过去几年，受益于粤港澳大湾区建设，同时作为“一带一路”倡议桥头堡，华南地区的涉外法律服务市场显著发展。与此同时，华南具有特色的制造、科技、金融、生命健康类企业国际化程度不断加深，对涉外法律服务也提出新要求。ALB邀请华南地区律所分享近年涉外业务发展趋势、涉外人才的培养之路，以及律所本身对国际化布局的思考。
过去几年，涉外法律服务无疑是华南市场最热的概念之一。涉外服务的热度自上而下产生：2019年，加强涉外法治工作被列为中国提升治理能力的重要内容之一；2020年，习近平法治思想中则明确提出“坚持统筹推进国内法治和涉外法治”。
政策引导下，华南地区从司法行政机构到律师协会，推出了一系列引导涉外法律服务发展的措施。以广东省为例，措施包括加强华南律师与境外律师交流；支持律师、律所和企业“ 走出去”；以及聚焦培养涉外法律人才。近三年，上述举措已经取得了实际成效：以广州市为例，律协数据指出，截至2021年底，广州共有269家律所开展涉外业务，拥有近1100名涉外服务律师，并有11家律所实现了“ 走出去”布局。
“从宏观层面，国家近年积极提倡发展涉外法治，建立自己的涉外法律服务队伍，因此自上而下都在推动这个事情。”广悦律师事务所主任黄山律师说。“另外从地方层面，粤港澳大湾区经济呈现外向型特点，尤其联系港澳、通达海外是大湾区扮演的重要角色，涉外服务是必不可少的一环，也是市场的需 求 。”
此外，在微观层面，黄山律师也观察到，疫情之下，华南地区的涉外法律服务需求总体仍呈现上升趋势。“ 越来越多的中国企业希望走出去……所以涉外法律市场呈现出比较兴旺发达的态势。”
广东天商律师事务所主任、合伙人会议主席颜勇律师也表示，华南地区对于涉外法律服务有着天然的高需求，这是该市场快速发展的基础。“ 华南属于沿海地区，毗邻港澳，也是海上丝绸之路的发源地，涉外法律服务需求多，跨境投资、能源与基础设施建设、跨境电商、国际贸易、海商海事物流、海外合规、海外知识产权、出口管制与贸易制裁等方面都有较大的需求。”
“从宏观层面，国家近年积极提倡发展涉外法治，因此自上而下都在推动这个事情。从地方层面，粤港澳大湾区经济呈现外向型特点，涉外服务是必不可少的一环，也是市场的需求。”
— 黄山，广悦律师事务所
总部位于广州的华进律师事务所专注于知识产权业务，高级合伙人曾旻辉律师也观察到依据华南地区经济发展特点，相关涉外法律需求的增多。“华南地区由于区位、政策以及产业结构的影响，轻工制造业及出口贸易型企业汇聚，加之近年来跨境电商企业的不断发展，大量的中小型跨境电商企业通过亚马逊、阿里巴巴海外站等平台进军以欧美地区为主的国际市场，对于涉外知识产权及法律的服务需求较高。”
“同时，华南地区也聚集了一批互联网、通信领域的规模性企业，形成了较为完整的产业辐射，且充分利用粤港澳大湾区的政策优势，以及毗邻港澳和东盟的地理优势，这在一定程度上会带来新的涉外法律及知识产权服务需求。”曾律师补充道。
律所的重点
政策引导及市场需求之下，华南律所也自然将涉外法律服务作为自身发展的策略板块之一。
华进的曾旻辉律师告诉ALB，目前律所的广州总部，深圳、杭州办公室已经可以“辐射整个华南地区……华进专注于知识产权及相关法律领域，对于华南地区企业的需求及特点较为了解，随着华南地区企业不断实现产业升级并走向海外，华进也将涉外知识产权及法律业务作为发展重点之一，这不仅顺应了当地企业需求，同时也将自身的优势发挥到最大”。
如今，打造“粤港澳大湾区涉外商事法律服务平台”也成为广悦的发展目标。黄山律师坦言，实际上直到五、六年前，广悦的涉外业务都不算多，如今将涉外设定为律所重点业务方向之一，“一是因为大势所趋，涉外业务确实是很不错的发展方向；二是伴随王敬律师加盟广悦，带来一支涉外人才队伍，我们也有了起步的基础”。
黄律师告诉ALB，2022年广悦引入了专注于涉外资本市场等领域的合伙人及团队，加上在海事海商、航空租赁领域，以及涉法语区、西语区国家业务领域人才队伍已见雏形，广悦的涉外业务已经取得了一些成绩。未来，对外投资、双边贸易、海事海商、航空租赁、反垄断反倾销、贸易摩擦纠纷等，都将是广悦重点关注的涉外领域。黄律师认为，疫情影响下涉外市场的低潮已逐渐结束，“相信广悦未来能在涉外业务上做出亮点和特色”。
“打造粤港澳大湾区涉外律所新势力”也是天商律师事务所的愿景。颜勇律师告诉ALB，实际上“天商是华南区域为数不多以涉外法律服务为发展特色的律师事务所。我们将举全所之力统筹推进涉外法律服务工作，努力建设成粤港澳大湾区一流的、具备涉外特色的综合性律师事务所”。
基于这样的目标，天商内部单独设立了“涉外法律事务部”，颜律师解释道，天商采取了“一个涉外法律服务中心+若干个涉外专业部门+若干个人才基地+若干个海外办公室”布局，以矩阵方式打造涉外法律服务机构，同时整合高等院校、商协会、大型企业等社会资源，目前已经在涉外刑事、海外合规、涉外知识产权、涉外婚姻、为侨服务等方面，服务华南客户的各种需求。
变化的需求
过去几年，华南律所也观察到受制于各种不确定性，客户涉外法律服务需求的不断演进。
“从诉讼层面看，华南地区客户在海外诉讼案件主要涉及专利纠纷、合同纠纷、跨境婚姻家事案件、跨境财产处置、刑事诉讼等，涉外争议已逐步趋向于采取仲裁与调解的方式解决。”天商的颜勇律师总结道。
“近年，华南本土律师事务所在非诉涉外业务市场的案件数量和创收逐年增加，尤其在涉外知识产权、海外合规、跨境电商与平台仲裁等方面取得了不错的成绩。”
— 颜勇，天商律师事务所
“从非诉讼层面看，涉及应对337调查、出口管制与贸易制裁、境外海关监管、海外专利申请与商标注册、海外合规、跨境电商申诉与和解等业务逐年增多。”他接着说，“近年，华南本土律师事务所在非诉涉外业务市场的案件数量和创收逐年增加，尤其在涉外知识产权、海外合规、跨境电商与平台仲裁等方面取得了不错的成绩。”
华进则在知识产权相关领域观察到了客户需求的变化。“首先，出口型企业对于知识产权法律非诉的业务需求量较大。”曾旻辉律师介绍道，“近年来国内、国际对于知识产权的司法保护环境都渐趋严格，出口型企业对于知识产权的保护及侵权预警意识也
不断增强，因此在新产品出口前会针对目标市场进行侵权风险排查、FTO调查等专利检索及分析，以管控海外侵权风险，对于已上架产品的侵权投诉、连接恢复等法律服务需求也在不断增加。”
其次，在诉讼业务方面，曾律师说：“中国的出口型企业现阶段更多还是以被告或被申请人姿态被动参与到包括境外知识产权诉讼、337调查之中。由于境内外司法保护程序、制度的差异，中国企业往往也依赖中国律师提供适应于自身的应诉策略及方法。”
“除了积极协助应诉，华进也在不断探寻是否有更利于中国企业的应对之道。法律的背后是商业。华进更多地以商业和法律的视角来制定策略，以恰当的应诉策略转危为机。”
— 曾旻辉，华进律师事务所
曾律师坦言，特别是知识产权侵权诉讼、337调查等程序，近年来较频繁地被境外企业用来将某些中国企
业排除于海外市场之外。“除了积极协助应诉，华进也在不断探寻是否有更利于中国企业的应对之道。法律的背后是商业。例如在协助企业应对海外知识产权纠纷时，华进更多地以商业和法律的视角来制定策略，并更多地利用中国现有的程序和制度优势，对境外主体加以制衡，以恰当的应诉策略转危为机，稳定客户的海外商业运营。”
的确，伴随客户需求变化而不断更新自身服务内容十分重要。曾律师告诉ALB，除了为切实遭遇投诉、诉讼、行政程序的企业或创新主体提供全阶段应对服务，华进也很强调为中国企业提供出口海外的知识产权布局、管理及风险预警服务，“依托自身的区位优势以及较为丰富的知识产权、法律服务实践经验，实现更好的服务效果”。
人才问题
以上诸般不断增强的需求之下，“相对市场的服务需求，目前华南地区涉外法律服务人才存在一定不足”，天商的颜勇律师坦言。诚然，如《深圳律师行业发展报告（2021）》所显示，“ 破解涉外人才困局，提升律师队伍国际化水平”，是华南律师行业未来追求的目标之一。
在黄山律师看来，华南涉外律师的人数不足其实是相对的，“比较缺乏的是精尖业务领域，例如涉外反垄断反倾销领域的律师；但普通的涉外业务，广东的律师供应还是充分的”。
谈到何谓华南市场上优秀的涉外律师，黄律师给出了自己的观察。“好的涉外律师不可能全球业务都涉猎，他/她肯定是在某个地域或某个领域有优势，即拥有‘专长’；此外，他/她不仅仅是懂外语而已，而要对某个地域的风土人情、生活习惯、语言环境等都很熟悉。”
至于如何搭建律所的涉外法律人才团队，黄律师指出，引进和培养都很重要。“没有引进就无法培养，因为没有师傅就没有徒弟；此外，如果不通过引进人才先行搭建涉外业务，就无法为锻炼年轻涉外律师提供充足的业务机会。而不培养，涉外业务则会后继无人。”
谈到具体的培养手段，黄律师告诉ALB，当年一批律师受选派到英美律所进修，回国后成就了广州第一批资本市场等领域的涉外律师，“如果没有疫情影响，我们也会考虑送一批年轻律师出去工作、学习、深造”。
关于优秀涉外法律人才，华进的曾旻辉律师则给出了“具备持续学习的能力以及良好的适应能力；具有国际视野、通晓国内及国际法律规则；具备较强的综合素质”的定义。在他看来，平台和优秀涉外律师是相辅相成的。就华进而言，“我们的涉外法律服务在华南地区开展得较为深入，能够借助平台资源参与多种涉外法律业务，为涉外法律人才提供较多的实践经验”。
“同时，华进多位合伙人律师及团队律师入选国家级、省级涉外律师领军人才库，具有丰富的涉外法律知识储备以及案件代理经验，能够为涉外服务人才提供切实指导；且华进具备较为完备的人才培养体系，有利于涉外法律服务律师的自我成长。”曾律师说。
颜勇律师也表示，未来涉外人才培养会被天商“当作头等大事来抓”。“ 一方面，我们会整合律所和社会资源，为涉外律师团队开拓业务提供有力的资源支持；为涉外律师提供优质的涉外业务培训机会；支持和推荐涉外律师加入相关涉外专业机构、涉外专业人才库。另一方面，我们也会出台人才引进政策，尤其积极引进通过粤港澳大湾区执业考试的港澳律师。”
下一步计划
未来，华南地区的涉外法律服务将获得进一步发展，这也可预见于近期行政机构一系列的扶持举动。颜勇律师告诉ALB，上级部门的大力支持已经成为了华南涉外业务发展的一大特色，“司法行政、商务、贸促、律师协会等都纷纷出台支持涉外法律人才培养、搭建涉外律师与市场对接平台等支持政策”。
黄山律师对此深有同感。他分享道，例如广州，在2020年成立了广州国际商贸法律服务中心，“目的就是把广州，乃至大湾区的涉外律师联合在同一个平台，去开展涉外法律服务。
基本以律所为单位，从没有过以地区为单位共同展开服务”。
在此背景下，强化涉外服务能力也是华南律所下一步的发展策略重点。2021年，广悦在疫情下依旧按计划开设了曼谷、洛杉矶办公室。一方面，“美国和东南亚都是大湾区的重要贸易伙伴，每年有大量的经济往来” ；另一方面，海外办公室“不仅是一个法律服务主体，更是一个资源承载体，掌握了当地大部分的法律资源，帮助客户实现资源对接”。
下一步，广悦还会在欧洲、澳大利亚、东亚等地继续寻找布局机会。“我们没有设定具体的时间表，找到合适的合作伙伴是最重要的。未来如果广悦可以建立起国际网络，在一体化运作下，任何办公室之间都可以展开合作。”黄律师展望道。
在此方面，天商也有着可观的计划。“未来三年，天商将完成在粤港澳大湾区、北美、东盟、欧洲等地的战略布局，满足服务全球客户的需求。”颜勇律师说。
ALB SOUTH CHINA REGIONAL REPORT: CROSS-BORDER LEGAL SERVICES
In the past few years, South China, as the bridgehead of the “Belt and Road Initiative” and thanks to the development of the Greater Bay Area, has seen its cross-border legal services market grow significantly. At the same time, the distinctive manufacturing, technology, finance and biotech enterprises in South China have become increasingly international, raising new requirements for cross-border legal services. ALB speaks to local firms on the development trends of such business, the ways of training international talents, and their own strategies of going global.
Cross-border legal services has, undoubtedly, been one of the hottest sectors in the South China legal market over the past few years. The popularity of such services has been top-down: In 2019, strengthening cross-border legal work was identified as a key part of China’s efforts to improve its governance capacity.
Under policy guidance, a series of measures have been introduced by players in South China, such as judicial administrative agencies and lawyers’ associations, to guide the development of cross-border legal services. Such measures have already delivered visible results in the past three years.
Take Guangzhou as an example. Data from the lawyers’ association show that by the end of 2021, there were 269 law firms in Guangzhou that offer cross-border legal services, with nearly 1,100 lawyers working in this field, and 11 law firms have expanded to overseas markets.
“At the macro level, the Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law mentions the development of cross-border legal services and the establishment of China’s own cross-border legal service teams, so this is a priority from top to bottom.” says Huang Shan, director of Wang Jing & GH Law Firm. “At the local level, the Greater Bay Area has an export-oriented economy, and cross-border services are natural demands of the market.”
In the past few years, Huang has observed that demand for cross-border legal services in South China continued to rise despite the pandemic, and “more and more Chinese companies want to go global.”
Yan Yong, director at Guangdong Tian Shang Law Firm, says South China has naturally high demand for cross-border legal services.
“President Xi mentions the development of cross-border legal services and the establishment of China’s own cross-border legal service teams. At the local level, the Greater Bay Area has an export-oriented economy, and cross-border services are natural demands of the market.”
— Huang Shan, Wang Jing & GH Law Firm
“South China is a coastal area, adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau SARs. It is also the birthplace of the Maritime Silk Road. There is strong demand for services concerning cross-border investment, energy and infrastructure construction, cross-border e-commerce, international trade, maritime logistics, overseas compliance, overseas intellectual property, export controls and trade sanctions,” Yan says.
Guangzhou-based Advance Law Firm specializes in intellectual property practice, its senior partner Zeng Minhui tells ALB that “South China has a large number of light industry manufacturers and export-oriented trade enterprises. In recent years, as cross-border e-commerce enterprises kept growing, large numbers of small and medium-sized cross-border e-commerce enterprises have entered the global market, mainly in Europe and the US, through platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba’s overseas websites. These enterprises have strong demand for cross-border IP and other legal services.”
“Meanwhile, a group of large-scale Internet and communications enter-prises have also gathered in South China, forming a relatively complete industrial chain, which brings new demands for cross-border legal and iP services.” Zeng adds.
STRAGETIC FOCUS
Given the policy guidance and market demand, law firms in South China also naturally regard cross-border legal services as a strategic priority for their own development.
Zeng tells ALB that today, his firm’s headquarters in Guangzhou and Shenzhen and Hangzhou offices are already able to “cover the entire South China area... Advance Law Firm has an in-depth understanding of the needs and characteristics of local enterprises. As enterprises in South China continue to move up the industry value chain and go global, our firm also takes cross-border IP and legal services as one of the development priorities, which not only meets the needs of local enterprises but also gives full play to our own advantages.”
Building a “cross-border commercial legal service platform in the GBA” is also a development goal for Wang Jing & GH Law Firm. Huang says the firm had limited exposure to cross-border services five or six years ago but, today, cross-border business has been identified as one of the key business directions “not only because this is an inevitable trend, but also because we now have resources to engage in such business as our pool of cross-border legal service talents expands.”
In 2022, Huang’s firm recruited partners and teams specializing in cross-border legal services for capital markets and other fields, which, combined with its practice groups in maritime and aviation leasing, as well as those for French-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries, means the firm has already achieved decent results in cross-border business. In the future, foreign investment, bilateral trade, maritime, aviation leasing, anti-monopoly & anti-dumping, trade frictions and disputes will be the firm’s focus in cross-border fields.
“Becoming a new force as a GBA cross-border law firm” is also the vision of Tian Shang Law Firm. Yan tells ALB that, based on this goal, the firm has adopted a strategy of building “one cross-border legal service centre + several cross-border practice groups + several talent bases + several overseas offices”. At the same time, the firm integrates social resources such as institutions of higher learning, chambers of commerce and large enterprises. It is currently capable of serving clients in South China in foreign-related criminal proceedings, overseas compliance, cross-border IP, foreign-related marriage, and overseas Chinese matters.
EVOLVING DEMANDS
In the past few years, law firms in South China have also observed the continuous evolution of clients’ demands for cross-border legal services influenced by various uncertainties.
“The number of cases dealt with by local South China firms in the non-contentious cross-border legal field, and the resulting revenue, has been on the rise, especially in the fields of IP, compliance, e-commerce and platform arbitration.”
— Yan Yong, Guangdong Tian Shan Law Firm
“From the litigation perspective, the overseas litigation cases of clients in South China mainly involve patent disputes, contract disputes, cross-border marriage and family cases, cross-border property disposal, criminal matters, etc., and there is a growing trend for cross-border disputes to be resolved by arbitration and mediation,” says Yan.
“For non-contentious matters, work involving responding to Section 337 investigations in the US, export controls and trade sanctions, overseas customs supervision, overseas patent applications and trademark registrations, overseas compliance, and cross-border e-commerce complaints and settlements has increased over the years. In recent years, the number of cases dealt with by local South China firms in the non-contentious cross-border legal field, and the resulting revenue, has been on the rise, especially in the fields of IP, compliance, e-commerce and platform arbitration,” adds Yan.
Advance Law Firm has noticed changes in clients’ IP needs.
“First of all, export-oriented enterprises have a strong demand for non-contentious IP legal services. They are increasingly aware of IP protection and infringement early warning. Before exporting new products, they will check infringement risks, conduct Free-to-Operate investigations and perform other patent search and analysis for the target markets. Demand is also increasing for legal services such as infringement complaints targeted at products already on the market,” says Zeng.
However, when it comes to litigation business, Zeng says: “Today, China’s export-oriented enterprises are still more passively involved in litigation and investigation as defendants or respondents, and Chinese enterprises often rely on Chinese lawyers to provide suitable strategies and methods to respond to lawsuits.”
“Our firm is constantly exploring ways of responding that are more advantageous to Chinese companies We should also take advantage of China’s existing procedures to turn the tide by leveraging appropriate response strategies.”
— Zeng Minhui, Advance Law Firm
He admits that procedures such as IP infringement lawsuits and Section 337 investigations have been frequently employed by overseas companies to exclude certain Chinese companies from overseas markets in recent years.
“Our firm is constantly exploring ways of responding that are more advantageous to Chinese companies. Behind the law there are business needs. For example, when assisting enterprises to deal with overseas IP disputes, strategies should be formulated more from both commercial and legal perspectives. We should also take advantage of China’s existing procedures and systems to counter overseas entities and turn the tide by leveraging appropriate response strategies.”
Indeed, it is important to continuously update a firm’s services as client needs change.
Zeng tells ALB that, in addition to providing full services for companies that have encountered lawsuits and administrative procedures, Advance Law Firm also focuses on providing Chinese companies with overseas IP layout, management and risk warning services,
“relying on our own location advantages and rich experience to deliver better service results.”
TALENT PROBLEM
With the increase in market demand, “there is a shortage of talents for cross-border legal services in South China,” says Yan.
In Huang’s view, more specifically, “what South China lacks is talent for sophisticated areas, such as cross-border lawyers for anti-monopoly and anti-dumping matters, but lawyers for general cross-border business are sufficient.”
Huang has his own view on what a top cross-border lawyer should be like in the South China market.
“It is not possible for an outstanding cross-border lawyer to be a generalist. Rather he or she must have an edge in a certain region or a certain field. In addition, he or she must not only understand foreign languages, but also be familiar with local cultures, habits, language environment, etc.”
As to how to build a firm’s talent team for cross-border legal services, Huang points out that both lateral recruitment and internal training are important. Talking about concrete training methods, Huang says that, about two decades ago, groups of lawyers were selected by national ministries to study in US and UK law firms and these groups of lawyers, after they returned to China, became the first batch of cross-border lawyers in the capital market and other fields in Guangzhou.
“But for the pandemic, we also consider sending a group of young lawyers over-seas for further development.”
Regarding outstanding cross-border legal talents, Zeng from Advance Law Firm gave the definition of “having the ability to continuously learn and quickly adapt, having an international vision, and being familiar with domestic and international laws and rules”. In his view, the platform and excellent cross-border lawyers complement each other. As far as Advance Law Firm is concerned, “we have in-depth cross-border legal services in South China, therefore can provide young people with more practical experience.”
“At the same time, many of our partners have in-depth cross-border knowledge and rich experiences and are able to provide practical guidance for young lawyers. We have a relatively well-established talent training system which is conducive to the self-improvement of lawyers providing cross-border services,” says Zeng.
Yan also says that, going forward, the training of cross-border talents will be “a top priority” of his firm.
“On the one hand, we will integrate resources to support our cross-border teams to develop business, provide high-quality training opportunities for cross-border lawyers, support and recommend them to join relevant professional institutions. On the other hand, we will also introduce talent attraction policies, especially in actively attracting lawyers from Hong Kong and Macau SARs.”
NEXT STEPS
Looking ahead, cross-border legal services in South China will develop further, a trend that is also visible in the recent series of supportive actions by administrative agencies. According to Yan, “departments of judicial administration, commerce and trade promotion, and lawyers’ associations have all issued policies to support the training of cross-border legal talents and build a platform for cross-border lawyers to connect with the market.”
Huang concurs. Guangzhou, for example, established the Guangzhou International Business and Trade Legal Service Centre in 2020, and “the purpose is to gather cross-border lawyers in the city and even in the whole region of GBA on the same platform to provide cross-border legal services, which is an unprecedented move,” he says.
Against this background, strengthening cross-border service capabilities is also a focus for firms in South China. In 2021, Wang Jing & GH Law Firm opened offices in Bangkok and Los Angeles as planned despite the pandemic. On the one hand, “the United States and Southeast Asia are both important trading partners for the GBA”; on the other hand, overseas offices “are not merely legal service providers, but also resource carriers in control of most of the local legal resources who can help clients connect resources.”
Next, the firm will continue to look for opportunities to expand in Europe, Australia, East Asia, the U.S. and other places. “We don’t have a fixed timetable. To us, finding the right partners is the most important thing,” says Huang.
Tian Shang Law Firm also has big plans in store. “in the next three years, we will complete strategic expansion in the GBA, North America, ASEAN and Europe to meet the needs of serving global clients,” says Yan.