when it comes to enticing talents with higher salaries.
"The China market is a highly competitive one," say Terence Foo and Tim Wang, China co-managing partners of Clifford Chance. "As with many other law firms in China, we saw a rapid recovery from COVID-19 in 2020 and high levels of work through 2021. During this tumultuous period, it was particularly important to value our people and take care of them professionally and personally."
Therefore, "last year, in addition to our normal annual salary review, we implemented a mid-year salary increase across our Greater China offices. We will continue to regularly review our compensation to maintain competitiveness with the market."
East & Concord Partners is another firm that has adjusted the remuneration structure and improved benefits last year. However, in the view of its managing partner Wang Dong, this move is more a reflection of the firm's talent strategy than following the market trend of high salary as "attracting, cultivating and retaining top lawyers is the cornerstone of the firm's long-term development.”
"Recruiting and attracting top talents with high pay is indeed an important measure to build a team of top-notch employees. However, high salary is not everything," says Wang Dong. "Legal services are not cookie-cutter services. Instead, they are more like haute-couture services. Cultivating legal talents cannot be achieved overnight. Rather, legal talents must be tested and grow in practice and business."
MORE COMPLEX NEEDS
Indeed, remaining cool-headed is necessary in this talent anxiety caused by high salary. What a firm can offer in terms of other benefits and professional growth is also crucial to the grooming of top lawyers. These efforts can help firms to really become "employers of choice.”
Therefore, for example, apart from remuneration adjustment, East & Concord Partners took several other measures last year, including further optimizing the human resources management system, clarifying employer brand positioning, paying attention to the flexibility of management, giving equal consideration to fairness and competitiveness, and planning a sustainable talent pool.
Jin of Merits and Tree concurs. "We have learned more and more that in addition to high salaries, lawyers today pay great attention to a firm's philosophy, culture, values, atmosphere, teamwork, growth opportunities, promotion path, etc. Therefore, soft power is also very important for law firms."
Sometimes, the strength lies in the details.
For example, Zheng points out ZHH & Robin's benefits in various aspects: its office is equipped with Apple computers and video-conferencing devices; the office space is in designer-style bright colors, and has designated rest areas and yoga rooms; the firm provides comfortable transportation and accommodation arrangements for employees during business trips; it also has compassion and allowance systems for employees' birthdays and major family events... "These benefits show our care for employees and also help us better attract and retain talents."
Chang Tsi & Partners has also adopted many initiatives in this regard. Tsi tells ALB that the firm has a wealth of team-building activities, as well as various regular activities, such as young lawyer salon, family day, secretary day, as well as weekly "breakfast time" and "fruit time.”
In addition to the above, the winning firms also point out that as lawyers come to law firms first and foremost to grow professionally, whether firms can provide rich business pipelines and good growth opportunities is the most important factor.
To Tsi, "following the general trend of 2021, Chang Tsi & Partners sought change and progress, and achieved a more optimized domestic client base and a more diversified business structure, laying a solid foundation for future development. What follows is a blowout growth in client number, and the considerable business volume has attracted many key talents."
Similarly, Foo and Wang of Clifford Chance appreciate that "our lawyers have a strong motivation to grow and develop their careers,” and the success of a platform ultimately depends on its ability to realize personal aspirations. "Importantly, we have a strong pipeline of high profile, complex and innovative transactions to give our lawyers the opportunity to develop into world-class talent. We also recognize that we complement our global network of professional development resources with locally tailored training programmes. Moreover, we have a merit-based system of career progression to promote our talent, without an over-emphasis on overseas degrees or bar qualifications. "
A GOOD FIT
Law firms are different from ordinary enterprises in many aspects. Whether lawyers are comfortable with a firm's system design is also key to whether the firm can become an employer of choice.
The winning firms have all made great efforts in this regard, reflected first in the design of their internal training and mentorship systems.
Wang Dong of East & Concord Partners introduces to ALB that in terms of talent training, the firm has established a multi-level mechanism that meets the development needs of lawyers of different specialization and ability, covering new employee onboarding, skills training, regular skills exchange, mentorship and assessment. In addition, "for partners and high potential talents, we provide a series of management courses to focus on cultivating their leadership traits.”
Clifford Chance also encourages continuous professional development and invests in infrastructure where lawyers have accesses to a great variety of learning resources. "We are proud of our Clifford Chance Academy which offers courses on technical skills as well as business and management skills and are designed for every level of seniority and every type of role at the firm. In addition, we have locally or regionally run workshops, seminars, lunchtime sharing sessions and retreats," say Foo and Wang.
"We recognize that structured learning needs to be complemented by on-the-job learning through apprenticeship, and that's where our partners and counsels play a vital role to train junior lawyers." They further explain. Clifford Chance launched its mentoring programme in APAC in 2021. "This programme pairs each lawyer with a more experienced mentor to provide advice on career development. A mentor can be a sounding board for career planning, broadens one's network or helps the mentee build skills and knowledge."
In addition, "the process of learning doesn't stop when you become a partner.” Partners are encouraged to attend “master classes” to strengthen their leadership and management skills. As part of the annual appraisals, partners also receive both peer feedback from other partners and upward feedback from juniors to test the skills learnt.
In addition to internal training and mentorship, having a reasonable and transparent promotion path is also important. Among the winning firms, 84 percent of their employees agree that the firms have a transparent promotion system, which not only provides individuals with reasonable expectations for personal growth, but also regulates employee satisfaction more long-term.
Apart from more traditional system building, ALB's survey also finds that employees increasingly pay more attention to the knowledge management and IT systems of law firms, with about 93.7 percent of the respondents approving the construction of these systems of the winning firms.
According to Foo and Wang of Clifford Chance, "we aspire to be the industry leader in combining knowledge management and technology. Apart from delivering more efficient services to our clients, we also use legal technology tools to deliver efficiencies, better collaboration, and faster completion of work, to free up lawyers to focus on legal issues.” Also, its use of technology tools is complemented by the use of legal project managers and legal support centres in Newcastle, UK and Delhi, India.
Tsi has also noticed the importance of technology in helping law firms become better employers. In 2021, Chang Tsi & Partners completed the acceptance inspection of all business management systems and put into use the RPA robotic process automation system and the PowerBI business intelligence data platform. Such IT configuration "greatly reduces the work burden on employees and further improves their overall satisfaction and work efficiency.”
DETOXIFYING CULTURE
The culture of a law firm is also the focus of employees. Although employees understand that legal practice is bound to be busy and whether they can achieve work-life balance often depends on themselves, they also hope that the firms at least respect their non-working hours and do not deliberately create a "toxic" atmosphere.
Eighty-seven percent of the respondents give positive comments on the work-life balance of the winning firms. In addition to not creating a "culture of overtime" and actively organizing leisure activities, this year's respondents also rate highly physical and mental health training and flexible working arrangement of law firms.
Foo and Wang of Clifford Chance tell ALB, "We explore new initiatives to maintain our collaborative culture and make Clifford Chance a great place to work. Wellbeing is one of the firm's core values and key to our people strategy. Over the years, we have built up a strong global network of resources to provide support to our people's physical and mental health. The firm regularly organizes social activities such as seminars, workshops, team building and outing trips to engage in healthy and fun lifestyles. In 2021, we brought in artists, nutritionists, coaches, therapists and baristas to encourage a more balanced lifestyle."
"Lawyers' work is of high intensity and high load," says Wang of East & Concord Partners, while pointing out given the nature of lawyers' work, an overly relaxed atmosphere may not be suitable for law firms. "Lawyers work 24-7 to serve clients. We do not encourage excessive competition but also do not agree to 'lying flat'. Having appropriate intensity and resilience is necessary for developing business and cultivating lawyers."
Therefore, apart from a variety of teambuilding and interest club activities, East & Concord focuses on enabling lawyers, especially younger ones, to be exposed to more business types, have a comprehensive view of business as soon as possible, and feel the harmonious team culture. "We pay more attention to creating an open, inclusive and equal culture for employees on an everyday-basis to let everyone have a sense of happiness."
TRENDING YOUNGER
Most of the participating respondents this year seem to be young people under the age of 30 according to the year when they started work, which is consistent with the reality that Gen Z has become the backbone of Chinese law firms. Have the winning firms observed the different needs of the younger generation?
"The new generation of lawyers working at East & Concord is already born after 1995," says Wang Dong, "they are more energetic and have better educational background, with over half having studied overseas. These excellent young people are more willing to try and explore so as to find career direction and adjust life goals.”
"The new generation has become a major force in the legal profession today," concur Foo and Wang of Clifford Chance. "They are curious, passionate and keen to take on new challenges. We have also observed that their career expectations and areas of focus may vary, and some may express their individuality in different ways."
"The new generation have been described as 'digital natives', having grown up with the Internet, mobile devices and social media. They value self-awareness, independent thinking and curiosity," further explain both lawyers, "whilst our firm seeks to provide a work environment where the new generation have a sense of belonging, at the same time, we encourage different ways of connecting through the use of digital technology for those who desire for more flexible working arrangements."
Zheng admits that in the face of intergenerational differences, ZHH & Robin has made adjustments to its culture and systems. "In the past, we believed that lawyers should just work hard, but the younger generation want more work-life balance. In addition, young people prefer to work in an environment that makes them happy."
He also observes that "young people are not used to the apprenticeship model... We therefore adopted a corporate-like system, emphasizing the identity of young lawyers as employees rather than as apprentices of certain individuals. This makes young lawyers feel freer and more self-focused.” In addition, ZHH & Robin also takes advantage of its corporate-like system to make clear growth plans for each employee.
After all, the mission of a firm is to match excellent talents with suitable resources, so as to nurture generations of highly skilled and happy legal professionals. In summarizing the mission of East & Concord Partners, Wang Dong says "we do not set a ceiling for the career development of young lawyers. Instead, we open all business areas to young people to let them choose freely, so that the younger generation can be tested and groomed in an all-round manner rather than just being part of an assembly line."
In ZHH & Robin, not only business but also management responsibilities have been shifted to the younger generation. "I am over 40 years old, and therefore can no longer be the partner-in-charge of a practice area. Instead, we reserve middle management positions for those between 30 and 35 years of age. Only by doing this can these young lawyers better help even younger lawyers grow. In this way, we can form a mentorship system to realize our vision of making ZHH & Robin a law firm that can last long in the future," says Zheng.
THE LIST
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2022 ALB China Top 15 TMT Lawyers 2022 ALB China |
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Chang Tsi & Partners Clifford Chance LLP Dahui Lawyers East & Concord Partners Gongcheng Law Firm Grandall Law Firm Han Kun Law Offices JunHe LLP Lantai Partners Merits and Tree Law Offices Paul Hastings LLP Sunshine Law Firm Tahota Law Firm ZHH & Robin LLP Zhong Lun Law Firm |