Hylands First ‘Boss Face to Face’ Event Successfully Held

Speech by lawyer Qi JIANG at the ‘Boss Face to Face’ event

Dear Director Hong LIU, young lawyers, good morning!

Plan One: Continuous Learning, Summary, and Practice

The first step is to learn. How do we learn? What to study? After the law school training, we would have a very comprehensive understanding of legal knowledge. So, what else do young lawyers need to learn?

The first point is that one needs to learn new laws. Young lawyers must study new laws continuously. Last year, we were all studying the Civil Code, with a total of 1260 articles. This year we need to study company law, civil procedure law, and the judicial interpretation of securities litigation that will be issued shortly, the Financial Trial Meeting Minutes, and so on. We not only have to study by ourselves, but also need to lead young lawyers to study new laws.

The second point is to study difficult and complicated legal issues. I often tell the young lawyers in my team that every difficult and complicated legal issue should be studied as a subject with special consideration.

The third point is to learn about new economic issues emerging in the industry. For the legal problems that constantly appear in the process of new economic development, we should conduct systematic and in-depth research on them. The new economy will create new markets for legal services. Only through continuous research and learning, we can maintain competitiveness and a vision higher than that of the clients and judges. If you lag behind the client in this regard, you will lose the client, because the client can solve the legal problems encountered in the production and operation of his company by himself; if you lag behind the judge in the ability of legal research, you will lose the lawsuit because you cannot predict the Judge's thoughts. Therefore, lawyers must have stronger research capabilities than clients and judges, so that they can communicate with clients and judges smoothly.

As we all know, every lawyer should be a life-long learner. We also need to master scientific learning methods. I put forward three tips for how to learn better, that is called three exhaustions: exhaust all laws and regulations, exhaust all opinions, and exhaust all cases. In short, sharpening a knife is not a mistake in chopping firewood.

The second step is to summarize. While we are constantly learning, we must continue to summarize. Learning without thinking means nothing, thinking without learning means nothing. We can summarize what we have learned in three ways:

The first one is to do a PPT. By making PPT, you can have a clearer understanding of the knowledge you have mastered. And we can also use PPT to show while delivering speeches. We should set up a forum for young lawyers, organize young lawyers to speak in the forum, and then speak to the partners of Hylands, and then speak in front of clients, and then speak in front of industry associations. By practicing this way we can even speak on an international stage. The summaries and presentations will deepen your understanding of the issues. It is suggested that the youth work committees of all our offices should set up young lawyer forums, which are divided into internal forums and external forums. Mr. Guo Weihua, the chief senior consultant of Hylands once said that a lawyer should be able to "write with a pen and speak with his mouth", which is also a requirement for young lawyers.

The second is to write articles and books. Even if I’m not a prolific writer, I try to write as many articles as possible since I was a young lawyer, including analysis of cases, observation of industry development, and evaluation of new laws. Our official account should not only be a platform for news releases and product launches, but also a window for displaying high-quality legal articles. Writing articles is a particularly good way to improve your research level. The articles you write showcase your capability to do research. Therefore, Hylands requires young lawyers to strengthen academic research, which is one important way for young lawyers to grow.

Writing books and establishing your work are important. So far, my team and I have written seven books, four of which are on professional fields, two on international trade, and two on finance. I had the opportunity to participate in the international Editing of a book on the interpretation of trade terms. In addition, I also wrote a book on law firm management - Following the Trend. Once, my supervisor, Professor Sibao SHEN, and I were walking at the University of International Business and Economics and he suggested that I write a book independently. Although I am the author of ‘Following the Trend’, this book is not a professional legal book. Therefore, my next goal is to write a professional law book. I hope that young lawyers would compile what they have learned into a book as soon as possible.

The third aspect is practice, which is the most important of all the previous ones. It refers to the practice in front of the court, the client, and the opposing lawyer. However, the opportunities for young lawyers to practice are limited, so I hope that the Youth Working Committee can organize moot courts and moot arbitration tribunals, where lawyers are organized to discuss real cases. Among them, it is necessary to organize lawyers with arbitrator qualifications to serve as arbitrators, which will be of great help to enhance the professional skills of young lawyers.

What I just talked about was the aspects of the professional three-step process. The third aspect is the most important one. Of course, due to various reasons such as partner-client relationships and the number of cases, not all young lawyers can get the chance to practice, so I hope that the Youth Working Committee can organize moot courts and moot arbitration tribunals. We need to use the most authentic cases as moot court and moot arbitration tribunal cases, organize lawyers with arbitrator qualifications to participate and proceed in accordance with the real arbitration trial mode, which will greatly improve the professional skills of our young lawyers.

Litigation lawyers and non-litigation lawyers must improve their skills in practice. I have always held the view that if litigation lawyers have high professional skills, they can also become excellent non-litigation lawyers and vice versa. I remember five years ago, as a litigator representing my client negotiating with US attorneys. I was quickly able to find risky clauses in hundreds of pages of English-language contracts. The first is the precedent clause, which describes the conditions under which the contract becomes effective. I insist on taking the approval document from the Chinese government as the key requirement for the contract to take effect. It proves that without this modification, Chinese companies could face huge compensation. The second is the clauses of liability for breach of contract and clauses of liquidated damages. Each clause of liability for breach of contract corresponds to a clause of performance liability, such as quality issues, commodity inspection issues, and delivery deadlines. If my client cannot fulfill these responsibilities, the relevant terms need not exist, or the corresponding liquidated damages should be reduced. The third is the dispute resolution clause. I hope that both parties choose Hong Kong and Singapore as the place of arbitration, and choose CIETAC as the arbitration settlement institution. The fourth is the applicable law clauses. Of course, considering the client's negotiating position and bargaining power, we finally agreed on London arbitration and the application of English law. Every negotiation is like a war. We must use the thinking style of a litigator to discover the risk points, and then tell the client how to modify the terms of the contract. In this way, we can strive for a negotiation result that satisfies the customer and protect the interests of the customer. Of course, if a non-litigation lawyer wants to transform into a litigation lawyer, he can also do very well in the field of litigation. Non-litigation lawyers know the underlying logic of this industry better. For example, in the trust industry, many trust product managers switched careers to become trust legal affairs and later became lawyers. Because he is very familiar with the legal framework of the entire trust business, they have a deeper understanding of this legal field. If non-litigation lawyers who are familiar with a certain industry field become litigators, they will also be very competitive.

Only in the process of application, we can discover the shortcomings of our theory. Through continuous practice, continuous learning, and summarization, we can make progress. When you have acquired a deep understanding of a field, then you turn to a field, and then keep learning the knowledge of this new field. Becoming a lifelong learner is what a lawyer should aspire to be.

Plan 2: Focus on subdivisions like a product manager

In the first aspect, we may ask, do we need to launch legal service products? What are the legal service offerings? Is it necessary for us to develop legal service products? The answer is yes. There are hundreds of legal service products on the Capital Lawyer website, which also shows the necessity of legal products. We can process, simplify, and visualize legal services, then develop legal products and then push the products to customers all over the world. However, the highest level of legal services is not in the product, but in the lawyer's head.

In the second aspect, in which fields do we launch legal service products?

The first is the promulgation of new laws, which has produced a blue ocean of new legal services. When I first came to Beijing in 2010, I had no clients or friends. But fortunately, the new regulations on the retrial of the Civil Procedure Law have been promulgated. So, I started to study retrial, wrote many articles, and gave speeches everywhere, then I received many clients who applied for a retrial from all over the country. What laws have been enacted recently? The Minutes of the Nine Minutes has promoted the demand for legal services in the asset management market. Will the free trade agreement between China and ASEAN also generate some new legal demands on international trade? Will the emergence of the Singapore Convention be a new opportunity for lawyers? We need to closely watch the version of the new law, develop new products based on this, and launch new products in a timely and rapid manner to quickly seize market opportunities.

The second field is the field of innovation, and the new economy will generate new demand for legal services. What is the new economy? This concept has been mentioned in the central five-year plan, ten-year plan, and Premier Li Keqiang's government work report, which implies a new trend in market development. For example, when you see the ‘three red lines’, you should realize that the real estate industry will usher in the winter, and the legal demand for mergers and acquisitions and investment in the real estate industry will be greatly reduced. However, a large number of real estate business disputes and liquidation and reorganization businesses will arise. You have to find your own direction according to different economic changes that take place in different time periods.

The third field is subdivision. We withdraw from specific legal service products but do not launch a comprehensive product system. For example, the agency legal service product of the Civil Procedure Law does not work because the coverage is too broad. Be sure to launch professional legal service products for industry segments.

After the withdrawal of legal service products, lawyers still have to make money through their excellent service capabilities.

Plan 3: Establish a five-layer circle

When we have a profession and products, we also need to build our own circle. According to Western marketing theory, it is said that a person has about 150 close friends. Who are these 150 friends of yours? I am adjusting the authority of WeChat every day to meet the limitation of the 5000 friends I can add. Is there a general manager of a central enterprise, China National Finance Corporation, or a Fortune 500 company among your friends? The level of your circle of friends determines the level of your customers.

The first circle is the alumni circle. Alumnus has gone through a lot of time together, and have common interests and common educational background. In Beijing, the best alumni circles are the China University of Political Science and Law and the Renmin University of China; in Shenzhen, the best alumni circles are the Zhongnan University of Political Science and Law and the Southwest University of Political Science and Law; in Shanghai, the best alumni circles are the East China University of Political Science and Law and the Shanghai Jiaotong University alumni circle. Whether it is the alumni circle of undergraduates, masters, or doctors, they will have an important impact on our life and work.

The second circle is the circle of colleagues. Hylands has about 1000 partners and lawyers, from this circle we can explore client resources. The central government has an internal and external ‘dual circulation’ development strategy, which works for law firms too. Our clients include clients outside the firm and clients within the firm. Hylands wants to carry out large-scale operations, and every lawyer in every office should be your target customer.

The third circle is the platform. Hylands has participated in many platforms and created many platforms. The law firm itself is a big platform. At the same time, we have also joined the global law firm alliance - Terralex, covering more than 130 countries, including more than 150 law firms. Before, a client of mine approached me to handle a case involving more than 300 million yuan. The domestic company has no enforceable assets, and the two natural person guarantors fled to Canada, so we need to cooperate with Canadian lawyers to recognize and enforce the Chinese judgment. Although the client can choose a lawyer by himself, he cannot effectively manage foreign lawyers, so he needs to cooperate with foreign lawyers through Chinese lawyers. If there is no overseas platform, we will not be able to assist clients to achieve their goals.

The fourth circle is the association circle. Young lawyers should actively participate in various associations, be it industry associations or bar associations at all levels, including international chambers of commerce, enterprise associations, business federations, foreign trade associations, etc., and have the courage to be vocal in associations.

The fifth circle is the customer circle. We classify customers into categories. Hylands has more than 50,000 customers. We need to classify customers, such as ex-customers, existing customers, and target customers. I suggest that lawyers should spend two-thirds of their time on existing clients and one-third on target clients. Existing customers are your greatest asset. On one hand, existing customers can create value for you; on the other hand, they can recommend new customers to you. When facing customers, we must adhere to the following principles. The first is to be sincere and think from the perspective of customers; the second is to be patient and be a good listener; the third is to dare to refuse unreasonable demands from customers; the fourth is to understand customers' requirements and concerns.

The circle corresponds to the position of the thighs of the human body, because the thighs support the weight of the entire human body, ‘hugging the thighs’ means embracing important circles of contact at all levels.

Plan 4: Five Must-Knows for Successful Case Bidding

The first is the brand. Hylands has become a first-tier law firm brand, but we still have a long way to go, and we need to further improve the comprehensive brand index.

The second is the team. The strength of the team is very important. We must organize the strongest business team to bid.

The third is resources, which include not only government resources but also news resources, judicial resources, overseas resources, etc. All kinds of resources are very important.

The fourth is performance. We need to build Hylands’ case library, which will improve the efficiency of bidding work.

The fifth is the plan, and the plan is the most important aspect. Some lawyers prepare more than 100 pages of bidding documents to include the vital details only in the last half page, which is never able to meet the requirements of clients. The solution should be at the heart of the bid, and the proposed solution should help the client to solve a specific problem.

Bidding is a systematic process. In the next step, we will issue the bidding implementation measures to ensure that the bidding work of the firm is carried out in a fair and orderly manner. Under the current situation, we can win more than 70% of the bidding projects thanks to our professional skills and professional experience. The future market is an open market, so we must gradually improve the bidding ability of young lawyers, which includes the following aspects. The first is the ability to produce bids, prepare bids according to standard procedures, and predict whether you can win the bid. Second, the ability to demonstrate bids. It is recommended to use PPT to make the demonstration because PPT can display contents in a clear and logical manner. At the same time, the teams should work together to complete the bid presentation. An important question is, who will participate in the bidding? We need to select the best team to participate in the bidding, and the final decision is in the hands of the bidding committee. In addition, after winning the bid, will the case naturally become the case of the lawyers who participated in the bidding? I don't think so, a lawyer shouldn't have a monopoly on the cases he bids on, but simply have the right to provide advises. The bidding work shall be carried out according to the rules, and shall be carried out in a fair and orderly manner.

The first aspect of a bidding process is the cost of lawyers. The most important component of a lawyer's cost is the cost of learning, including the cost of completing academic education and the cost of participating in various courses of training. The second factor is the time cost. We know that British and American lawyers charge by the hour, while Chinese lawyers are used to changing the case or charging contingent fees; the third factor is team cost, including the salary expenditure of the entire team. The fourth factor is transportation cost, including transportation cost between different cities, as well as communication cost, lodging cost, etc.

The second aspect is the market situation of the legal industry. The legal market fluctuates, and if you don't understand it, you can't make a reasonable offer. For example, in view of the high risk of non-standard business, we should be cautious when issuing legal opinions and charge reasonable risk agency fees.

The third aspect is the nature of the enterprise. Venture agency fees range from 1% to 30%, depending on the nature of the business. It varies for Central Finance, State Finance, and private enterprises, and varies even for enterprises in the north and south. Of southern enterprises, there are also differences between enterprises in Shanghai and enterprises in Shenzhen. Entrepreneurs in Shanghai are more observant of business rules; entrepreneurs in Shenzhen are more focused on results and not much on the process. Companies in the north tend to pay more attention to friendship and personal connections. If you quote a risk agency fee of 10% for financial companies, they will be shocked because the average rate is around 1%. Therefore, before making a quotation, fully consider the nature of the enterprise and the location (registration place) of the enterprise.

The fourth aspect is the customer's time requirements. I once had a client demanding me to close the case within three months so that he would pay 1 million in fees, if we can close the case in six months, he would pay 300000, if we close it in a year, he would only pay 100000, and if we close the case after one year, he would not pay a single penny. We should try our best to understand and meet the time requirements of our customers.

The fifth aspect is the interests of customers. This is the most important point, whether it is for litigation cases or non-litigation projects, we should always put the interests of our customers first. The interests of customers include their direct and indirect interests.

Bargaining power refers to the ability to make reasonable quotations. We are not greedy, but we also refuse to compete at low prices. Underquoting hurts the client, not the attorney. If the amount is not sufficient, lawyers cannot provide better services to clients, they cannot organize stronger teams to serve clients, and cannot spend more time on serving the clients. But low-price competition is very common in the legal industry at present. We once bid for a project worth 4 billion, and our quotation was about 36 million, which is still the highest among the seven law firms participating in the first round of bidding. A law firm even quoted as low as 1.5 million yuan. In fact, the low price actually harms the interests of customers, but unfortunately, low price is the most important consideration for some customers. Anyway, we should make a fair quote, and strive to provide customers with the best service, meet customer needs, and solve customer problems.

If your fees are significantly lower than your business level, there must be something wrong with your bargaining ability. There are many ways to improve bargaining power, and I will share some of them with you in the future.

Plan Six: Provide Solutions Like a Manufacturer

Solutions must be oriented toward problem-solving. It should help customers to solve real problems. The solution that is not beneficial to solve a problem entirely is the worst, which not only wastes the client's time but also wastes the lawyer's time. The sole purpose of a litigator is to win the lawsuit. I once wrote an article titled Six Doors to Winning a Litigation. Among them, the first door is the litigation plan; the second door is the key evidence; the third door is the application of the law; the fourth door is the procedural flaw; the fifth door is the role of precedent. Every door you open must takes you one step closer to winning your case. In non-litigation cases, lawyers need to identify risk points. Taking compliance as an example, the biggest difficulty in compliance work lies in the discovery of risk points. Is this the basis for building a compliance system? Our work should revolve around the core of solving customer problems, and always regard providing effective solutions as the core of all our work.

Plan Seven: Compliance is also a ‘Sword of Damocles’

Discipline is the ‘Sword of Damocles’ hanging over the head of every lawyer, which refers to Article 306 of the Criminal Law on perjury, as well as rules prohibiting bribery, false litigation, contract fraud, etc. Our lawyers must always pay attention to legal risks, civil legal risks, and criminal legal risks. We must always adhere to the leadership of the party and resolutely abide by the law. We must provide services to customers in a compliant manner and strengthen awareness of risk prevention.

I hope that every young lawyer can grow into an excellent partner. May all young lawyers make progress every day and advance every year. I am willing to make progress with all of you and achieve more goals.

Finally, I announce that Hylands Law Firm will launch a promotion plan for young partners - Forest Plan, to help young lawyers to get promoted from partner to senior partner and even to global partners. At present, the plan has not been submitted to the National Partners Conference for discussion and is still in the stage of soliciting opinions. The final version will be officially released in the near future.

Eligible participants in the program should be under the age of 45. Why does it take 6 years to get promoted? Because Hylands will celebrate its 30th anniversary in six years. We will spend six years helping young lawyers to become partners and making them the mainstay of Hylands.

According to the plan, the firm will provide support for young partners in the following aspects. The first is platform promotion; the second is salary incentives; the third is professional empowerment; the fourth is training plans; For professional empowerment, Hylands will soon set up nine industry committees and six business groups, the leaders of which will be served by young partners under the age of 45. The firm will also establish a young partner training system; the management committee of different offices must ensure two seats for young partners under the age of 45; we need to provide more client resource support to young lawyers; when formulating various policies, the middle office should first consider young partners’ opinions.