Hylands Upgrades Its Management System on the 25th Anniversary

In the past ten years, many law firms have achieved rapid expansion through mergers - in Beijing only, from 2010 to 2020, there have been more than 40 high-profile mergers happening among the law firms.

The new law firm would generally be given a new name or choose a name after the two firms merged. Only a few of them choose to return to the old name, and Hylands is one of them.

On March 4, 2022, the Beijing Haotian Xinhe Law Firm issued an announcement to officially change its name to Beijing Hylands Law Firm - the original name used when the law firm was founded in 1997. It took 25 years to change ‘Haotian Xinhe’ to ‘Hylands’. So why did it choose to change it back on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the law firm?

"In the past 15 years, Hylands and the friends who joined it have fully integrated. Therefore, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the law firm, we decided to change the name back to Hylands", Hong LIU, Director of Hylands Law Firm, said. By this act, the firm has echoed the original intention of the three founding partners of the firm, Chunsheng JIA, Xiaogang MA, and Shaoning QUAN to "create a platform for lawyers to develop together", and it will also help to establish an image of simplicity and professionalism to the firm.

The name change is part of the effort for the firm to upgrade its brand image. Hylands will stick to the customer-oriented principle, focus on promoting the construction of large middle offices, strive to improve service quality and devote itself to building a legal industry platform that features systematic operation and is in line with the development needs of the times.

Management

Promote the construction of the middle office and the integrated development of law firms.

The concept of ‘middle office’ is derived from the Internet industry and has been widely accepted by the legal industry in recent years. With the increase in the number of employees, many law firms are trying to hire middle-office teams to manage the general affairs of the law firm. The strategy can help a firm operate in a standardized, process-oriented, and professional manner and help to integrate law firm resources and reduce costs and provide support for the front office (front-line business team) and back office (rear auxiliary department).

However, it is easier said than done. Few law firms have been able to successfully build a middle office. Law firms still face many challenges in the process of building and implementing a middle office structure.

The reasons are that in order to let the middle office of the law firm play its role, the law firm needs to invest a lot of resources. Also, the entire structure of the law firm must be adjusted to facilitate the functioning of the middle office. None are possible without the consensus and determination of the management of the law firm.

It was the decision of Hylands' management to construct a middle office for the firm. The partners agree that a system upgrade is important and regarded the construction of the middle platform as a valid choice.

Determination is crucial to achieving certain goals. If a large firm wants to build a middle office, it not only requires mere financial investment but also requires the wholehearted support of management. Hylands skipped the trial operation step and directly ventured to establish a middle-office system covering the whole firm, which reflects the determination of all partners to achieve the goal in a timebound manner without any conflicts.

In 2022, Qi JIANG, who has rich experience in law firm management and is responsible for the construction of the firm’s middle office, was elected as the chairman of the national board of directors of Hylands. Attorney Jiang exercises the authority of the board of directors to promote the construction of a middle office serving the entire firm.

Why does Hylands attach so much importance to the construction of the middle office? The firm predicts that in the next five years, its business scale and number of employees will triple. The existing system is not enough to support the sustainable development of the firm, and the firm needs to continuously improve its management and service capabilities to adapt to its business development plans. For this reason, at the beginning of 2022, Hylands proposed a plan for the construction of a middle office to implement integrated development.

"Integration is the goal, which means to achieve common development, common progress, and common prosperity of the entire firm; building a middle office is a means to promote the integrated development of the firm", Qi JIANG said.

Hylands’ integration strategy is divided into six stages: brand integration, middle office integration, client resources integration, system integration, salary system integration, and profit integration.

Brand integration. Hylands plans to completely improve its brand image in the next six years. The first step is to integrate the publicity work of the entire firm, which requires the integration of the branding work of various offices. The firm will promote the ‘lion culture’ and ‘wolf culture’, and uphold the spirit of enterprising. Hylands will also actively participate in social welfare, party building work, and organize ‘partner growth’ activities.

Integration of middle office. The middle office can fully empower the partners by effectively connecting the front and back offices of the law firm. The project includes five aspects: brand management, bidding management, case management, client management, and risk management. At present, Hylands is doing a good job in brand management, case management, and risk management. The follow-up work will focus on the establishment of a bidding service center and customer service center. The firm plans to complete the construction of a unified middle office by the end of the year.

Integration of customer resources. Hylands adheres to the ‘customer-centric’ concept, implements customer classification, actively responds to customer needs, and is committed to improving customer experience by helping them solve their concerns. Hylands Customer Service Center will provide support for the business development of lawyers and assist Hylands to increase value and growth.

Institutional integration. The core of institutional integration lies in the unification of partner agreements, that is, all partners of the firm sign a unified partner agreement. Starting from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, Hylands will gradually sign a unified agreement with partners from all offices to promote the integration of the overall system.

Salary system integration. Hylands adheres to the idea of ‘cost transparency’ and works to further simplify the firm's salary system. In the future, Hylands plans to gradually establish a unified salary system. The system will first be implemented in some offices as a pilot test and then will be introduced to other offices in a systematic manner.

Profit integration. Profit integration is the core of the integration strategy. As the main task in the second stage of implementing the integration strategy, it is also the ultimate goal of the strategy. Hylands plans to integrate and unify the profit center of all offices in six years, so as to bring more profit to the firm.

The integration strategy will help Hylands to establish a more standardized and complete system, it will improve brand image, can find a more scientific and efficient management system, and provide partners with more opportunities for business development.

With the establishment of an integrated system, Hylands will be able to realize a simplified, specialized, institutionalized, and efficient management system thus improving its overall ability to serve clients and customers in an efficient manner.

Professionalism

A leading law firm in the field of dispute resolution. Provides the best solution.

Implementing professionalism is a priority for any law firm. As the international environment and market situation is constantly changing, clients demand a new sect of lawyers who can provide more sophisticated and one-stop legal services to them. In such a scenario, lawyers need to continuously improve their professional capabilities, and law firms should have the ability to integrate different resources to provide comprehensive services to clients.

Based on this, many top law firms have taken the training of professional capabilities as their core task and proposed strategies for increasing the professional skills of lawyers according to their own conditions. As a comprehensive firm specializing in complex dispute resolution, Hylands also attaches great importance to cultivating lawyers’ professional capabilities.

Since 2019, adhering to the concept of ‘providing customers with better services’, Hylands has followed the idea of ‘further develop the practices in which it has the expertise, and exploit emerging business opportunities’ to carry out business, and is steadily moving towards the goal of building a comprehensive firm.

At present, Hylands has divided its lawyers into different teams according to their expertise, and there are 8 teams of which each is a legal expert in a specific industry, and 12 teams of which each is vested with knowledge of a professional field.  All teams will work together to provide customers with comprehensive legal services.

Hylands is especially skilled at dispute resolution. It has a dispute resolution team that generates substantial profits every year. By employing unique service concepts and methods, Hylands is doing good at solving cases that were in pending for many years. This has increased Hylands’ market reputation as a firm that is good at solving complex and difficult cases.

It is the desire of every legal firm to provide standardized and professional legal services, but there are higher requirements when they advise on dispute resolution. It is impossible for a person to step into the same river twice. Similarly, lawyers should not seek to solve complex and difficult dispute resolution cases in a similar manner. The complex cases are complex because it is difficult to balance the interests of all parties. So, sticking to a habitual and uniform thinking pattern will do little to help here.

Being pragmatic and flexible, the Hylands dispute resolution team can often come up with a solution to bring the difficult case to a satisfactory conclusion. The team has assisted in solving many complex and difficult cases that were in pending for many years. In the ‘China Outstanding Transactions and Disputes List 2021’ published by China Business Law Journal in February 2022, the case of Taihehui v. Shaoxing Zhongfu which was advised by Hylands was rated as an ‘Annual Outstanding Transaction- Controversy and Investigative Case’.

Hylands has a strong dispute-resolution team. On the one hand, most of the lawyers on the team have a solid base of theoretical understanding and rich practical experience. They have been involved in various types of cases and have accumulated vast knowledge. On the other hand, most of the team members are experts in commercial issues, and they are familiar with the concerns of different parties that affect the process of the case. Backed by professional capabilities and abundant resources, the dispute resolution team can gather wisdom to propose innovative solutions to solve the cases.

Hylands is especially good at handling advanced dispute-resolution cases. The team has highly qualified members to better serve the clients. Based on the actual situation of the client, the team can propose a solution that can satisfy the client’s demands. The team requires lawyers to combine ‘legal mind’ with ‘commercial thinking’ and work in a manner to not only help clients solve legal problems, but also increase their commercial interests. In a sense, Hylands' dispute resolution team works more like a think-tank for the clients.

Being able to approach legal issues from a business perspective enables Hylands’ lawyers to help customers solve their concerns effectively and efficiently. Many clients say they are impressed by the innovative solutions proposed by Hylands’ lawyers. As their trust in Hylands grows, Hylands become their first-to-go choice whenever they need any legal services, whether in the dispute resolution process or during their general business operation. 

In addition to dispute resolution, Hylands also excels in intellectual property cases and has been deeply involved in the rapid development of the intellectual property industry in recent years. Hylands’ intellectual property team is particularly good at dealing with complex copyright and trademark infringement disputes and is familiar with IP-related legal affairs in the fields of cultural entertainment, media communication, franchising, sports, cultural technology industry investment, and financing. In the ‘Chambers Asia Pacific Guide 2021’, Hylands secured a high rank in the field of intellectual property rights and was rated as a Band 1 law firm in the field of media and entertainment. It was also recognized in the fields of media, entertainment, and sports in the ‘Excellent Law Firm Awards 2021’ announced by China Business Law Journal.

Hylands also has an outstanding performance record in many other fields such as international trade, company/commercial affairs, etc., and has won high praise from customers and peers for its outstanding performance. At the same time, Hylands is eager to meet new demands arising from the changes in the external market. It has ventured out into many new areas and is determined to build its strength in bankruptcy reorganization, non-performing asset disposal, and private equity, to achieve rapid development in all sectors.

To responds the diversified legal service needs of customers, Hylands always adheres to the concept of ‘focusing on customer needs and providing better solutions’, and strive to serve customers with diversified service methods.

Culture

Giving new connotations to people and culture.

Culture is an abstract concept. The culture developed by a law firm plays an irreplaceable role in retaining talents, improving unity, and achieving long-term stable development. In recent years, more and more firms are aware of the value of a unique culture and strive to bestow the brand of their firm with cultural connotations.

In the past 25 years, Hylands has been upholding the value of ‘love, friendship, and peace’ to promote its comprehensive development. Hylands propose the concept of ‘equality, fairness, transparency, progress, integrity, and dedication’ to create an inclusive, transparent, and equal cultural environment that helps all employees to develop in all the possible ways.

Hylands cares for the public welfare. In the past 25 years, Hylands has engaged with several social causes and participated in many public welfare undertakings.

The chairman of Hylands Partners Meeting is served by Zhengfu ZHU, a member of the 3rd National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and currently the Vice Chairman of the 10th  All-China Lawyers Association. Zhu Zhengfe proposed much advice and suggestions for the development of the legal industry and put forward as many as 13 proposals during the two sessions in 2022.

Since its establishment, Hylands has been trying to be a law firm with a sense of social responsibility. The firm participates in public welfare legal service projects every year: In October 2019, Hylands cooperated with the Beijing Legal Aid Foundation to launch the ‘Hylands Welfare for You and Me - Beijing Legal Aid Volunteer Service Plan’, and proposed to adopt the 1+7+N model to run the project, including 1 overall volunteer service plan, 7 major plans, and N sub-actions. At the same time, Hylands also cooperates with the Beijing Legal Aid Foundation to carry out the ‘Western Lawyer Training Program’ and has assisted in carrying out four training camps so far. In July 2021, Hylands cooperated with the China University of Political Science and Law to establish a legal education practice base in its Shanghai office.

Launching Ceremony of Beijing Legal Aid Volunteer Service Program

"By engaging in public welfare undertakings, lawyers not only contribute to uplift public interests but also have the opportunity to develop themselves in many aspects", Yu XU, director of the management committee of Hylands Law Firm said in his address.  "In the future, we will continue to engage in public welfare undertakings and undertake more social responsibilities, to enhance the role of lawyers in promoting public welfare, and lead our peers and clients to actively participate in it”

Transparency and equality can be seen everywhere.

Hylands encourages partners to speak out—lawyers are free to put forward suggestions for the improvement of the firm. As long as these suggestions are helpful to the development, they will be submitted to the general meeting of partners and the meeting of the board of directors for discussion. Many lawyers have the opinion that working in Hylands is like working with a group of close friends; the atmosphere is warm and friendly.

In addition, Hylands attaches great importance to the cultivation of young talents and is committed to providing an equal and open stage for the growth of young people. Many lawyers get promoted to be partners when they are young; 41.38% of the total partners of Hylands are born in the post-1980s; in some office management committees, young members even occupy more than half of the total positions —which is quite unusual for large firms.

Hylands strives to help young lawyers develop in an all-around way, not only helping them improve their professional skills but also caring for their lives.

Hylands is committed to helping lawyers to improve their professional skills and has established a systematic and complete training system covering all levels of talent from trainee lawyers to partners. The most representative programs are the ‘Seedling Program’ and ‘Forest Program’.

Launched in 2020, the ‘Seedling Project’ is a training program designed for fresh law graduates. The duration of the program is six months. In the first three months, young lawyers will be transferred among the core business departments to quickly accumulate experience through practices; from the fourth month onwards, they will work under the supervision of team partners, and the partners will teach them work practices. At the end of the Program, young lawyers and partners will conduct a two-way selection process to ensure that the right talents work in the right positions.

In 2022, Hylands launched the ‘Forest Plan’, which aims at cultivating competent lawyers into senior partners and global partners within a period of six years. To this end, the Forest Project will provide relevant support for young partners in the firm in eight aspects, including platform promotion, salary incentives, professional empowerment, training plans, job opportunity, resources, support from the middle office, and special funds.

Hylands often holds various cultural and sports events and provides funds, venues, and other resources for the events. In 2014, Hylands Golf Team was established and now has more than 70 members. The team is very active in that they not only play for fun but also play in competitive games against teams from other law firms. In addition to the golf team, there are also badminton, football, and basketball teams.

Hylands C Orchestra was established in 2018, which plays classical music, rock music, new folk music, folk songs, and other genres which greatly enrich the leisure time of the Hylands people. The orchestra often performs in the lobby on the 11th floor of Hylands, thus the hall is also called ‘concert hall in the air’. Hylands C Orchestra holds the ‘New Year's Concert’ every year, and holds various music salon activities from time to time. The Hylands people's love for music will not cease despite how busy their professional lives become.

Hylands C Orchestra is holding a music salon

On Hylands, we embrace tolerance and symbiosis

A law firm must acknowledge the various stages and situations it comes across in its journey of development. Since its establishment, Hylands has been going through many ups and downs but never stopped the journey or hesitated to move forward.

Hylands has never abandoned the original intention it held when it was established - to turn the firm into a platform for lawyers to develop together.

Hylands continuously improves its professional skills, optimizes the system, upholds the right values, and is committed to building an inclusive, and modern law firm that meets everyone's expectations.

Hylands’ ultimate goal is to become a top Chinese law firm.

The general opinion in the industry is that the legal industry will continue to maintain a high-speed development in the coming decades. According to the National Public Legal Service System Construction Plan (2021-2025) issued by the Ministry of Justice, by 2025, the number of practicing lawyers nationwide will exceed 750,000, which means both opportunities and challenges for law firms.

Hylands partners plan to seize the opportunity to leapfrog their development. It has assumed to double its income by the next two years; and in the next five years, by following the industry trend, Hylands will transform the firm into a large- scale and high-quality law firm in China that features integrated operation and digitalization.

The ultimate goal of Hylands' development strategy is to reduce the partner's practice costs, improve the quality of legal services, let Hylands’ lawyers become the ‘top lawyers’ in the eyes of clients, ‘decent lawyers’ in the eyes of peers and ‘lawyer for the people’ in the eyes of the society. Hylands would strive to give every partner equal and free opportunities to grow for a better future.

Hylands is still on the way.