Recruiting in China

San Francisco -
Partners from the Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Shenzhen and Haikou offices of Jun Le Law Office Join ELA

SAN FRANCISCO – The Employment Law Alliance (ELA) has added five new member offices across China, giving the network an on-the-ground presence in 30 member offices in Asia. The ELA is the world's largest network of more than 3,000 specialized labor and employment lawyers dedicated to assisting employers with legal needs in the U.S. and internationally.

The recent additions are partners from the China-based Jun Le Law Office and include: Dongpeng Wang in the Beijing office, Jianjun Ma in the Shanghai office, Jie Li in the Dalian Office, Xueyong Jiang in the Shenzhen office, and Ruhai Xia in the Haikou office.

“International corporations have long been attracted to China’s extraordinary economic growth and are rapidly opening facilities throughout the country. Ensuring the companies’ policies are compliant with Chinese labor and employment laws is difficult as the laws often vary from city to city,” said Stephen J. Hirschfeld, Esq., CEO of the ELA. “The ELA gives multi-national companies comprehensive, efficient and cost-effective assistance on the ground in each city, region and jurisdiction via truly local experts. We are thrilled to be working with partners at Jun Le as these highly regarded attorneys have intimate knowledge of China’s business practices and employment regulations.”

The ELA offers in-house counsel and human resource executives comprehensive legal guidance in every U.S. state and internationally. Its Global Employer Handbook allows free, 24/7 access to updated legal reference materials and information. The ELA also serves as a resource for trends and issues in employment via its America At Work polls on matters impacting daily business operations around the globe.

“We are pleased to be working collaboratively with our fellow ELA members around the globe. Not only will we be offering our employment law expertise here in China, but our clients with international operations will benefit tremendously from our ability to tap a wealth of reputable legal resources in the vast majority of the world. Not even a global law firm is able to provide such comprehensive experience and coverage,” said Wang.

About The Employment Law Alliance:
The Employment Law Alliance is the world's largest network of labor and employment lawyers. With specialists in all 50 states and more than 100 countries, the ELA provides multi-state and multi-national companies with seamless and cost-effective services worldwide. On the net at: www.employmentlawalliance.com.

BEIJING: Labor-related lawsuits nearly doubled in China last year mainly due to mass factory shutdowns, a senior official with the Supreme Court said.

A manufacturing powerhouse, China's factories were hard hit when overseas demand for their exports evaporated in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Shen Deyong, vice president of the Supreme People's Court, said at a news conference Monday that the number of labor-related lawsuits filed in 2008 jumped 95 percent, marking the biggest on-year increase of any type of suit.

He said most of the cases were filed in the country's coastal southeast, home to a string of factory hubs. In some areas, labor suits increased about 200 percent compared to 2007, he said, without giving specific figures.

The spike in labor lawsuits was "closely connected to businesses slumping and factories being shut down," he said.

"When they face difficulties, these businesses often reduce their costs by cutting the labor force and salaries," he said.

He said a new labor contract law that came into effect at the start of last year and rising public awareness of worker's rights also contributed to the rise in cases.

Unemployment is a major concern for China's communist leadership because of fears it could trigger social unrest and demands for political reform.

The outlook provided by both employers and legal recruitment agencies is not so positive for legal job seekers in China. Unlike in the past few years, when employment opportunities for legal professionals was plentiful, 2009 will see a continuing reduction in legal recruiting opportunities as the global economy slows.

“Except for a few newcomers to the market from the US and the UK, existing foreign and even local law firms will continue cost-cutting measures to avoid redundancies and trim their teams in China to the right size,” said Xia, founder and managing director of DaCare Legal Career.

According to Xia, a wait-and-see mentality will characterise the job market, at least for the first quarter of 2009. Capital markets and real estate attorneys will either be let go or redeployed to working on M&A or even FDI deals. Attorneys in the M&A and private equity practice areas should not worry too much about losing jobs, although PricewaterhouseCoopers’ latest report has revealed that the number of M&A deals in the Mainland have almost halved compared to the same period in 2007. The safest practice areas are expected to include employment, litigation, distressed assets, restructuring and bankruptcy.

A managing partner of a well-established international firm in Beijing, who did not wish to be identified, confirmed Xia’s prediction. He noted that a number of international firms in China have laid off legal staff in the past few months and around 80% of the international law firms here are currently experiencing a relatively quite time.

One of the reasons for the rising number of job casualties was the aggressive expansion of some firms who hired a large number of lawyers from local law firms earlier this year. Many leading local firms told ALB that they would slow down on recruitment plans, but would not stop taking on good talent.

Nevertheless, there remains some good news for employers with a budget and partners who are looking to move.

“Some clients are taking advantage of this special market situation to upgrade their team so with the same budget they can now put a better team together,” said Xia. “Another interesting phenomenon is that partner search, contrary to common understanding, is thought to become more active, especially for those who carry a book of business.”

The in-house side will also see a similar pattern and outlook. The financial crisis will trickle along the ‘food chain’, slowing down many industries including auto, shipping and hi-tech. Some in-house openings will become available, especially for mid- to senior-level counsels with a high degree of independence. The market will further concentrate on hiring more local talent, partly as a cost reduction effort, partly for being more effective.

One uncertainty, though, is to what extent multinational companies will turn to the China market for a solution when their home markets are experiencing serious trouble. “It’s very likely that many MNCs will come to this market, as a better option. General counsel will need to be better prepared for more hands-on work when application for headcount in 2009 will be frustrating and excruciating,” said Xia.

In the light of salary trends in 2009, it will be unrealistic to expect any salary hike. Xia suggested that job candidates will set their eyes more on guaranteed payment, rather on ‘target bonus’ or long-term incentives where the company performance part of salaries is a big question mark.

“Candidates will be more cautious when switching jobs, though some will actively look for a change if they are in a precarious industry,” Xia said.

China has begun tightening its work visa application process for foreigners to keep out people with a criminal record, but critics say the implementation of the provision is "ill-conceived" and will impede even Fortune 500 companies' ability to hire expatriate talent.

Under the amended rules, foreigners applying for - or renewing - work visas (Z visas) must additionally submit a certificate from a police station in their home country - and authenticated by the Chinese embassy in that country - declaring that the applicant does not have a criminal record.

Initially, the additional paperwork requirement will apply only for foreign workers in Guangdong, the booming province in southern China that's better known as the "world's factory floor". But given that Guangdong has always been a "laboratory" for China's economic and administrative reforms, the provision is certain to be implemented nationwide, reckon immigration lawyers and business consultants.

The new regulation may have been inspired by some recent instances of Chinese businesses being defrauded by foreign-national employees who (it was later revealed) had previous criminal records in their home countries, say lawyers.

In itself, the 'no criminal record' certification isn't an unreasonable requirement. "The motive (for the introduction of the new provision) is to put in place reasonable criteria for people to obtain a work permit," says Chris Devonshire-Ellis, senior partner at Dezan Shira & Associates, a professional services firm providing FDI, legal, tax, accounting and due diligence services for multinational corporations.

But there are "serious shortcomings" in the manner in which it has been implemented, he adds. "It will have a negative impact on the ability of foreign-invested enterprises in China to be properly managed, and a negative impact in the way foreign business people view China as being a reasonable place to work."

As a result of this provision, "it's going to be very frustrating for well-meaning businessmen and employers to get the right quality of senior executives and expatriate personnel into position in China," says Devonshire-Ellis.

Indians face 'discrimination'. In particular, notes Devonshire-Ellis, "certain nationalities, among them Indians, face discrimination in obtaining China visas purely on the basis of their passport."

Although this appears to be a haphazard situation, implemented differently across the country, China's administrative infrastructure appears unable to determine whether an individual is "undesirable" or a senior executive in a multinational. "This is becoming an area of concern and is damaging China's foreign direct investment environment," he adds.

There appears to have been "little or no dialogue" between Chinese immigration authorities and the international community about the implications of putting in place the 'no criminal record' regulation, says Devonshire-Ellis.

In some countries, like New Zealand, there is no such certification process in the first place. In others, such as the US, "there is no formal or well-defined procedure to obtain such a document."

In effect, China has invoked its domestic administrative system, which is based on the restrictive hukou (household registry) system, and imposed it on foreign nationals who apply for a work visa. Under the hukou system, a Chinese national's personal records are stored in their hometown, which is their place of birth. All requests to relocate in China or to engage in business are serviced by the local police station in the hometown, notes Devonshire-Ellis. "But such a procedure simply cannot be assumed to be in place in other countries, and in fact it largely isn't," he observes.

Complying with the new regulation is also fraught with logistical nightmares for those who are already working in China and need to renew their visas. "The request for a certificate from a police station in the applicant's country of origin ignores the fact many expats have worked overseas for years and may not have any contacts with their local police station in their home country," points out Devonshire-Ellis. "Second, it requires an expensive trip back home to secure such documentation."

In any case, in many countries, the administrative procedure to supply such a document does not exist. Even if it does, it's unlikely to be issued by "the local police station" in countries such as the United Kingdom, most European nations, and the US and Canada, where the registry of criminal offenders is maintained at a national, not local, level.

The latest work visa measure comes barely five months after China tightened the provision for securing business (F) visas and tourism (L) visas. In the run-up to the Olympics, and following the riots in Tibet in March, China introduced stringent provisions that still remain in place. Immigration lawyers in Shenzhen expect the F visa and L visa provisions to be relaxed a bit after the Paralympics in Beijing, but with greater monitoring to prevent their abuse.

By Elizabeth Stull

The law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP on Monday announced the opening of its Shanghai office, the firm's first office in Asia and its second office overseas.

Scott Turner, managing partner of Nixon Peabody's Rochester office, said the Shanghai location will benefit Upstate companies interested in China, and Chinese companies interested in coming to Upstate New York

"For Upstate clients it means a whole lot, because we've found a huge interest in our Chinese marketplace," particularly among optics companies," Turner said.

The new office is located on the 18th floor of the Bund Center, a distinctive luxury commercial skyscraper completed in 2002 and flanked by Westin luxury hotels on Yan An East Road, near Shanghai's historic commercial Bund area.

Nixon Peabody plans to staff the office with a rotating team of two West Coast U.S. partners, James C. Chapman and Daniel Deshon. Chapman is a partner in the firm's Silicon Valley office who represents companies conducting business in China. Deshon, of San Francisco, was managing partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP's Hong Kong office from 1999 to 2003. Nixon Peabody plans to add permanent legal staff in Shanghai in the near future.

Lori Green, a corporate transactional partner in Rochester, said a dozen U.S. attorneys regularly work with the China group, either on "inbound or outbound work" for companies looking to work inside or outside of China. Partners Harry P. Trueheart III (Nixon Peabody LLP chairman), Peter H. Durant, Jean H. McCreary and Richard A. McGuirk are among this group.

"China has one of the most dynamic economies in the world today," Truehart said. "Our new Shanghai office offers unique opportunities for our clients' growing business needs as we help U.S. companies understand and navigate the complexities of doing business in China."

Nixon & Peabody's China group advises clients on how to structure venture capital and private equity investments in China, resolve business and trade disputes, protect and enforce intellectual property rights, and structure and document acquisitions of Chinese domestic companies.

THE Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau yesterday issued guidance for workers and employers when the new Labor Contract Law comes into effect on January 1 next year.

The bureau has issued a pamphlet to explain the new law to business to avoid breaching regulations when signing contracts with employees.

Adopted on June 29 by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, the Labor Contract Law aims to improve workers' rights and establish a stable and harmonious relationship between them and their employers.

The new law splits contracts into three types - fixed-term, open-term and job-based.

An open-term contract should be signed after workers have been employed by the same unit for 10 years.

Wang Yang, director of the labor relation department of the bureau, said: "Previously when laborers worked for 10 years for the same enterprise, the company would discuss whether to sign an open-term contract with the worker, so it depended on the employer. But after the Labor Contract Law takes effect, it will depend on the employees, if they meet the circumstances."

Wang also said the rights of laborers on probation were often infringed upon. The new law stipulates that the probation period should not exceed one month if the period of the labor contract is less than one year, and not be more than six months if the contract period is more than three years.

It also requires the salary of the probationer should not be less than 80 percent of the lowest salary for the same post.

According to the new law, businesses should set up a collective consultation system under which, when the employers make important decisions on issues such as salary, vacation, training and discipline, they should put their plans to a meeting attended by representatives of workers for discussion.
The law also has specific stipulations on the implementation and termination of contracts, with the aim of establishing a stable relationship with workers.

China's current labor contract system was set up in the Labor Law enacted in 1995. The Labor Contract Law is the country's first law governing contracts.

HUAWEI Technologies Co Ltd has agreed to suspend its controversial "voluntary resignation" scheme after talks with trade unions, the All China Federation of Trade Unions said on Saturday.

The federation said it called on China's biggest maker of telecommunications network equipment to protect workers' interests after its plan sparked fears that the company was trying to sidestep a new labor law.

The federation and union organizations in Guangdong Province and Shenzhen City, where Huawei is headquartered, called on Huawei to solicit workers' opinions and respect their rights while making regulations related to their benefits.

Huawei would soon hold a workers' conference to review the interim regulations, sources with the ACFTU said. A company source confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that they had reached a consensus with the trade unions.

He said the company agreed to suspend the plan, but the exact date to implement it will be decided after workers' opinions were solicited at the conference since the plan was launched with their consent.

Huawei initiated a plan, calling for its staff who have worked for eight consecutive years to hand in "voluntary resignations," according to Nanfang Daily.

The staff would have to compete for their posts, and sign new labor contracts with the firm once they were re-employed, while those who lost out would receive compensation.

On Friday, officials with the Shenzhen Federation of Trade Unions met with a Huawei vice president and they reached a consensus on three issues.

China's Labor and Social Security Department has issued a reminder in local media to new college graduates that their probation period should be included in labor contracts with employers as part of their employment term and the trial use period must not be more than six months.

Specifically, the Tianjin Municipal labor and Social Security Department has said that the probationary period is for the employer and the employee to mutually understand each other and make a mutual decision. According to relevant laws, a probationary period shall be set between an employer and its employee, but the period should be included in the formal labor contract.

According to China's new Labor Contract Law which is going to take effect on January 1, 2008, the probationary period must not be more than 1 month if the labor contract term is less than one year, and the probation period should not be over two months when the contract period is less than three years. The probation period for a labor contract whose term is more than three years should be less than six months.

In addition, the employer should only set one probation term with the employees, and during the probation period, the employer must offer social insurance for employees.

NEW YORK: Bruce Masterson, the chief operating officer of Socrates Media, asked his outside counsel to customize a residential lease for all 50 U.S. states in 2003. The firm's estimate: about $400,000. He rejected that price tag and hired QuisLex, in Hyderabad, India, which did it for $45,000.

"It was good quality," said Masterson, whose Chicago-based company publishes legal forms on the Internet. "We've been working together ever since."

Clients are pushing law firms like Jones Day and Kirkland & Ellis to send basic legal tasks to India, where lawyers tag documents and investigate takeover targets for as little as $20 an hour. The firms are reacting to a trend that will move about 50,000 U.S. legal jobs overseas by 2015, according to Boston-based Forrester Research.

"The objective is to have only the most valuable people in London or New York, and the others in India, China or Columbus, Ohio," said Robert Profusek, co-head of the mergers and acquisitions practice at Jones Day in New York, who sends low-end work to the cheapest locations and plans to open a document center in India. "Lawyers are service providers. We are not gods."

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Companies with in-house legal departments in India include DuPont, Cisco Systems, and Morgan Stanley, according to ValueNotes Database.

The Indian legal-services industry will more than quadruple to $640 million by 2010 from $146 million in 2006, ValueNotes, of Maharashtra, India, said.

General Electric sends about $3 million a year in routine legal work to its Indian affiliate, said Janine Dascenzo, the GE managing counsel for legal operations.

"India has very talented lawyers," she said. "But it's a misconception that you can just send work there and it gets done. You need proper supervision and security."

Kirkland & Ellis, the seventh-largest U.S. law firm, works with offshore attorneys at the client's request, said Gregg Kirchhoefer, a senior partner in the firm's outsourcing and technology transaction practice.

"I'm not an advocate of offshoring legal services, but having worked in this area for so long, I understand the value of the model," he said. Typically, clients hire a provider and Chicago-based Kirkland helps manage the attorneys, Kirchhoefer said.

One incentive for corporations to send legal work overseas is that ethics rules compel law firms to disclose their profit margins. Traditionally, law firms charge clients markups of as much as three times what they pay associates and contract attorneys.

"Law firms can earn more by using labor they can mark up without disclosure," said Stephen Gillers, professor of legal ethics at New York University School of Law. "Clients are knowledgeable about costs, and they want to negotiate the markup on these charges."

Not every law firm has accepted the trend.

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"Some firms are spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt," says David Perla, co-chief executive of Pangea3, an offshore legal-services company based in New York and Mumbai. "They see any competition as bad and they'll raise any issues as to why you shouldn't go offshore."

Of the 10 highest-grossing U.S. law firms, seven declined to comment on outsourcing. Only one, Chicago-based Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, said it does not use the practice.

"I don't think law firms are ashamed of offshoring," Perla said. "The firms that are having success with it aren't talking, because they view it as a competitive advantage."

Of about 100 third-party legal services providers in India, clients give top marks to Pangea3 and New York-based Integreon Managed Solutions, according to The Black Book of Outsourcing, a survey published in July by Brown-Wilson Group, which is based in Clearwater, Florida.

About 80 percent of Pangea3's clients are corporations and 20 percent are law firms, Perla said.

"Some firms are coming to us because in-house clients suggested it or pressured them," Perla said. "Others want to come to the client first and offer a solution."

Integreon, which provides legal services in India, the Philippines and Fargo, North Dakota, has long-term contracts with about 45 companies and 15 law firms, said Liam Brown, the company's chief executive.

Law firms contribute 45 percent to offshore revenue, while corporate law departments contribute 36 percent, ValueNotes said.

Integreon recruits lawyers from second-tier law schools in India and managers from the litigation practices of firms such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, said Brown. After training in India, managers relocate to New York or Los Angeles.

In India, legal education is based on common law and conducted in English, requiring two or three years of classes. The country produces about 80,000 law school graduates a year, according to ValueNotes, compared with about 44,000 in the United States.

Offshore companies charge $10 to $25 an hour on low-end work and $25 to $90 an hour on advanced jobs. Junior Indian lawyers might earn as much as $8,160 a year, according to ValueNotes, compared with the $160,000 average salary for associates in major U.S. cities.

Janice D'souza, a 26-year-old lawyer in Pangea3's litigation and research department in Mumbai, said she makes three times as much as she would at an Indian law firm.

"At an Indian law firm, generally your potential is not recognized at an early stage," D'souza said. "Here it's talent-based. In the near future, I think I will be a department manager."

Baker & McKenzie, the world's largest law firm, has announced a 20 percent increase in its revenue this year.

The Chicago-based firm is set to announce today that it grossed $1.83 billion in its 2007 fiscal year, which ended June 30. That compared with $1.52 billion in 2006.

The firm will also report that, for the first time, its profits per partner were over the $1 million mark. The firm said it had profits per partner in 2007 of $1.06 million, up 22 percent from the year before.

Chairman John Conroy said Wednesday that he was pleased with the results, which he attributed to a strategic plan the firm adopted three years ago.

Since then, the firm has whittled its practices down to 11 core groups and has focused on deepening its relationships with the types of large multinational clients who can best utilize Baker & McKenzie's global network. The firm has 3,600 lawyers in 70 offices in 38 countries.

Conroy said the firm was focusing particularly on four key markets: New York, London, China and Japan. "We want to leverage the international positions we've had into these prioritized markets," he said.

He noted that Baker & McKenzie was the largest foreign law firm in China, including Hong Kong, with a total of 240 lawyers.

For such a large firm, Baker & McKenzie has long had a notably modest presence in New York. The firm made a major push into the market in 2005 when it hired most of the New York office of Coudert Brothers. Conroy said the firm had continued to expand through lateral hiring.

"We always knew if we had more critical mass in New York, we could take it to another level," he said. "This is the year we kicked it into gear."

Baker & McKenzie's results come in the wake of earnings announcements by the firms of London's Magic Circle, which it most resembles in terms of size and geographic sprawl. But those firms, with their strong London-based corporate practices, have generally been more profitable. This year was no exception, with firms like Linklaters and Clifford Chance mostly surpassing $2 billion in revenue and $2 million in profits per partner.

Beijing, China, July 06, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Miss Valentina Salmoiraghi, an associate of the Italian law firm Carone & Partners will be working in Lehman, Lee & Xu’s Beijing Office, managing the firms' Italian Desk in China.

Starting on June 15th, she will be in charge of supporting the team of Italian and Chinese attorneys put together by Carone & Partners and Lehman, Lee & Xu to represent Italian Clients in China.

Italian companies can now rely on an Italian-speaking lawyer in China which will improve communication among the attorneys involved on the relevant projects. The decision to start the Italian Desk at Lehman, Lee and Xu has been taken in order to fulfill and satisfy the increasing number and complexity of requests of engagement that the allied firms are facing. Moreover, through the Italian Desk the firms will be in the best position to provide outstanding legal assistance to Chinese clients wishing to invest in Italy.

To learn more about the firms, please visit Carone & Partners at www.cplex.it and Lehman, Lee & Xu at www.lehmanlaw.com.

Carone & Partners is an innovative and dynamic Italian firm which combines the expertise of Italian and Chinese lawyers to assist clients in international transactions related to China and Italy/EU. The firm has offices in Milan and Rome.

Lehman, Lee & Xu is a prominent Chinese corporate law firm and trademark and patent agency. The firm has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau, and Mongolia and is managed by Mr. Edward Lehman, who has two decades of legal experience in China.

By Jude Blanchette | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

Shanghai, CHINA - The comprehensive labor law that China's top legislative body passed Friday includes provisions that have appeared in previous legislation. But what may be different this time, some observers say, is the government's willingness to enforce mandates protecting workers' rights.

Scheduled to come into effect on Jan. 1, 2008, the law stipulates that employment contracts must be put in writing within one month of employment. It also says that employers must fully inform the worker of the nature of the job and of their working conditions and compensation. Furthermore, it limits the ability of employers to use temporary laborers.

But the law's impact lies in how the government interprets and enforces it. "As is always the case with China's laws, the real question will be in whether the new laws are enforced, how they are enforced, and against whom they are enforced," says Dan Harris, an expert at the law firm Harris & Moure.

But, he adds, "there is a feeling the new labor law is more likely to be enforced than the old and, in particular, will be enforced against foreign companies."

Indeed, organizations representing firms doing business in China have objected to certain provisions they say are unclear. In comments last year, the US-China Business Council warned, "The Draft Law may … reduce employment opportunities for PRC workers and negatively impact PRC's competitiveness and appeal as a destination for foreign investment."

On Friday, Xin Chunying, the deputy chairwoman of the National People's Congress Law Committee, tried to allay the fears of foreign companies. "If there were some bias," she said, "it would be in favor of foreign investors because local governments have great tolerance for them in order to attract and retain investment."

The law gives oversight power to labor unions for collective agreements and the implementation of new employment regulations, but because independent labor unions are illegal in China, this duty will fall to the government-sponsored All China Federation of Trade Unions, an organization with deep ties to the Communist Party and local government officials.

Since the first draft of the law was made public in 2005, it has gone through three drafts and elicited more than 190,000 comments from the public.

In a statement issued Sunday, the European Chamber of Commerce welcomed the law's passage, in part because it moved the labor market in the direction that many European countries have gone. According to a statement posted on their website, "After the comprehensive drafting process, the European Chamber is not concerned about the effect of the law on European investment in China."

Since its emergence as an economic powerhouse more than 20 years ago, China has been dogged by criticisms of poor working conditions, the use of child labor, and willingness to placate multinational corporations.

Friday's law comes as the government tries to deal with these complaints and dampen social unrest in rural areas. Indeed, the government is in the midst of a campaign to reduce the impact of the recent discovery of slavery-like conditions in Shanxi Province's brick factories.

Early last month, more than 400 parents from Henan Province whose children had been abducted posted an open letter on the Internet. Their children, it came out, had been sold to work in brick factories in Shanxi Province.

It has since been revealed that thousands of others have met similar fates at brick kilns, many of which are unlicensed After Chinese journalists picked up the story, it rapidly spread around the world, causing outrage and shame in China.

Last week the draft law was amended to punish officials who ignore labor abuses with prison time or other penalties. Ms. Xin said that "The labor contract law makes detailed provision concerning this issue following the exposure of the forced labor scandals."

NEW YORK-- LAWFUEL - The Law Firm Newswire --Davis Polk & Wardwell today announced that Bjorn Bjerke, Mary Conway, Michael Davis, Avi Gesser, Harald Halbhuber, Kimberley D. Harris, Kirtee Kapoor, Jinsoo H. Kim, James C. Lin, Arthur S. Long, Mark M. Mendez, Edmund Polubinski III, Lanny A. Schwartz, Sarah K. Solum and Mischa Travers have been elected partners of the firm effective July 1, 2007. Davis Polk now has 160 partners in its offices in New York, Menlo Park, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo.

Mr. Bjerke is a corporate lawyer focusing on complex structured products and derivatives including asset-backed debt instruments, fund linked instruments and credit based arrangements. His recent transactions include representing a large real-estate fund complex in a multi-billion dollar lending arrangement; representing large financial institutions in developing various fund-linked structures and derivative trading platforms and establishing synthetic CDO structures. He also represented ISDA as drafting counsel in connection with the 2006 ISDA Fund Derivatives Definitions and Delta Air Lines in connection with certain financing arrangements linked to Delta Sky Miles.

Ms. Conway is a tax lawyer concentrating in investment management matters, including the formation and operation of private equity funds, hedge funds, mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles. She has provided advice to Chilton Investment Company, Credit Suisse, Crestview Partners, FrontPoint Partners, HRJ Capital, Integrated Finance Limited, J.P. Morgan, Magnetar Capital and Morgan Stanley, among others. Her practice includes partnership matters and international tax matters.

Mr. Davis is a corporate lawyer concentrating in mergers and acquisitions. The matters he has worked on recently include advising IPSCO in connection with its proposed sale to SSAB Sventskt Stål; Marsh & McLennan in connection with the proposed sale of Putnam Investments to Great-West Lifeco; IPSCO on its acquisition of NS Group; FrontPoint Partners on its sale to Morgan Stanley; MCI on its sale to Verizon; Ford on its acquisition of plants from, and the restructuring of its business relationship with, Visteon; and various other private equity and venture capital transactions.

Mr. Gesser is a litigator concentrating in securities class actions and enforcement, white-collar criminal defense matters and complex commercial cases. Currently, he is representing a major investment bank in class actions involving analyst independence issues. He also recently served as a lead negotiator of a multi-year comprehensive agreement between a large consumer products company and multiple governmental bodies related to international trade issues. He has represented corporations and individuals in various investigations that have been resolved favorably prior to trial. He was also part of the litigation team representing Delta Air Lines in its Chapter 11 restructuring.

Mr. Halbhuber is a corporate lawyer in the London office. His practice focuses on a broad range of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions transactions. In corporate finance, he has advised both issuers and underwriters on debt and equity transactions. Most recently, he worked on several high-yield debt issuances by European issuers. He has also worked on several initial public offerings and rights offerings. His recent M&A transactions include advising Morgan Stanley on acquisitions in Russia, Italy and the U.K., and Carl Zeiss SMT in the structuring of a joint venture with Cymer and the acquisition of a U.S. nanotechnology company.

Ms. Harris is a litigator with extensive experience representing corporate clients in a variety of criminal, regulatory, and complex civil matters. Recent representations include: the Audit Committee of an auto parts manufacturer in connection with an internal investigation, as well as related criminal and regulatory investigations by the federal government; a major investment bank in connection with criminal and regulatory investigations of the bank’s IPO allocation practices; a former director of the New York Stock Exchange in connection with an investigation by the New York Attorney General and the SEC; and a major pharmaceutical company in connection with multiple complex civil class actions in both state and federal court.

Mr. Kapoor is a corporate lawyer who has had extensive experience in corporate finance, restructurings, workouts and mergers and acquisitions transactions. His experience also includes several transactions in India. His recent matters include advising The Gillette Company in connection with its $57 billion acquisition by The Procter & Gamble Company; Oracle Corporation on its $600 million acquisition of a majority stake in i-flex solutions; Oracle Corporation on its $5.85 billion acquisition of Siebel Systems and Delta Air Lines on its Chapter 11 restructuring generally and in connection with the over $10 billion unsolicited bid from US Airways.

Ms. Kim is a corporate lawyer concentrating in lending and other corporate finance transactions. She represents corporate clients and financial institutions in secured acquisition and other leveraged financings, unsecured financings, debt restructurings and exit financings. Recent representations include Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold in a $11 billion senior secured financing in connection with its acquisition of Phelps Dodge, J.P. Morgan in a $4.5 billion debtor-in-possession facility for Delphi, Delta Air Lines in a $2.5 billion senior secured exit financing, and Goldman Sachs Credit Partners and Credit Suisse in a leveraged acquisition financing for Education Management.

Mr. Lin is a corporate lawyer in the Hong Kong office, advising on public and private corporate finance transactions, including initial public offerings, high-yield debt offerings and private equity investments. He advised China Merchants Bank on its $2.66 billion HKSE listing, Air China on its $1.24 billion HKSE/LSE listing; and the underwriters in the privatization and NYSE/HKSE listing of Aluminum Corporation of China. Mr. Lin has also worked on several NASDAQ IPOs, including the $124 million listing of Baidu.com and the $468 million listing of Himax Technologies. He regularly advises a number of Asian high-technology companies on U.S. law matters.

Mr. Long is a corporate lawyer advising U.S. and foreign banks on the regulatory implications of M&A transactions; private equity investments; the offering of new financial products, including derivatives; enforcement , compliance and bank insolvency issues; and, in the case of foreign banks, establishing U.S. offices. Representative matters he has worked on include Banco Santander’s investment in Sovereign Bancorp; SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae) on its proposed sale; the acquisition by Citizens Financial Group of Charter One Financial; Citigroup’s acquisition of Banamex; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya’s merger with Argentaria; and JPMorgan’s investment in KorAm Bank.

Mr. Mendez is a corporate lawyer focusing on equity derivatives. Recently, he has advised Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs as book-running managers of a $1.5 billion offering by General Motors of convertible senior debentures and a Citigroup affiliate on the related capped call transaction; CVS Corporation in connection with a $2.5 billion collared accelerated share repurchase; Montpelier Re Holdings in connection with two variable share forward sale agreements; Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch in connection with the issuance of debt securities mandatorily exchangeable for shares of Class A common stock of Nuveen Investments; and JPMorgan in connection with the Microsoft Employee Stock Option Transfer Program.

Mr. Polubinski is a litigator representing corporations and individuals in a wide range of securities, professional liability, products liability, general commercial and acquisition-related litigation in federal and state courts. He also represents corporate and individual clients in investigations and other proceedings before various regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and the New York Stock Exchange. Recent matters include the defense of an investment banking client in putative class action antitrust litigations; the representation of a corporate issuer and individual clients in class action securities litigation and a related SEC investigation; the defense of a major pharmaceutical company in nationwide consumer protection and product liability litigation; and the representation through trial of a big four accounting firm in litigation arising out of the failure of a large national bank.

Mr. Schwartz is a corporate lawyer advising on securities compliance, regulatory and transactional matters. His clients include major international banks, broker-dealers, securities exchanges, consulting firms, a securities industry trade association and a large life settlement provider. From 1999 to 2005, he was executive vice president and general counsel of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Previously, he was managing director and counsel at Bankers Trust Company, specializing in bank and broker-dealer regulation and investment banking. He speaks and writes regularly on securities market structure and regulatory issues, and was formerly a member of the adjunct faculty of Columbia University School of Law.

Ms. Solum is a corporate lawyer in the Menlo Park office, advising on capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, SEC disclosure and corporate governance. Recent capital markets transactions include convertible debt offerings for Cadence Systems, Cypress Semiconductor and Equinix; investment grade debt offerings for Comcast, Oracle and Seagate; follow-on offerings for Kaiser Aluminum, Wet Seal and Onyx Pharmaceuticals; initial public offerings for Chipotle Mexican Grill and CAI International; and McDonald’s spin-out of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Mergers and acquisitions she has worked on recently include advising NetIQ on its sale to Attachmate WRQ and Oracle on its acquisitions of Siebel Systems and PeopleSoft.

Mr. Travers is a corporate lawyer in the Menlo Park office, advising technology companies and their underwriters and investors on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and other corporate transactions. Recent matters he has worked on include KLA-Tencor’s acquisitions of ADE, Therma-Wave, SensArray and OnWafer; Software AG’s acquisition of webMethods; Affymetrix’s acquisition of ParAllele; Comcast’s strategic partnership with TiVo; a $2.25 billion debt offering by Comcast Corporation; Affymax’s initial public offering; convertible debt offerings by Borland Software, Boston Properties, Informatica, Intel, Macrovision and Xilinx; and various investments in private companies by affiliates of Richemont.

BEIJING // China's legislature passed a sweeping new labor law yesterday that strengthens protections for workers across its booming economy, rejecting arguments from foreign investors that the measure would reduce China's appeal as a low-wage, business-friendly industrial base.
The new labor contract law, enacted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, requires employers to provide written contracts to their workers, restricts the use of temporary laborers and makes it harder to lay off employees.

The law, which is to take effect in 2008, also enhances the role of the Communist Party's monopoly union and allows collective bargaining for wages and benefits. It softens some provisions that foreign companies said would hurt China's competitiveness but retains others that American multinationals had lobbied vigorously to exclude.

The law is the latest step by President Hu Jintao to increase worker protections in a society that, despite its nominal socialist ideology, has emphasized rapid capitalist-style economic growth over enforcing labor laws or ensuring an equitable distribution of wealth.

But it could fall short of improving working conditions for the tens of millions of low-wage workers who need the most help unless it is enforced more rigorously than existing laws, which already offer protections that on paper are similar to those in developed economies.

BEIJING — Abundant low-cost labor has fueled China's economic boom. But alongside the success stories of bustling factories and surging foreign investment are widespread complaints of unpaid wages, forced labor and other abuses.

When Beijing set out to tackle those problems by proposing a new labor law in 2005, it ignited a heated debate, prompting warnings that the measure might hurt the economy and accusations that U.S. and other foreign companies wanted to erode workers' rights.

This week, after 18 months of deliberation and a rare government request for public comment on the law, legislators are expected to enact a final version that is meant to set standards for China's rapidly changing labor market.

The law, the most significant change in Chinese labor rules in more than a decade, would set standards for labor contracts, use of temporary workers and severance pay.

The change reflects Beijing's willingness to balance its desire for investment against the need to improve conditions for workers at a time of rising tension over a growing wealth gap, said Ronald Brown, a specialist in Chinese law at the University of Hawaii.

"The question facing the decision-makers often has been, 'What will happen if we have hard enforcement? Will that scare people away and take away our competitive advantage?'" Brown said.

"I think the government has been listening and seeing that maybe it's not going to hurt its competitive advantage, and that it's time, and it's important for social stability."

The law was proposed in December 2005 amid complaints that companies were mistreating workers by withholding pay, requiring unpaid overtime or failing to provide written contracts.

Many complaints are directed at Chinese employers or smaller companies run by foreign entrepreneurs. Major Western companies are regarded as offering the best pay and working conditions. But state media are quick to publicize accusations of misconduct against well-known American and other Western employers.

In April 2006, the government published the first draft of the law and asked for public comment, an almost unprecedented step in a communist system where most lawmaking takes place in secret.

It received more than 190,000 responses from workers and Chinese and foreign companies.

Foreign business groups expressed alarm at proposed restrictions on firing workers, limits on use of temporary workers and a provision giving the All-China Federation of Trade Unions _ the umbrella group for unions permitted by the communist government _ a voice in staffing decisions.

The law is "like going 20 years backward," said the monthly magazine of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which represents 1,300 U.S. companies. The U.S.-China Business Council warned that restrictions on temporary employees would be "prohibitively expensive."

Labor activists reacted angrily to the foreign lobbying. The U.S.-based group Global Labor Strategies dubbed companies involved the "sweatshop lobby" and accused them of pushing Beijing to "weaken or abandon significant pro-worker reforms."

Apparently stung by that criticism, the European Chamber of Commerce in China backed away from earlier criticism of the law, declaring in December that it "stands firmly behind the Chinese government's efforts to improve working conditions."

The business comments appear to have prompted Beijing to remove the most contentious provisions. The third draft of the law, the latest version released, no longer requires approval from the official labor body to fire workers.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, votes Friday on a fourth version, and its press office said its law committee recommended approval.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai declined to comment on the latest draft but its chairman, James Zimmerman, expressed thanks to the government for accepting comments.

"We are pleased that the Chinese government has allowed public participation in the law-drafting process, and believe that this has been a constructive exercise in transparency," Zimmerman said in a written statement.

The proposed law adds to a series of government steps to update China's legal and political systems to keep pace with explosive economic and social change.

A law passed in March ended two decades of blanket tax breaks for foreign investors, equalizing their rates with those paid by Chinese companies.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has been setting up branches at hundreds of foreign companies in a campaign launched last year.

The ACFTU often is regarded not as an advocate for better pay and working conditions for employees but as an intermediary that represents employers to workers.

But if the proposed labor law is enacted, it could force the body to act more like a Western-style union by giving it formal responsibilities to stand up for workers, Brown said.

"As these new laws are enforced," he said, "the labor union is likely going to have to accept a larger role as an adversary and an advocate, negotiating better conditions for its members."

On Wednesday, China announced a new crackdown on illegal labor practices following an outcry over revelations of slave labor at brick factories in the country's central provinces.

The two-monthlong inspection campaign starting next week will focus on small-scale kilns, coal mines and workshops, according to a statement posted on the central government's official Web site.

Officials have been ordered to "fix illegal labor practices, attack illegal criminal behavior, conscientiously protect the personal interests of the broad masses of the people, and resolve ... problems of the protection of the rights of migrant workers," the statement said.

China has been in the throes of a slavery scandal that has unleashed a flood of negative publicity against officials in Shanxi and Henan provinces. Hundreds of children and adults were abducted and sold to brickyards in those areas. Operators, often acting with local government protection, beat, starved and forced workers to labor long hours without pay.

Nearly 1,000 workers have been released following police raids in recent months, prompted in part by accusations posted on the Internet that authorities were ignoring such practices.

Promulgated 12 years ago, the PRC Labor Law remains the fundamental piece of legislation governing employment relationships in China. Soon that will change. The draft PRC Employment Contract Law, expected to be promulgated in mid-2007, will effect wide-ranging changes to the regulatory environment for labor relations nationwide.

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We take pleasure in announcing that TransAsia Lawyers will soon be hosting the China Employment Contract Law Forum 2007 with the official endorsement and support of the PRC Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MOLSS). Senior officials from the National People's Congress, State Council, the MOLSS and the local labor bureaus of major cities will support and speak at the event. The forum will focus on the legal interpretation of the new PRC Employment Contract Law.

The Forum is scheduled for 23 - 24 July 2007 at the China World Hotel in Beijing* and will focus on the significant, wide-reaching legal interpretation of the new employment contract law. Several influential government agencies will be involved in the Forum: senior officials from the National People's Congress, State Council, MOLSS and All China Federation of Trade Unions will attend and speak. A number of leading multi-nationals will also participate.

Recommended attendance for:

CEOs
HR Directors and Consultants
Lawyers and In-house Counsel
Business Advisors
Academics

The forum will be the first time that senior PRC officials and legislators will appear on the same platform to discuss the new law. It will therefore provide a unique opportunity for attendees to hear authoritative interpretation of the law and to share their own thoughts directly with key individuals involved in the regulation of employment law in China.

To date, we have confirmed the following keynote speakers:

* Mr Zhang Shicheng, Deputy Director of the Legislative Committee, National People's Congress;
* Mr Li Jian, Director-General, Labor and Social Security Department, State Council;
* Mr Yan Baoqing, Director-General, Legal Affairs Department, MOLSS;
* Mr Qiu Xiaoping, Director-General, Wages Department, MOLSS;
* Mr Rui Lixin, Deputy Director-General, Legal Affairs Department, MOLSS; and

For an outline of the above speakers' topics, please click here.

* Mr Zhang Shouqi, Deputy Director-General, State Administration for Social Security;
* Mr Xu Shuli, Director, Wage Department, Beijing Labor Bureau;
* Mr Li Yanjun, Director, Employment Contract Relationships Department, Tianjin Labor Bureau;
* Mr Zhu Deliang, Director, Labor Disputes Department, Guangdong Provincial Labor and Social Security Administration; and
* Ms Isabelle Wan, Senior Partner, TransAsia Lawyers.

Additional distinguished speakers, including senior judges, local labor bureau officials, HR directors, and legal counsel from well-known multinationals, will participate as panelists.

We will continue to update this page with further details regarding the speakers and program of the Forum.

http://www.transasialawyers.com/pp.php?id=laborforum2007

China's draft Labor Contract Law, scheduled for final passage in June 2007, saw a number of revisions during the National People's Congress (NPC) third deliberation on April 24.

A translation of the third draft is provided for members' information, courtesy of Baker & McKenzie. Please click here to view the file. (147kb pdf). AmCham Shanghai is currently reviewing the document.

HONG KONG, June 12 (Reuters) - A new employment law in China will increase labour costs for foreign companies and restrict their flexibility in hiring staff, Australian law firm Minter Ellison said on Tuesday.
However the law, expected to go into effect in January, will also make it easier for companies to make large-scale layoffs in certain circumstances, such as bankruptcy.

The law is partly aimed at protecting employees in the private sector, lawyers say, and keeping up with changes in the labour market as a result of China's rapid economic expansion.

Thirty percent of new jobs in the country are now in service industries and private enterprises have replaced state-owned enterprises as the major employers.

"The greater part of the workforce is now employed by private enterprises and that brings a fear that those organisations don't necessarily have the interests of workers at heart," Pattie Walsh, an employment lawyer at Minter Ellison, told a conference in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Foreign companies, which have flocked to China to tap into the country's booming economy, have favoured fixed-term employment contracts for local employees as laying off staff in China is difficult.

But under the new law, all companies will have to pay compensation at the end of a fixed contract and will have to allow employees to switch to an open-ended contract after twice renewing a fixed contract.

Lawyers also say probationary periods will be less effective because an employer will have to show evidence that an employee has failed to perform during probation before they can dismiss them.

"That means a company will have to monitor the employee during the probation period much more closely and will need to set criteria or an appraisal system so they can prove that an employee is not fulfilling the role," Walsh said. "This will put more pressure on the employee selection process to get the right people in."

Some analysts say foreign companies are being targeted in a drive to increase unionisation and U.S. retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc and fast-food chain McDonald's , which has been accused of breaching minimum wage laws, are among companies that have moved to set up branches of state-backed unions.

Walsh said an existing employment law, introduced in 1995, is not always enforceable because it applies differently depending on the region and is often ignored in favour of local practices.

A final draft of the new labour contracts law is expected to be published within weeks and lawyers expect it to become effective on Jan. 1, 2008.

Many employees in China are working without formal contracts but the new law will require every employee to have a written contract drawn up within a month of starting work and companies will be liable to pay compensation if there is no contract.

Companies will however have more flexibility to lay off large numbers of staff in the event of bankruptcy, production difficulties, relocation to prevent or control pollution and changing economic circumstances.

Walsh said this indicated Beijing was bowing to pressure from companies to enable them to take difficult decisions when they go through tough times.

The law will also modify a "non-compete" clause, enabling a company to stop a senior member of staff or some other employee with confidential company information from joining a competitor within two years of leaving the company by providing compensation. Under the existing law the term is three years and is not restricted to senior staff and other special cases.

The terms of compensation will be agreed between the employer and employee when the employee first joins the company.

Lawyers said the "non-compete" clause helped companies protect their intellectual property and was a step ahead of some other jurisdictions.

(by Asian Legal online & DaCare Legal)

Over the last year or so the number of clients, both private practice and in-house, seeking to recruit lawyers for their operations in Beijing and Shanghai has seen a steady increase and this is expected to continue throughout 2004. Mainland China is a vast and complex market for most businesses and the position is no different for law firms operating there.

Recruiting the right people for offices on the ground is very difficult and for law firms it is often the case of making the upfront investment in people with the returns on the investment lagging far behind. Not only do language skills play a big part but also experience in the local markets is increasingly important. Beijing and Shanghai are different legal markets and if a client is recruiting for example in Shanghai their clear preference is to have someone already in the local market. The trend in the past has been to relocate people with the necessary skills from Hong Kong and, while this will continue, there will be a developing market in both Beijing and Shanghai for people already on the ground moving firms.

The development of local law firms is also worth noting. The writer on a recent trip to Shanghai met with a number of successful local firms who also face complex recruitment issues. While not an immediate trend, it is envisaged that major local players will eventually seek to recruit lawyers from Hong Kong for their offices in Shanghai or Beijing. The practising rules and CEPA already envisage this kind of movement with the only obstacle being the discrepancy in salary levels.

The Mainland in-house market will also continue to develop at a pace. Of all the legal recruitment markets over the last year, the in-house market has held up well. There is an ever-increasing need to recruit good quality local lawyers for in-house positions with multinationals. There already exists a well-organised in-house lawyers group whose members are being presented with an ever-increasing range of in-house opportunities.

There is no doubt that the legal market in Mainland China will continue to grow - the challenge for everyone involved will be how to attract the right people and how to make a return on the investment involved - there will be no easy fixes in this regard.

Search Firm: DaCare Legal Search
Website: www.dacare-legal.com

Office: shanghai, beijing, china
Keywords: legal recruiting, law jobs, attorney jobs in China

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An interesting article from China Law Blog:

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Nearly every week, I get a couple e-mails and/or calls from earnest law students seeking pearls of wisdom regarding how to break into international law or China law. I usually talk about the need to learn as many languages as possible and about the benefits of having lived overseas. A couple years ago, I gave a speech on international law careers at Indiana University School of Law and I am scheduled to be on a international law career panel at Seattle University Law School later this month. I am an expert on these issues only to the extent that I am in the business and I have very definite ideas as to what it takes.

I have no idea if my ideas on this would hold up to analysis, but I at least now know my views are part of the mainstream. Chris Carr over at the CalPolyMBA Blog just did a post, entitled "Critical Success Qualities for Expat Managers in China," summarizing what CEOs look for in choosing their China managers. This list comes from the book China CEO: Voices of Experience from 20 International Business Leaders (of which I have heard many good things and I have just started it). Interestingly (but not surprisingly) the traits these CEOs seek in their ex-pat managers for China are pretty much the exact same traits I find necessary to be a good international lawyer. Here is the list, with my comments in italics.

1. Technical and Corporate Expertise: Select people with a rock-solid professional background and an excellent knowledge of the company.

Yes. In the legal arena, this means get smart people.

2. International Expertise: A posting in China becomes vastly more manageable after an assignment either in an Asian location or another developing market, or both.

Absolutely. The key here is that the person who has spent time in another country tends to be better equipped to deal with other countries, including those countries to which he or she has never been. I have seen this time and again with both lawyers and clients. We have many clients who when their business dried up in one country moved nearly effortlessly to another country. We also see domestic companies that simply cannot make the leap to go international at all, when they really should. What you learn in one country (but obviously not everything) does help you in another.

3. Multicultural Mindset: When selecting an executive for an overseas posting, look for someone with an adventurous spirit, a sense of humor, and an open mind.
I completely agree and this applies to lawyers as much as to anyone else. In an article I wrote a long long time ago on doing business in emerging market countries, I stressed (and stressed again .... so I was repetitive back then):

Doing business in an emerging market means taking nothing for granted. I have a mantra for my own legal work in these countries that translates well to the business world: "Assume nothing, but assume that you are assuming things without even realizing you are doing so."
Things will be different. Very different. Things you take for granted in your home country might not exist in the emerging market country. Things you take for granted in your home country might be the exact opposite in the emerging market country. Things you think will be totally different in the emerging market country may be exactly the same. Things you thought you knew about emerging market countries based on what you know from another emerging market country may be completely different in a neighboring country, or even in another region within the same country.

The principle, one more time: Keep an open mind, and assume nothing.
4. Commitment to Learn: Learn from those around you. Listen to your employees, JV partners, clients, and customers.

Of course.

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5. Humility: Be humble and avoid using an authoritarian style. Influencing and coaching is the way to get the best out of your Chinese employees.
Yes. This is also the way to get the best out of the lawyers in other countries with whom you will be working.

6. Strength: Be unyielding in defending core corporate values and culture.

Yes. And in the legal context this means doing things by the law, even if you see others around you not doing so.

7. Patience: Be patient; use a step-by-step approach in China, not a Big Bang approach.

I will borrow again from my emerging markets article:

Exercise Extreme Patience. This principle stems from the maxim that everything takes twice as long as you think it will. If it takes twice as long in the West, triple that in emerging market countries. You'll go in both as a businessperson and a teacher—and in both roles, the learning curve of your partner will almost certainly take way more time to deal with than you think.

For example, many emerging market countries have a history where "bad business" meant "thinking long-term." A year or two after the fall of Soviet communism, I was involved in a matter where an investor put $250,000 into a Russian joint venture. The business very quickly was making good money and all indicators pointed towards steadily increasing profitability. But, quite quickly, the Russian company stole the $250,000. Was it so irrational for him to think so short term in a country where the government and tax systems had such a history of unpredictability?
8. Speed: Be flexible and quick. Stay well informed; the business environment in China is in a constant and rapid flux, probably much more so than in other markets.

This is true of international law as well, and if one is going to practice in this area, one has to enjoy and thrive on constant change and even constant uncertainty. I was talking the other day with my friend, Dan Hull, lawyer extraordinaire at Hull McGuire, and he was telling me how he has abandoned all pretext of what he calls "PCness" and he now just tells potential hires there that they had better be prepared to work tirelessly just to keep up. I can certainly vouch for Dan being right when it comes to practicing international law.

9. Guanxi-building: Build your guanxi not only internally (with subordinates, peers and superiors) but also externally with clients, suppliers and government officials). A strong guanxi network is a fundamental element of your success in China.

As a lawyer, both you and your practice will benefit by your doing more than just staying in your office poring over law books. Get to know your clients, your fellow lawyers, good people in the industries in which you are working, and treat them with respect. I see this as basic good business for anyone.

So you want to be an international (or China) lawyer? Conform to this list.

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's proposed employment contract law has created growing feelings of uncertainty and pessimism among foreign-invested enterprises, according to a survey conducted by law firm Baker & McKenzie and HR consultants Hewitt Associates .

The draft legislation was submitted to the National People's Congress this week for its third and final reading but the survey found that the majority of respondents had a negative view of the new law.

'Almost no company expects an overall positive impact,' said Susan Derkach, senior consultant at Hewitt Associates, Beijing.

'Over one-half of participants believe that when implemented, the new labor contract law will have a negative or very negative impact on their daily business,' Derkach said.

After he first draft of the law was published last year it prompted 191,000 comments from the public to the government.

This prompted amendments to the second version including changes, such as an increased emphasis on open-term contracts, non-compete and confidentially agreements, training contracts and probationary periods, restrictions on fixed-term contracts, more specific definitions and limitations concerning mass-layoffs.

'Overall, there seems to be a great degree of uncertainty among the participants about the potential implications of the new law on their companies. Similarly, the majority of participants do not seem to be sure how they should prepare for passage of the law,' Derkach said.

'We believe that companies should aggressively pursue the following three actions: a comprehensive review and redrafting of the work force planning process and strategy; a comprehensive audit and redesign of all HR policies, manuals, collective agreements and employment contracts; strategic decisions on employee representation and collective bargaining,' she said.

The new law is expected to take effect from Jan 1, 2008, but implementing it will challenge most companies, other experts said.

'The law as it stands is very opaque and it is unclear as to how it will actually be implemented,' said Andreas Lauffs, head of the employment group at Baker & McKenzie, Hong Kong.

'So far there has been no mention of grandfathering or of any transition period,' Lauffs said.

Further concerns of respondents to the survey related to trade unions and employee representation.

'This could be an issue in the face of recent moves by China's trade federation to unionize some high-profile multinationals,' Lauffs said.

Both McDonald's and KFC recently came under pressure from the state-controlled All China Federation of Trade Unions to cooperate with the formation of unions in their outlets.

The survey showed that almost half of the 436 participants have no employee representation while 89 pct are not covered by a company or industry collective agreement.

'Only a small number of companies seem to have specific plans to address the potential new requirement to negotiate a collective agreement with their workforce,' Susan Derkach said.

Those surveyed included wholly owned foreign enterprises, join ventures, representative offices, non state-owned enterprises and state-owned enterprises.

The Labour Law of the People’s Republic of China (“Labour Law”) is applicable to all employment relationships between individuals and enterprises in China. However, local governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities may, and most of them do, issue detailed measures and rules for the implementation of the Labour Law. Such detailed measures are promulgated based on the Labour Law, with changes and specific details made in light of the local conditions. Thus, when dealing with China labour or employment matters, reference should always be made to the local regulations (in addition to the Labour Law), particularly as regards social insurance benefits and welfare benefits.

The Labour Law requires the establishment of an employment or labour contract (“Contract”) between the employer and employee for the purposes of recording an employer-employee relationship. The Contract is required to be made in writing and must necessarily be based on the principles of equality, voluntariness and mutual consent. If the Contract is not concluded based on such principles or is otherwise in violation of any PRC laws, administrative rules or regulations, the Contract may be treated as invalid in its entirety, or as regards the affected parts only, depending on the seriousness and nature of the violations.

Any dispute over the validity of the Contract or otherwise should in the first instance be referred to the relevant labour dispute arbitration committee (being part of the labour tribunal) for determination, and if the employer or employee concerned does not find the arbitration outcome acceptable, either side may refer the matter to the relevant People’s Court for a judgement to be made.

The Contract should deal with the following:
1. term or duration of the Contract;
2. job description or the scope of work to be performed;
3. labour/employment protection and working conditions;
4. labour/employment remuneration;
5. labour/employment disciplines;
6. conditions for termination of the Contract; and
7. responsibilities for breach of the Contract.

The parties are free to agree on other matters for inclusion in the Contract. It is in fact common to agree on a probationary period, the employee’s duty to observe confidentiality or non-disclosure obligations, non-competition covenants, etc.

The Contract may be terminated at any time by mutual agreement between the employer and employee. Severance is generally payable to the employee on termination of the Contract, save in the case of a summary dismissal or where termination is due to the employee’s resignation.

Where severance is payable, it is calculated with reference to the:
• number of years of service rendered; and
• average monthly income based on the employee’s income for the 12-month period immediately preceding the date of termination (and “income” includes base salary, bonus, subsidy, allowance, commission, etc., paid to the employee).

The severance amount payable equals the average monthly income multiplied by the number of years of service. In most localities, an incomplete year of service is treated as a full year for purposes of calculating the severance.

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While some of Philadelphia's largest firms are still looking for ways to navigate the onerous path to entering the Chinese legal market, two smaller firms have quietly found their place in the booming economy thousands of miles away.

White & Williams has had a China business practice group since 2003 and has had an informal alliance with the Chinese-based Xue Law Firm since the summer of 2006.

The two firms made official last month a strategic alliance, which White & Williams said it hopes will facilitate its existing work in the region and create opportunities for representation of Chinese companies.

"We have been assisting our U.S.-based clients with their China operations, and the Shanghai alliance will provide us with a vehicle to serve Chinese companies looking to the U.S," firm Chairman George J. Hartnett said in a statement. "We believe the Shanghai alliance will make the Chinese market a two-way street for us -- we and the Xue Law Firm can help companies coming and going."

Beyond the alliance option, one local firm is looking to be on the ground in China.

Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff, which expanded beyond its Ohio roots for the first time last month with the addition of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del., offices, will have one of its attorneys in China in a few months. The firm received its license from the Chinese Ministry of Justice on Feb. 7, and is now set to open a Shanghai law office.

Partner Yanping Wang will serve as chief representative in the office and will move to Shanghai this summer, firm Managing Partner James M. Hill said.

Wang practices in the firm's corporate and securities practice group and is admitted to practice in both the United States and China. Her practice focuses on assisting clients who are entering the Chinese market through mergers, joint ventures and strategic alliances.

Hill said the firm started a subsidiary, Benesch Pacific, about two and half years ago to help clients with business needs in China. He said it was staffed by one person with a master's in business administration who handled nonlegal needs.

The firm began its application process for a license to practice in China about a year later, and Hill said it was tedious but not problematic.

Benesch Friedlander saw a gap in the market, and Hill said the firm thought it would be able to service its clients from Chicago to the East Coast through a Chinese office.

Most companies, regardless of size, are forced to use the largest of law firms when doing work in China, he said.

"You're not really important to them as a $350 million manufacturing company," he said.

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Despite how the manufacturing industry may be portrayed in the media, Hill said the industry becomes a larger part of the gross domestic product each year and those are the types of companies that abound in the Midwest.

Several of the firm's clients, such as the Eton Corp., have become globalized over the years, he said.

"We saw there was a big opportunity there," Hill said, adding that the firm's typical clients range from $50 million to $1 billion companies.

White & Williams' interest in the Chinese market started when partner Gary P. Biehn had a client who was looking to complete a joint venture there in 2003. The firm started to see a larger interest in the market from its existing regional and Pennsylvania-based clients, he said.

Many middle-market companies have larger customers who are working in China or are seeing their competitors move in that direction, Biehn said.

White & Williams is also representing Chinese companies who are involved with business and litigation matters in the United States, he said.

There are currently four attorneys within the firm who are dedicated to the China business practice. Biehn, associates Chunsheng Lu and Robert C. Maier and immigration group leader Robert C. Seiger III.

Thomas S. Clay of consulting firm Altman Weil said it would be unusual to find many firms the same size as White & Williams or Benesch Friedlander that had any sort of presence in China.

There are several firms with clients who have business opportunities in the country, but Clay said he applauds any who are even thinking about entering the market in some way.

Smaller firms need even more of a strategic reason to enter a new market than do larger firms, consultant Joel A. Rose said.

"Unless they had an opportunity to do work [within China], I cannot believe that they would just build the stadium and they will come," Rose said of White & Williams and Benesch Friedlander's decisions to enter the Chinese market.

When opening an office in a market like China, Clay said firms need to be sure they will "have enough oomph" with just one or two attorneys on the ground. In an alliance situation, he said firms have to work at making it successful and not just mention it on their Web sites.

White & Williams sent one of its associates, Chinese native Lu, to spend 10 weeks at the Xue Law Firm over the summer of 2006. Lu is a member of the Chinese National Bar and the Pennsylvania bar. Hartnett said Lu would spend part of his time working in the Xue firm.

According to the consultants who spoke to The Legal Intelligencer, the biggest concern for smaller firms entering China is whether the work is available.

"There's been probably more money lost in London than you can shake a stick at" by U.S. firms who figured they would open an office and hope the work follows, Clay said.

The Chinese market is even more difficult, and firms need to be sure they will have work to do before opening an office there, he said.

While the market has traditionally seen firms from the West Coast or with particularly strong Washington, D.C., offices looking to enter China, Sandra Mannix of Abelson Legal Search said there are a few reasons why China might make sense for White & Williams.

The firm's insurance defense work could mean it has clients who have coverage needs in China. And just by virtue of being an old, Philadelphia firm, White & Williams may have had clients who evolved into national or international companies with needs around the world, she said.

White & Williams' alliance formed out of a relationship Lu had with the Xue Law Firm and has been almost five years in the making, Biehn said.

"Like anything in China, you have to do your research, be patient," he said.

Hill said it would be helpful for the firm to have Wang in China because she can help recruit other attorneys. He said he hopes to build the office to about 10 or 15 attorneys.

Wang has family members in China who are in prominent political positions. In a country that is heavily based on relationships, Hill said that could help grow the firm's contacts in the area.

The influx of Chinese companies interested in business opportunities in the United States has also increased in just the last year, he said.

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As I sit before my computer monitor writing this short article, the window for my document is minimized so as to maximize my view of my desktop background—a view of our beloved, blue planet from two hundred miles above its surface. The stunning vista of creamy, white-blue clouds and indigo sea against a black, starless sky reminds me of the amazing richness of opportunities constantly before us卆nd of our regrettable inability to take advantage of all of them. Fortunately, leading full and joyful lives does not require that we take advantage of all opportunities but, rather, that we carefully choose the precious few possibilities that we can and will pursue. What a difference it will make in your law career if you seize those few opportunities and take full advantage of the doors they open!

No Such Thing as "Making Partner"

Candidates ask me all the time, "Which firms are making partners now?" I always respond, "None of them!" The dead silence is usually followed by nervous laughter. "No, really," candidates say. "I know it seems like that, but where are associates really making partners?"

At this juncture, I usually let them in on a little secret: things have changed in the practice of law since the 1950s. Here's the bottom line: there are no more firms where associates simply "make partner." Instead, associates grow up, get clients, create practices, and only then are awarded partnership status.

What this means is that attorneys must know how to create thriving practices while maintaining heavy workloads, and most firms cannot or will not expend resources to teach lawyers how to do this. They are on their own. Well, almost.

Here are some pointers that will help you develop the personal and professional clout you will need to build your own book of business.

Start Building Partner Skills Now

Associates who are ultimately invited to join their firms' partnerships are not created equally, yet there are several "types" of attorneys who possess skills that increase their likelihood of making partner. I once sat in on a lecture given by the chairman of a prominent law firm, in which he discussed three types of partnership-bound associates.

First, there is the "rainmaker" who spends all (or most) of his or her time networking, having lunches, meeting people, and bringing in business. Second, the "service partner" adds value to a firm by providing niche expertise in a specialized area of the law, thus meeting the needs of sophisticated clients in ways that a partner with general legal skills cannot. Finally, the "hybrid" brings good leadership skills, strong connections to the firm and within the local community, and the ability to supervise projects and associates with aplomb.

While I respect these distinctions, I see things a little more simply. The only kind of person who can make and remain a partner is a person who has developed and continues to nurture a large, quality network of friends, colleagues, experts, and clients with whom he or she is involved on a professional level. This means that a potential partner must be able to call upon the people within his or her network to meet the needs of existing clients, to refer and generate new clients, and to keep abreast of developments in his or her industry.

No matter what level of practice you may now enjoy, the levels of ability and interest you exhibit in maintaining such a network may well mean the difference between professional and remunerative success or failure.

The Core Competency of a Partner

The ability to develop successful professional relationships is one of the core competencies of a partner. Almost anyone can practice law, but only a few develop law practices. I always try to emphasize to younger lawyers that it is never too early to start the process of building a network of strong relationships. The fundamental difference between a partner and any other lawyer is leadership ability. Partners lead. That means that partners assume responsibilities, delegate tasks, and are accountable for meeting the needs of their clients. These leadership traits are not innate; they must be learned, and to be learned, they must be practiced.

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The only way to become a leader is to practice leadership in a thousand small ways. Sets of small acts tend to grow, of their own accord, into larger sets of responsibilities that eventually can develop into leadership over an entire case, with a large client, or in a 3,000-member law firm.

Furthermore, leadership does not begin with a "lucky break," such as when, for instance, the senior associate on a matter calls in sick and you are named the lead attorney卭r when the lead partner suddenly realizes that you are brilliant卭r even if a client suddenly prefers that you take the reins. Rather, leadership begins with relationship management. In essence, every legal task can be broken down into a series of relationships that need managing. For example, an attorney must exhibit leadership in order to assign the appropriate people within a law firm to answer interrogatories, to find critical documents, to communicate key information about deals to clients, or to manage support staff and other associates in preparing filings or coordinating nationwide document collections and reviews.

Thus, to build the confidence, credibility, and leadership skills necessary to fulfill these responsibilities, attorneys must begin by cultivating as many meaningful relationships as possible. To do this, they must actually meet people.

Get Out There, Meet People, and Make Friends

Networking is just a fancy way of describing the process of intentionally making friends. Every lawyer in the country should be a member of at least three organizations and should contribute to each of them. It is often the case that the most effective, highest-functioning attorneys are those who are members of scores of organizations that they have joined over the courses of their careers.

For starters, however, any professional—and every lawyer—should join one organization within each of the following genres: professional, service-oriented, and fraternal or social. At the most basic level, every lawyer should be closely involved with some sort of professional organization of lawyers dedicated to furthering the practice of law. This might be a subcommittee within a state bar association, the American Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, or even your local Barristers Club. There is no substitute for meeting and interacting with new lawyers in settings devoted to their respective practices. Successful lawyers have hundreds of colleagues who are essentially professional acquaintances with whom they have developed familiarity. Although meeting people and getting to know colleagues is incredibly easy to do, many lawyers dread it. It doesn't have to be painful. Go out and meet someone new today!

For the Socially Challenged: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Network

Here is a step-by-step primer for developing a network of professional colleagues that even a partner would envy:

Join the "[fill in the blank]" club.

Actually go to a meeting.

Say, "Hello, how are you?" to five people. Be brave. Try to initiate some small talk. (For example, ask questions such as "Where do you practice?" or "What is your most interesting case right now?")

Give a business card to each person you talk to. Ask for a business card from each of them, or write their names and phone numbers down on one of your own cards and hang on to it!

Once you get home or back to the office, enter their names in your Outlook folder (or some other location), and set up a reminder to call each person back in one week to follow up and say how much you enjoyed meeting him or her.

Actually call each person back.

Make it a practice to call each person on your list of contacts once every three months.

Follow where this leads you.

There. That wasn't so hard! These are simple but invaluable steps. Every lawyer has some basic social skills, or he or she would not have survived the first year of legal practice. Begin naturally—but begin—and see where these proto-relationships take you. The point is that, just like in sales, there are only so many solid opportunities per "X" number of contacts. The only way to "get lucky" is to make sure that you make lots of attempts to build and maintain your personal network. Not every person is going to become a client, but the greater the number of personal contacts you maintain, the greater the resulting synergy between their accumulated sums of interactions, relationships, and experiences and your own.

Bringing It All Together

Once you have started down the path of generating a network of diverse professionals, you will be surprised at how it starts to take on a life of its own. Telling one colleague about an amusing vignette may lead him or her to do a small favor for you, such as sending over a client as a referral. Over time, that client or that colleague may lead you to significant business opportunities. All the while, you should be continuing to grow these and other relationships.

The key point to remember is that becoming a responsible leader depends on your ability to manage relationships. In every interaction, follow through with whatever you promise to do. If you offer to provide a reference, provide it! If you agree to get the name of someone who can serve as an expert, do it—and promptly! Demonstrating this kind of courtesy builds reputations and relationships—one small, solid step at a time. I absolutely guarantee that if you follow these practices, you will eventually succeed. You don't have to be perfect all the time. You just need to be reasonably careful, reasonably reliable, and reasonably friendly, and you will be ahead of the majority of the pack.

Conclusion

The world is full of opportunities, but we cannot take advantage of them all; we can only capitalize on a few. To the extent that you can internalize this powerful principle, you will find that the world—and, in particular, your own practice—is as full of opportunities as a path strewn with gems. The key is to determine which gems to pick up, carry, and ultimately safeguard卋ecause you cannot take them all. If you follow this path, you may find that your biggest challenges lie not in finding opportunities, but in having sufficiently large pockets!

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by Peter L. Smith, Esq.

MMLC Group has appointed Chinese lawyer Judith Crosbie-Chen as a director. She will divide her time between the group's Beijing and Hong Kong offices. Her practice in the group mainly focuses on corporate social responsibility and compliance, employment and IP issues.

Immediately prior to joining MMLC group, Judith Crosbie-Chen was the associate Asia Pacific general counsel for Gap Inc. Before that, she had been the Head of MacDonalds Corporation's Greater China legal department for nearly eight years.

"Judith brings to the MMLC Group a unique combination of extensive experience within the in-house legal departments of two of the most famous brands in the world - MacDonalds and the Gap - as well as strong credentials in the PRC law practice area," says Matthew Murphy, managing partner at MMLC group.

Those credentials include her appointment in 1992 as the first chief representative of one of the first batch of foreign law firms authorised by the PRC Ministry of Justice to set up an office in Beijing. In addition, her interest in Corporate Social Responsibility and Compliance matters will allow the MMLC Group to rapidly develop a first-class reputation in both of those practice areas.

MMLC is an international corporate advisory group, focusing on M&A, IP, tax and, more recently, CSR and compliance issues for many multinational companies and governments. Currently, the group has over 30 professionals based in Greater China and Australia.

Professional jargon abounds in the field of legal recruitment and law school career services. This glossary is designed to help those who are new to the plethora of acronyms and specialized terms.

Although somewhat inclusive, this brief glossary cannot feature every legal recruitment term or every law-related organization. You are invited to submit suggest new terms for inclusion.

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AALS - Association of American Law Schools. An organization of law schools whose purpose is the improvement of the legal profession through legal education. This association serves as the law teachers' learned society and produces a monthly newsletter of teaching and administrative positions available at law schools nationwide.

AALSA/APALSA - Asian American Law Student Association/Asian Pacific American Law Student Association.

ABA - American Bar Association. Headquartered in Chicago, the ABA offers educational programs, publications, and services relating to all facets of the practice of law. www.abanet.org

ACC - Association of Corporate Counsel. www.acca.com

ACCESS GROUP - A non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that students have access to affordable funding for their education.

ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act.

ADJUNCT PROFESSOR - A part-time faculty member who is generally a practitioner.

ADR - Alternative Dispute Resolution. Methods other than going to court to solve problems among people, including counseling, mediation and arbitration.

AILTO - American Institute for Law Training within the Office.

ALA - Association of Legal Administrators. www.alanet.org

ALI-ABA - American Law Institute - American Bar Association, a nonprofit endeavor providing continuing professional education for lawyers. www.ali-aba.org

ALTERNATIVE CAREERS/LAW-RELATED CAREERS - Law-related and/or non-legal career opportunities for J.D. graduates other than the practice of law.

ANNUAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE - NALP's annual conference, which offers a wide array of programming and includes the NALP annual business meeting.

ASSOCIATE - A lawyer who is an employee, as opposed to an owner, of a law firm. (See also Partner.)

BAR EXAM - The licensing examination required to become a member of the bar. While individuals may earn a J.D. degree, they may not practice law until they have passed a state's bar examination. Most states offer the bar exam twice a year, in February and July.

BILLABLE HOURS - The time lawyers work on a project for a client that can be charged to the client. Most employers require an established number of billable hours per lawyer (e.g., 35 billable hours a week). The number of billable hours required is a major area of concern and inquiry for both students and practicing lawyers.

BLIND AD - A job posting in which the employer is not named. Interested applicants forward resumes to post office boxes and are therefore unable to contact the employer directly.

BLSA - Black Law Students Association.

BOOK AWARDS - In some schools, when students earn the highest grade in a particular class it is said they booked the course. Often schools or outside organizations provide awards to students who earn this distinction.

BRANCH OFFICES - Additional office locations beyond the law firm's traditional "home" office.

BUCKLEY AMENDMENT - The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which guarantees that students have the right of access to inspect and review any and all official records, files, documents, and other materials created during the period the individual was enrolled as a student at the institution. With limited exceptions, no personally identifiable information from the educational records of a student may be disclosed to any third party by an official or employee of the institution without the written consent of the student.

CALLBACK/FLYBACK - The in-depth interview students have in an employer's office, generally after a preliminary screening interview with the employer.

CEC - An acronym for the Continuing Education Curriculum, a curriculum of courses developed by the NALP Educational Programming Committee to provide foundation, intermediate, and advanced levels of training for legal recruitment, personnel, and career services professionals. Each Annual Education Conference offers a selection of CEC courses, as well as a wide range of additional seminars. Conference brochures provide information on the Continuing Education Curriculum and identify CEC courses with a special symbol.

CHAIRED FACULTY - Faculty members whose salaries are supplemented by private endowments to the institution where they work. Individuals holding chaired positions are generally regarded as specialists in the areas in which they teach.

CITY GROUP - An association of local recruitment administrators (and sometimes career services personnel) in a particular city. City groups enjoy a cooperative relationship with NALP, although they are not formally affiliated with NALP.

CLASS RANK - Class rank reflects an individual's academic performance as compared to his/her classmates. Some schools have chosen not to rank their students.

CLE - Continuing Legal Education. Additional education that lawyers take to stay abreast of current changes in the law. In some states, CLE courses are mandatory, especially if lawyers wish to designate themselves as specialists in particular areas of law.

CLEO - Council on Legal Education Opportunity. A program aimed at helping and encouraging economically and educationally disadvantaged students to enter law school and become members of the legal profession.

CLINICAL EDUCATION - Law school programs that provide students with practical and skills-oriented instruction. Under the supervision of a faculty member, students represent clients through specialized legal aid, prosecutorial, and defender clinics.

CODE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY - The ethical guidelines for lawyers in conducting their professional activities. A Model Code sets forth basic standards, but guidelines are promulgated by each state and may vary from the Model Code.

CONSORTIUM - A consortium consists of several law schools (often in one geographic region) that work cooperatively in such areas as cosponsorship of off-campus career fairs.

CONTRACT ATTORNEY/TEMPORARY ATTORNEY - Attorney hired for a specific project or for a finite period of time.

COST SHARING - In legal recruitment, the practice of employers sharing interview expenses for out-of-town interviewees.

DING LETTER/FLUSH LETTER - Slang for an employment rejection letter.

DIRECT CONTACT/RESUMES FORWARDED - Two services most career services offices make available to employers. Direct Contact indicates that students must send their own letter to the employer in response to a posted position. Resumes Forwarded indicates that the career services office collects resumes from interested students for an available position and mails them collectively to an employer on a pre-determined date.

DOG & PONY SHOW - Slang for recruiting trips during which law school career planning personnel promote their institutions to employers or employers promote their organizations to law schools.

EEOC - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC was established to work toward elimination of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability status in hiring, promoting, firing, wages, testing, training, apprenticeship, and all other conditions of employment.

EJW - Equal Justice Works (formerly NAPIL, National Association for Public Interest Law). An organization that works with student groups across the country to promote public service law through loan forgiveness programs, fellowships, educational programs, and an annual career fair. www.equaljusticeworks.org

ERSS - Employment Report and Salary Survey. The annual process that collects student employment data from law schools and provides aggregate information on salaries and types of employment obtained by graduates each year, published annually as NALP's Jobs & J.D.'s report.

FEDERAL AGENCY HONOR PROGRAM - A program sponsored by a federal agency e.g., Justice or Treasury Department for law students who meet specific academic standards or co-curricular activities. The Honor Program is often the only entry to the agency directly from law school.

FEEDER SCHOOLS - A term referring to schools at which a legal employer tends to recruit heavily and employ a large number of graduates. Also refers to undergraduate schools from which law schools enroll a large number of students.

FELLOWSHIP - A program that matches law graduates with public service organizations or with law school programs. Fellowships are variously funded and very competitive and are usually for a prescribed number of years following graduation.

FIRM RESUME - An informational brochure that employers provide to career services offices to acquaint law students with the employer's business, recruiting plans, summer clerk and associate programs, and so on.

GOING RATE - The starting lawyer and summer clerk salary for any given city or market area.

HEADHUNTER/LEGAL SEARCH CONSULTANT - An individual associated with a private placement agency, i.e., an individual who assists with the matching of a potential employee with an employer and who receives as a fee a percentage of the employee's starting salary.

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HIRING COMMITTEE - A committee of lawyers that oversees the recruiting program and makes hiring decisions.

HIRING ATTORNEY/HIRING PARTNER - The attorney/partner who is chair of a legal employer's Hiring Committee.

HISPANIC NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION - A national association of Hispanic attorneys. www.hnba.com

HLSA - Hispanic Law Students Association.

HOLD LETTER - Letter indicating to the student recipient that he/she is still under consideration for an offer.

IF YOU ARE IN TOWN... LETTER - A fairly standard response to students who have written directly to out-of-town employers. The sense of the letter is that the firm is not willing to pay for the student's travel expenses but, if the student will be in town, the employer will grant an interview.

IN-HOUSE COUNSEL - This term refers to a lawyer who works for a business as the company lawyer. Generally, large corporations have sizeable legal departments and often will use outside counsel (e.g., law firms) for litigation or specialty work.

JAGC - Judge Advocate General's Corps. The in-house counsel of the various armed forces.

J.D./JURIS DOCTOR - Degree awarded after three years of prescribed study in a U.S. law school.

JOB FAIR/CAREER FAIR - An off-campus interview program usually sponsored by several law schools to bring together students and employers in one centralized setting. Job fairs may appeal to employers and market students in specialty areas of practice e.g., intellectual property or may be designed to assist employers interested specifically in hiring minority students.

JOINT DEGREE PROGRAMS - A dual degree program leading to a J.D. degree in conjunction with another advanced degree e.g., M.B.A., Masters in Accounting., Ph.D., Masters in Public Health, etc.

JUDICIAL CLERK - A graduate who is employed by a judge to assist with research, writing, and review of opinions and orders, usually for a one- or two-year period. The level of prestige of the clerkship is often commensurate with the level of the court.

LL.B. - Bachelor of Laws Degree. Equivalent to a J.D. degree, the LL.B. was the law degree conferred prior to establishment of the J.D.

LL.M. - Master of Laws Degree. An advanced degree beyond the J.D., often concentrated in a specialty area e.g., taxation, banking, etc.

LALSA - The Latin American Law Students Association.

LATERAL HIRE - An experienced lawyer who has been hired by a new employer, often at the same seniority level as in his/her prior position.

LAW REVIEW/LAW JOURNAL - A legal periodical published by law students presenting the results of research, analysis, and scholarly investigation of legal problems. Articles are written by law professors, practitioners, or established authorities from other fields, and notes and comments on recent judicial decisions are prepared by student members. Membership on some law reviews is limited to students who have demonstrated outstanding scholastic ability through grades or writing competitions; some journals are open to all interested students.

LAW STUDENTS 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L - These terms refer to first-year, second-year, third-year and fourth-year (part-time) law students, respectively.

LAWYERING PROCESS - A trend in law schools to provide students with instruction in better lawyering and alternative dispute resolution, e.g., interviewing, counseling, and negotiations.

LEGAL MARKETING ASSOCIATION - (LMA) formerly the National Law Firm Marketing Association.

LexisNexis - Online databases of cases, statutes, regulations, newspapers, journals, business magazines, and other materials used by lawyers in doing legal and non-legal research.

L.L.P. - Limited liability partnership. A legal organizational structure in which the liability of partners for the malpractice of another partner is limited.

LOAN REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM/LRAP - Law school financial aid programs providing for the reduction or forgiveness of law school debts in return for work with public service organizations for a set period of time after graduation.

LOTTERY - Resume selection process whereby students are selected at random for interviews as an alternative to prescreening.

LSAC - Law School Admission Council. This organization is best known for its administration of the LSAT, but it also provides other resources for pre-law and law students and carries out research on topics such as law student debt loads. www.lsac.org

LSAT - Law School Admission Test, a prerequisite for admission to most law schools.

MacCRATE REPORT - A major study published in July 1992 by the ABA Task Force on Law Schools and the Profession: Narrowing the Gap (referred to as the MacCrate Report because the Task Force was chaired by Robert MacCrate). This report on the status of legal education focuses on the preparation of law students for the practice of law.

MARTINDALE-HUBBELL - A multi-volume directory (and database on-line on LEXIS ) of private law firms and in-house counsel for corporations that lists lawyers, biographical information, areas of practice, and representative clients.

MASS MAILING - A method of job hunting by which students send numerous employers the same letter. Students are may do mass mailings by e-mail, but, whether via conventional or electronic mail, mass mailings are generally not targeted carefully enough to achieve positive results.

MENTOR - A lawyer who assumes responsibility for teaching and guidance of a new lawyer or summer associate.

MOOT COURT - A co-curricular activity for students interested in the principles of written and oral advocacy. Students represent either the plaintiff or defendant in writing briefs and presenting oral arguments in a mock trial setting.

MORAL FITNESS - Prior to being permitted to sit for a state's bar exam, the state's Board of Bar Examiners attempts to ascertain the moral fitness of a bar candidate by doing extensive research into the individual's past.

MPRE - Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam, required in many states to practice law.

MULTISTATE BAR EXAM - (MBE) An exam required by many states for admission to the bar that tests federal law as it applies to all states.

NACE - National Association of Colleges and Employers (formerly the College Placement Council).www.naceweb.org

NALP - Founded in 1971, NALP is an organization of law schools and legal employers committed to the development and advancement of fair, effective, and efficient career services and recruitment practices. NALP works toward this goal by providing educational programs and materials to those involved in legal career services and recruitment and by establishing and maintaining standards.

NALP BULLETIN - A monthly newsletter from NALP providing informative articles, book reviews, and professional news.

NALP FORM - A questionnaire developed by NALP member organizations and used to collect information about a legal employer's business and recruiting practices. The questionnaires are used by law schools to standardize the collection of employer information. Employers may also choose to have their NALP Forms published in the annual NALP Directory of Legal Employers, which is available in print and on-line at www.nalpdirectory.com.

NALP TIMING GUIDELINES - Guidelines by which students should respond to offers of employment as prescribed in Part V of the NALP Principles and Standards.

NALSA - Native American Law Students Association.

NALSC - National Association of Legal Search Consultants. www.nalsc.org

NAPABA - National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, a national association for Asian/Pacific American attorneys. www.napaba.org

NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION - A national association for African-American attorneys. www.nationalbar.org

NATIVE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION - A national association for Native American attorneys. www.nativeamericanbar.org

NETWORKING - The art of cultivating and developing contacts for the purpose of finding jobs.

NLGLA - National Lesbian and Gay Law Association. www.nlgla.org

OCI - On-campus interviewing scheduled by an employer through the career services office at a school with students at the school. (See also On-Campus Interviews.)

OF COUNSEL - A lawyer who is not a partner of a firm but who has a formal relationship with the firm. For example, the term may be used for a senior partner of a law firm who has gone into semi-retirement or a lateral hire who may be in line for partnership after a prescribed amount of time with the firm. (See also Partner and Associate).

OFF-CAMPUS INTERVIEW PROGRAM A recruitment program in which students pay their own travel and lodging expenses to participate in employment interviews arranged in a different city by their career services office.

ON-CAMPUS INTERVIEWS/OCI - Typically, large law firms, corporations, and government agencies who recruit a year in advance for their hiring needs visit law school campuses during August through December to conduct employment interviews with law students for summer and full-time associate positions.

ORDER OF THE COIF A national legal honor society, similar to Phi Beta Kappa for undergraduate institutions, in which membership is limited to the academic top 10% of each graduating class.

OUTPLACEMENT - Career and job search counseling provided to lawyers who are leaving a firm.

OVERSUBSCRIPTION/OVERFLOW RESUMES - Students who were unable to secure an on-campus or job fair interview with an employer and whose resumes are still provided to the employer on an overflow basis.

PARALEGAL/LEGAL ASSISTANT - An individual who has received either formal academic training or on-the-job training to assist lawyers with certain aspects of law practice. The responsibilities of paralegals vary from employer to employer.

PART V - The section of NALP's Principles and Standards that offers guidelines for the timing of offers and responses in law student recruitment.

PARTNER - A lawyer who has become an owner of the firm and is paid a percentage of the firm's profits that reflects the lawyer's contribution to the firm. Sometimes called a shareholder or equity member of the firm. (See also Associate and Permanent Associate.)

P.C./P.A. - Professional Corporation/Professional Association. A tax arrangement allowing partnerships to enjoy corporate benefits while retaining the other attributes of a partnership.

PDI - Annual Professional Development Institute sponsored by NALP and ALI-ABA.

PERMANENT ASSOCIATE/NON-EQUITY PARTNER - A lawyer who is not considered on track for equity partnership but fulfills a specialty niche in the firm's practice.

PIGGYBACKING - Slang for a student building upon one out-of-town interview so that the trip results in several interviews for the student.

PLACEMENT COMMITTEE - A committee of faculty and students who serve as a resource pool for placement ideas and a sounding board for career services policy.

POUNDING THE PAVEMENT/DOOR KNOCKING - A job search method by which students call upon potential employers without previously arranging for an interview.

PRESCREENING - A procedure by which employers are permitted to review students' resumes prior to on-campus interviews and select the students they desire to interview.

PRINCIPLES AND STANDARDS - NALP's ethical guidelines for law schools, legal employers, and students regarding the law placement and recruiting process.

PRO BONO/PRO PUBLICO PRACTICE - Literally, for the public good, refers to time donated at no charge by lawyers in the community interest, including representation of the poor, charitable organizations, not-for-profit organizations, and other groups whose purposes are for the good of the general public.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM - (PDC)

PROFIT CENTERS - Refers to those departments in a law firm that tend to produce the most business and, thus, generate the most revenue for the firm.

PSLawNet - NALP's Public Service Law Network. www.pslawnet.org

RAINMAKER - A lawyer who brings in a great deal of business for his/her firm.

RECIPROCITY - Agreements among law schools allowing students and/or graduates to use the career services offices at other schools. NALP periodically publishes a compilation of law school reciprocity policies.

SOLOMON AMENDMENT - Legislation that denies U.S. government funding to colleges and universities that bar ROTC or military recruitment access.

SPECTATOR ASSIGNMENTS - Activities designed for summer law clerks that allow them to observe the firm's lawyers in action e.g., sitting in on a closing, observing a litigator in court, etc.

SPLIT SUMMER - A summer in which a law clerk works for more than one employer.

STANDARD 511 - An accrediting standard of the ABA which states: "A law school shall provide all its students, regardless of enrollment or scheduling option, with basic student services, including maintenance of accurate student records, academic advising and counseling, financial aid counseling, and an active career counseling service to assist students in making sound career choices and obtaining employment. If a law school does not provide these types of student services directly, it must demonstrate that its students have reasonable access to such services from the university of which it is a part or from other sources."

STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION - (SBA) Student governing body of a law school.

SUMMER ASSOCIATES/SUMMER CLERKS - Law students employed as law clerks during the summer.

SWEAT SHOP - A law firm with the reputation for having its lawyers work long hours.

UP OR OUT POLICY - Refers to a philosophy within many law firms whereby a lawyer either is made a partner after a stipulated associate period or leaves the firm.

WESTLAW - Thomson West's electronic databases of cases, statutes, regulations, newspapers, journals, business magazines and other materials used by lawyers in doing legal and non-legal research. WESTLAW includes the West Legal Directory (a database of attorneys throughout the country) and other databases which are useful to students in searching for possible employers and to career services and recruitment professionals.

WRITE-IN APPLICATIONS - Unsolicited letter and resume applications.

WRITE-OFFS - Billable client time that is subsequently not charged to a client.

WRITING SAMPLE - A piece of legal writing submitted to an employer by an applicant to demonstrate legal writing skills.

VISITING PROFESSOR A faculty member who is on leave of absence from his/her institution so that he/she may teach at a different law school.

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Source: nalp

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Paul Hastings is first foreign law firm to take part in project that offers a unique mix of pro bono and branding efforts

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker is putting its stamp on China. Literally.

The firm is paying at least $40,000 toward the construction of a facility in China's remote Longqui village that will soon bear its name: the Paul Hastings Hope Elementary School.

"We're thinking this will be the first of many," said Mitchell Dudek, the head of the firm's Shanghai office. "Over time, there will be many Paul Hastings schools in China."

Paul Hastings is the first foreign law firm to participate in Project Hope, a public service project organized by the China Youth Development Foundation to build schools in poor, rural communities. Getting involved in the project was a way for the Los Angeles-based firm to contribute in a country that presents some obstacles to traditional pro bono work.

"We're becoming a participant in that economy," said Chairman Seth Zachary. "It's an important part of our strategy to give something back, to be a participant on both ends."

It's also a unique branding opportunity.

"It certainly helps recruiting because it shows us to be a socially active foreign investor," Dudek said. "It's one more thing that shows how we try to reinvest and help the communities we're in."

It's common for law firms to get involved with more innovative community projects in foreign countries since it's often hard to find pro bono opportunities abroad, said Esther Lardent, the president of the Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center. There isn't always cultural and political acceptance of pro bono representation, and in countries like China, lawyers licensed to practice at international firms cannot handle cases in local courts.

While pro bono opportunities are slowly expanding, they remain scarce enough that the institute does not count foreign hours towards firms' tallies in its Pro Bono Challenge.

But that doesn't mean good works go unnoticed. "The Chinese government expects foreign firms licensed to operate in China to be good citizens," noted Hildebrandt International's Michael Short.

While law firms should perhaps be motivated by altruism, and not just money, Lardent said the Pro Bono Institute is a big believer in mixed messages.

"If you're opening an office in a new country, then showing you're not just there to help the very tiny percentage of rich companies is very good marketing for the firm," she said. "And we don't think there's anything wrong with it."

Nor does David Lash, the managing counsel of O'Melveny & Myers' pro bono services. It can raise the firm's profile, and give its lawyers a deeper understanding of the community in which they work, Lash said. "The more you invest in a community, the better the business relationships are as well."

Since opportunities are harder to find abroad, Latham & Watkins is helping to organize the first international seminar on pro bono, set for this October in Hungary.

"I think we're going to see an expansion of both community service and pro bono internationally," said Amos Hartston, Latham's pro bono counsel.

China's Hope program says it has built more than 9,500 schools throughout the country, many sponsored by local organizations, and some by global enterprises, like Coca-Cola and Motorola. The schools are commonly named after the organization donating the funds.

Dudek said the location of the new school is meaningful for at least two of lawyers in his firm's Shanghai office, as they both grew up in the mountainous province that houses the school -- about a 12-hour drive from Shanghai -- before receiving degrees in the United States.

The 268-student school will likely be a magnet school for five villages, concentrating the best resources in one place. In addition to the firm's initial cash contribution, Paul Hastings will likely donate additional funds as other facilities, such as dormitories, are needed.

Dudek said lawyers at the firm also plan to roll up their sleeves and head to the school for a weekend of clearing rocks or painting walls.

"At the signing ceremony, I said that I hope one day we'll be able to hire someone from the school," Dudek said.

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I. Introduction

You've received a call from the managing partner in your firm's intellectual property practice, who needs to hire three new associates, pronto.

You, as the law firm recruiting manager, need to come up with candidates for him as soon as possible. Although you hear the urgency in his voice, you are also aware that he is unlikely to compromise his high standards.

1. HELPFUL HINTS

The best way to demonstrate what works best is by offering a list of suggestions, followed by examples of unhelpful, adequate, and excellent responses in that eternal search for great lawyers.

1. Let us know your working style (and what drives you nuts). While many headhunters may think they understand what it is like to work in a law firm recruiting department, most have absolutely no idea of the daily pressures and multitudes of inquiries you deal with. As headhunters, we routinely hear horror stories from law firms about over-eager and inexperienced headhunters who believe, for example, that it is appropriate to follow up on a submission every single day, beginning the day after a candidate is presented. What do you do?

a. Unhelpful approach: Don't respond to inquiries and hope that the person stops annoying you with "Hi, just checking in" phone calls and emails.

b. Excellent approach: Explain your preferences upfront with a brief phone conversation or email. For example, do you appreciate follow-up calls, or do they bother you? Do you like inquiries by email or phone? Submissions by email or fax? What information do you like to have right from the start with your submissions? Taking the time to explain this information early on will save you a lot of time and future headaches. The search consultant will also appreciate knowing this information as well.

2. Call to discuss your important searches with the headhunters you use regularly.
Communicating your needs on specific searches can be done in any number of ways. Many firms provide the search firms they favor with a list of open searches on a regular basis.

a. Adequate request: Often, when the firm begins a new search, it's added to a list of open searches and sent out by email to certain search firms as an immediate update, or with the next scheduled circulation of law firm recruiting needs.

b. Excellent request: A phone call to a search firm or consultant you respect can serve to highlight an immediate need or a particular piece of necessary information that might have otherwise been overlooked. For example, you might name what types of candidates have not previously worked out or specific off-the-record information that may not be appropriate for wide distribution. Moreover, by receiving a call, the headhunter will put that search at the top of the pile because you've identified him/her as someone you want to work with. No one receives a personal phone call about a search if the firm isn't committed to filling the spot.

3. Clearly define the scope of your search.
Effectively defining the scope of your search includes specifying the (1) ideal and "in a perfect world" candidate; (2) the "not perfect, but we're still willing to consider" candidate; and (3) the "please don't even bother" candidate. While you may prefer to be a bit broader in your advertisements so as not to eliminate potential candidates, you can afford to be much more specific with your search consultant.

a. Adequate request: "We are looking for patent associates (electrical engineering background) with 3 to 6 years' experience."

b. Excellent request: "We are looking for a patent prosecution-only associate with 3-6 years of experience prosecuting electrical patent applications. (Must have experience with semiconductors and liquid crystal display technology.) This candidate should also be familiar with patent licensing issues, and Chinese language skills would be a bonus. (The department has numerous clients from China.) The ideal candidate will have an advanced degree in electrical engineering and both law firm and PTO experience. We would still be open to considering candidates with only undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering or only law firm experience. However, we will not consider candidates without prior law firm experience. Our IP practice is quite picky with grades, so ideal candidates should be from top-20 law schools and in the top 30 percent of their classes. We would still be open to considering candidates from other Tier-1 law schools so long as they are in the top 20 to 30 percent of their classes."

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Having a standard, firm-approved search-intake form that requests all the essential information is very helpful in streamlining the process and making sure everybody is aware of precisely what type of information is needed. If your firm does not yet have one, suggest having one created with input from the recruiting committee.


2. HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY

4. Give honest and specific feedback regarding the candidates you interview.
Because firms and practice groups are so different, the same candidate going on several interviews will typically get quite different responses from different firms.

Obviously, for you to give feedback on every candidate we present would take up too much time and is just not practical. However, if a candidate has had an interview, providing specific feedback can help us create a better and more sharply defined template to use for future candidates.

For example, if a candidate interviews and gets an offer, let the headhunter know what you liked about the candidate so that we can keep this information in mind for future candidates. Likewise, if you decide to pass on a candidate after an interview, any specific feedback you can provide (regarding the candidate’s personality, experience, etc.) will allow us to better assess future candidates and whether they would be a likely fit.

a. Adequate response: “Unfortunately, we are unable to bring Joe Smith in for further interviews at this time.”

b. Excellent response: “Unfortunately, we are unable to bring Joe Smith in for further interviews at this time. We thought his experience and credentials were right on, but the attorneys in the finance group noted that he did not seem genuinely enthusiastic about our practice. This group is very collegial and really wants to hire somebody who is extremely enthusiastic and committed.”

5. If a candidate has interviewed, keep the lines of communication open, even if you are not in the position to make an offer immediately.
One major roadblock to effective recruiting is losing the candidate because too much time has elapsed between the interview and offer stages. There are many perfectly good reasons the firm may have for this delay, most of them simply administrative. Nonetheless, from a candidate's perspective (where two days seems like two weeks), delay is almost always interpreted as a lack of interest and almost always lowers the candidate's view of the firm. One of the search consultant's roles is to encourage a firm to move the process along while managing the candidate's expectations and explaining the realities of the recruitment process.

a. Adequate communication: Tell the headhunter that there is no information to communicate and that the firm will be in touch when it knows whether or not it will extend an offer.

b. Excellent communication: "Our door is open." Although it is frustrating to return calls to a headhunter, wanting to know whether the candidate will receive an offer when you don't know the answer, keeping the lines of communication open is extremely important. Why? We have seen numerous candidates have unnecessary reservations about a firm during the post-offer stage due to the false impression that "the firm waited so long, it must not be very interested in me."

The best thing to do for a quality candidate who may have to wait for an offer? Tell your recruiter to keep that candidate "warm," and keep yourself available, even if you have nothing of substance to report. Also, if there is an administrative reason for the delay, let the headhunter know this as well. Therefore, the recruiter can assure the candidate that the lines of communication are open and that the process is moving along and provide an appropriate explanation when necessary.



A BIGGER PICTURE

6. Let us know how we are doing over the long term.
Often overlooked in the day-to-day details is long-term feedback for search firms and individual recruiters. Taking the time to reflect long term on your relationship with a search firm can increase the service you receive in the short term. a. Adequate approach: "We've used you before, so we wanted to let you know of a new search."

b. Excellent approach: "You know, we hired John through you last year. He's doing extremely well. He jumps in on every file and has really shown initiative, and that's a big deal here." At the same time, the following is also an excellent way to communicate: "We worked with you on a search last year, and we felt that you were sending too many unrelated résumés during that time." This kind of long-term feedback (as opposed to feedback on an individual résumé or interview) is useful because it allows the search consultant to develop a template to do business with you the way you want it done.

Remember, you can directly influence how effectively a search consultant acts on your behalf. While it may take a little bit more time upfront to put these tips to use, we guarantee that you will be rewarded over the long term.

by Dan Binstock, Esq., Carey Bertolet

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Today's edition of the Legal Mirror featured a new financial column called 'Checking Your Pockets' The aim of the column is to inform the readers about how much money people in selected industries make in Beijing. To pay respect to its name, Legal Mirror kicked off with lawyers. Here are the results of the report:

#1 If you want to earn the megabucks in the law business forget about being a prosecutor. The real money comes from deal-making consultancy and legal services provided to big companies and multinationals. Beijing lawyers specialized in this field - especially if they've studied abroad and have international experience - can make up to 10 million RMB a year (1,28 million USD).

#2 With an average salary of 300.000 RMB a year (36,136 USD) top Real Estate lawyers can't really complain. The ever soaring real estate market in Beijing, gives them plenty of work to write and check on contracts, agreements, disputes and so forth.

#3 Moving down in the ranking we find lawyers that come from out of town, working for Chinese legal firms from other provinces and with branch offices in the Capital. If they work hard enough the waidi lüshi or lawyers from out of town) can make up to 6,000 RMB a month (726 USD).

#4 Like in every other country, at the bottom of the pyramid we find the apprentice lawyers. According to Legal Mirror, these poor chaps have to work hard and do the most boring jobs in the firm for at least five years, before starting to make some decent money. In the meantime, they have to make do with around 1,000 RMB a month (121 USD).

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