Lawyers in Beijing's high-tech hub, Zhongguancun, are set to be among the first winners of China's entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as nervous enterprises rush for legal help.
Fears that competition from foreign companies entering the domestic market will prove too strong have led many business chiefs to seek expert advice.
"Lawyers are deeply involved in the development of enterprises with their resources and good suggestions," said Wei Xin, with the Beijing Beida Founder Group Corporation.
"It is an outdated notion that lawyers are only needed when the enterprises are in big trouble."
Wei's enterprise - one of the world's largest providers of typesetting software - has been toasting success after a courtroom battle on pirated products.
Wei stressed the role of his legal team in deciphering rules and regulations for the company and pitching in with legal advice regarding its business strategies.
A recent survey conducted by the Judicial Bureau of Haidian District, where Zhongguancun is located, revealed that the more mature the enterprises, the more attention attached to the role of lawyers.
"Most of the mature high-tech enterprises have their own legal consultants or have special departments within their enterprises to handle legal matters. Some have even showed a certain degree of specialization," said Liu Hong, head of the Haidian Judicial Bureau.
But the large market is not all good news for Chinese lawyers. China's commitments to the WTO mean more foreign lawyers will be allowed into China's legal services market to provide clients with legal consultations.
Liu said Chinese lawyers in Zhongguancun still have much room for improvement.
"We noticed that the major business for lawyers, though they are providing legal service to high-tech enterprises, is still restricted to traditional fields, and have only limited involvement in such new legal services as venture capital and limited partnership," said Liu.
She also urged lawyers to do more to help start-ups in Zhongguancun, which the bureau's survey found are still managing to survive and barely have time to consider legal matters.
An improvement in the quality of legal services is expected to be the focus of work of the judicial departments next year. Zhang Fusen, minister of justice, urged a national conference for improved training of high-calibre lawyers proficient in laws, foreign languages and other fields such as high-tech and economics.
But the primary task for Chinese lawyers now, according to Shen Sibao, law professor with the University of International Business and Economics and himself a lawyer in Zhongguancun, is to study the rules of the WTO and help enterprises understand their rights and duties under China's WTO membership.
2009年5月12日星期二
2009年5月11日星期一
Lawyers in My Eyes
“What is a lawyer?” I asked myself the other day.
“Well, it is a well- paid and prestigious occupation.” I answered without a second thought.
“Sort of, and then what do lawyers do?”
“Most of the time they deal with legal cases, give legal advice to the clients and the like.”
“Yes. And how about your understanding about this occupation?”
“My…my understanding? Er…” My mind got blocked and then fell into blankness. It is not that difficult, but ironically I couldn’t give an immediate reply. Why is that? I am puzzled. It is not a question the same as blank-filling or multiple choice whose answer can be promptly distinguished at the first sight. It is the one that needs deeper and more profound consideration. To find out my answer to the question, I spent a whole day surfing the Internet and browsing dozens of relevant information. And finally I got my own idea.The art of lawyer, according to He Weifang, a former renowned professor of Law School of Peking University, can not simply be gained from stereotyped knowledge from your reference books or segmented precepts from your parents. Only through perennial practice and experience can one open the door of success. In another word, persistent devotion and strong will are indispensable elements contributing to a lawyer’s success, which can be vividly exemplified by Erin Brockovich, an American law practitioner whose legendary experience was adapted as a film starring Julia Roberts. Her heart and soul was dedicated to finding out the hidden truth behind the water contamination incident. And through thick and thin, she miraculously won the largest American law suit--- forcing the culprit to pay a whopping $333,000,000 to the victims who had suffered respiratory disease, kidney and liver disorder, and colon cancer from using the contaminated water.
Aristotle once put it, "The law is reason free from passion!" But his idea was hardly accepted by an uprising star of legal profession Elle Woods, a sexy, charming, and outstanding Harvard law student and later a successful lawyer in the famous comedy Legally Blonde. On her graduation ceremony at Harvard, she made a powerful and persuasive speech to illustrate the key component of studying law. “In my three years at Harvard,” she uttered, “I've come to find that passion is the key ingredient to the study and practice of law -- and of life. It's with passion, courage of conviction, strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world! Remembering the first impressions are not always correct. You must always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must have faith in yourself!” I was totally convinced and in fact quite enthusiastic when I saw this part. She is right. Lawyers should not only possess the character of perseverance but be definitely faithful and passionate to the lofty profession.
In general, lawyers, as I see it, are first of all the incarnation of fairness and justice. They are the best interpreter of law and protector of the innocence. They occupy a strong sense of logic reasoning and are tremendously courageous in the light of the fact that “no one would take on the case... until ‘one man ’was willing to take on the system.”
“Well, it is a well- paid and prestigious occupation.” I answered without a second thought.
“Sort of, and then what do lawyers do?”
“Most of the time they deal with legal cases, give legal advice to the clients and the like.”
“Yes. And how about your understanding about this occupation?”
“My…my understanding? Er…” My mind got blocked and then fell into blankness. It is not that difficult, but ironically I couldn’t give an immediate reply. Why is that? I am puzzled. It is not a question the same as blank-filling or multiple choice whose answer can be promptly distinguished at the first sight. It is the one that needs deeper and more profound consideration. To find out my answer to the question, I spent a whole day surfing the Internet and browsing dozens of relevant information. And finally I got my own idea.The art of lawyer, according to He Weifang, a former renowned professor of Law School of Peking University, can not simply be gained from stereotyped knowledge from your reference books or segmented precepts from your parents. Only through perennial practice and experience can one open the door of success. In another word, persistent devotion and strong will are indispensable elements contributing to a lawyer’s success, which can be vividly exemplified by Erin Brockovich, an American law practitioner whose legendary experience was adapted as a film starring Julia Roberts. Her heart and soul was dedicated to finding out the hidden truth behind the water contamination incident. And through thick and thin, she miraculously won the largest American law suit--- forcing the culprit to pay a whopping $333,000,000 to the victims who had suffered respiratory disease, kidney and liver disorder, and colon cancer from using the contaminated water.
Aristotle once put it, "The law is reason free from passion!" But his idea was hardly accepted by an uprising star of legal profession Elle Woods, a sexy, charming, and outstanding Harvard law student and later a successful lawyer in the famous comedy Legally Blonde. On her graduation ceremony at Harvard, she made a powerful and persuasive speech to illustrate the key component of studying law. “In my three years at Harvard,” she uttered, “I've come to find that passion is the key ingredient to the study and practice of law -- and of life. It's with passion, courage of conviction, strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world! Remembering the first impressions are not always correct. You must always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must have faith in yourself!” I was totally convinced and in fact quite enthusiastic when I saw this part. She is right. Lawyers should not only possess the character of perseverance but be definitely faithful and passionate to the lofty profession.
In general, lawyers, as I see it, are first of all the incarnation of fairness and justice. They are the best interpreter of law and protector of the innocence. They occupy a strong sense of logic reasoning and are tremendously courageous in the light of the fact that “no one would take on the case... until ‘one man ’was willing to take on the system.”
订阅：
博文 (Atom)