CHINA: An Introduction to Dispute Resolution: Litigation (PRC Firms)

Teamwork of Chinese Civil and Commercial Litigation Lawyers

In the field of commercial transactions in jurisdictions with more mature legal cultures, the parties are used to engage lawyers to review contracts from the early stage of negotiations to the stage of signing the contract, in order to avoid room for misinterpretation in the future. Stephen J. of Great Britain said that the art of legal drafting does not aim at someone with a benevolent eye to understand it, but someone with a malevolent eye to not distort the interpretation. However, in some areas of Mainland China where the legal environment is not as developed as those in major cities, the parties sometimes accept a less than perfect contract, by reason of their weaker bargaining power. They turn to courts for remedy on any unfair terms in contracts. Different from the British or U.S. systems, there is no solicitor between the client and the litigation lawyers in the Chinese dispute resolution system. The client seeks litigation lawyers' legal service directly in the market instead. Therefore, the function of a litigation lawyer imposes a significant impact on the outcome of a transaction.

I. Chinese legal system and thoughts on civil and commercial case adjudication

China adopts the statute law system as the model of civil and commercial dispute resolution without the doctrine of precedent, though precedents from high-level courts and particularly the Supreme Court have played an increasingly influential role in the judicial practice in recent years. Its sources include various laws, administrative regulations as well as international, bilateral or multilateral treaties where applicable. Judges make decisions according to their own understanding of the laws, combined with the facts proven and legal opinions submitted by disputing parties. It is extremely important that the litigation lawyers can restore the facts of the case in the form of evidence to refute the interpretation of the other party at a court trial.

II. New requirements for litigation lawyers' abilities

Good litigation results are inseparable from the multi-faceted capabilities of litigation lawyers. In addition to professional skills, Chinese lawyers' has begun to subdivide their expertise into different commercial specialisations. The development of legal profession has proposed more new requirements for dispute resolution lawyers in all aspects. Among them, the ability to communicate with customers and the court, the ability to work as a team, the degree of industry understanding and commercial thinking, and the ability to learn quickly are important skills that would affect the outcome of litigations.

1. Lawyers' communication skills

Communication takes up a large proportion of a litigation lawyer’s work. Under Chinese legal and cultural circumstances, it does not merely limited to the communication between lawyers of respective disputing parties. The results of communication with clients and authorities can sometimes lead different directions for the outcome of cases.

In the face of numerous statutory laws and regulations, most parties encounter difficulties in how to express the facts of the case and what evidence should be adduced. Comparing with countries that follow precedents, it is difficult for a Chinese litigation lawyer to predict the outcome when the client first consults a lawyer. Excellent and experienced litigators can grasp the key points of the case from an overall aspect, quickly understand the legal facts through effective communication with their clients, explore their clients' in-depth demands and provide them with a suitable and practical litigation strategy. Furthermore, they would be able to help the client to construct a factual framework to be presented to the court and assist in digging out indirect evidence that the client is not aware of, forming an evidence chain when the direct evidence is insufficient.

At the same time, litigation lawyers also need to maintain positive communication with the court and the lawyers of the other party. In the process of delivering and receiving information, they can also improve litigation strategies and adjust the solution appropriately. During the communication with the court, they have the chance to figure out the court’s understanding of applicable rules and try their best to provide evidence and industrial information that are helpful to the court, especially for cases which are not covered by existing laws, regulations or state standards, or which have very advanced technical or industrial factors.

2. Teamwork skills

According to Chinese procedural law, every party (including a legal person) can only employ a maximum of two lawyers for representation in court. Since the restoration of the Chinese lawyer system around 40 years ago, litigation lawyers mainly rely on improving their own capabilities in a wide range of specialisations to serve more clients. As clients’ requirements involve more specialised, technical and legal knowledge nowadays, it becomes increasingly difficult for lawyers to work on their own. Teamwork and professional integration have become the general trend among the Chinese lawyers’ profession. For law firms which have thorough integrated management, representing less than 5% of the total number of Chinese law firms, lawyers specialise in certain areas of law rather than attempting to keep up in all fields. When specialised knowledge is needed in a field that the lawyers are not familiar with, they seek cooperation from other members of the firm with such specialisation. This is a remarkable new feature among Chinese litigation lawyers in recent years. It is a great benefit for clients who have complicated legal demands, requiring knowledge from multiple fields. Law firms which house multiskilled lawyers and have the ability to integrate them are always the choice among clients. These firms are able to provide support from the entire firm when needed, without significant increases in cost.

III. Realisation of teamwork within an integration law firm

As an example, in Anli Partners, which I have newly joined after working for 18 years in another law firm, many lawyers had worked in industries like press media, vehicle manufacture, real estate companies and others prior to practicing law. Cross-field experience not only brings different perspectives to lawyers in cases, but also helps them to combine legal expertise with previous experience to better understand the in-depth needs of clients. Anli has developed 21 professional centres during its reform in the direction of integration management for the past two years, allowing lawyers to practice in fields where they have expert knowledge. As a reflection of customers’ feedback in 2022, Anli's Beijing office has reached more than 2600 engagement agreements with clients, and 588 of them are with government departments and companies, many of which are global renowned companies, and the number of state-owned central companies is 330.

Conclusion: 

According to the National Lawyers' Public Legal Service System Construction Plan (2021-2025) released on the official website of the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China on 24th January, 2022, the number of professional lawyers nationwide is expected to reach 750,000 by 2025. However, excellent and professional dispute resolution lawyers are still a scarce resource in the profession. With the gradual improvement of the Chinese legal system and environment, the legal profession faces more complex and severe challenges at the management level of law firms. For the continued improvement of litigation lawyers’ ability as to best protect clients' interests, a better supporting platform for sure plays an increasingly important role.

中国民商事诉讼律师的团队合作 

现代西方国家法律发展至今，已各自形成较为完备的体系。在民商事领域，当事人习惯在合同起草阶段即聘请律师，拟定全面且复杂的合同，以防留有过多的解释空间。英国的史蒂文大法官曾说，撰写法律文书的艺术，不是让心怀善意的人能读懂，而是让带着恶意去看的人也无法做出歪曲的解读。但结合中国国情，在法律环境尚不及主要大城市般发达的地区，一些当事人基于弱势的合同谈判地位，为了促成签约，在合同拟定阶段不会追求对条款的精细打磨，因此合同签订时不够完善，一旦发生纠纷，为双方当事人留有较大的解释空间，当事人则寄希望于法庭对不公平的合同条款提供救济。此外，与英美法系不同的是，在当事人和诉讼律师之间并没有事务律师这个角色，当事人直接寻找诉讼律师代理案件。因此，诉讼律师的表现对交易的结果具有重大影响。

一、中国法律体系与民商事案件裁判思路

中国采用成文法体系，其法律渊源包括立法机关制定的规范性法律文件、行政机关颁布的行政法规以及本国参加的国际或双边及多边条约，但不包括司法判例（虽然近年来高级别法院尤其是最高院的判例正在司法实践中发挥着越来越大的影响力）。法官基于自己对法律的理解，结合诉讼律师所证明的案件事实和提出的法律观点，对案件作出裁判。诉讼律师在纠纷发生后以证据的方式还原事实，压倒对方对事实的解释，以达成诉讼成果。

二、对诉讼律师能力的新要求

好的诉讼结果离不开律师的多方面能力，除过硬的法律专业能力外，中国律师也开始将专业性细分到了不同商业行业，行业发展对争议解决律师各方面素养都提出了更多新要求，其中与客户和法庭的沟通能力、团队协作能力、行业了解程度及商业思维以及快速学习能力均在其中。

1. 律师沟通能力

沟通在律师的工作中占有很大比重。与当事人及法庭的沟通成果，在中国法律和文化背景下，有时对于案件结果具有转折性的作用。

在海量的成文法法条面前，多数当事人对案件事实如何表述和应该提交哪些证据一筹莫展；与判例法国家相比，在当事人第一次向律师咨询时，案件结果较难预期。优秀和经验丰富的诉讼律师能够整体把握案件特点，通过与当事人的有效沟通迅速了解案情，理解当事人的深度诉求并为其提供解决方案，更重要的是，协助当事人构建要向法庭陈述的事实框架，在证据不足的情况下帮助当事人挖掘辅助证据以形成证据链。

同时，诉讼律师也需保持与法庭及对方代理人的良性沟通，在信息传递的过程中磨合代理思路、调整方案。在与法院沟通的过程中，掌握裁判者的思维方式，尽量为法庭提供帮助，尤其是在前沿案件，也就是触及法律规定空白点、涉及尖端行业或技术的案件中，律师的作用尤为突出。

2. 团队协作能力

中国法律规定，每个当事人（包括法人或自然人）在诉讼中最多只能聘请两名代理人。因此自从中国律师制度恢复至今的40多年中，诉讼律师主要依靠提升自身能力去更好地服务客户，或获取更多的客户。在法律服务越来越细化、越来越专业的今天，单打独斗的律师已越来越难以适应社会对法律服务的需求，团队化和专业一体化已成为整个律师行业发展的大趋势。目前在中国法律市场中，真正实行一体化管理的律所不到律所总数的5%，但每个律师都有专攻的擅长领域，在遇到综合法律服务需求时容易在律所内组建团队；对于客户来说，签约后获得的是整个律所的支持，而无需明显地增加成本。这是近年来在中国诉讼律师这个群体中新出现的一个值得瞩目的特点，也是客户看重要在一体化律所中选择律师的一个考量点。

三、一体化律所的专业化和团队合作

以我在执业18年之际新加盟的安理律师事务所为例，许多律师拥有其他行业的从业经验，比如新闻媒体，汽车制造商，房地产公司等，跨领域的工作经验不仅为律师增加了不同视角，也更有利于将法律专业知识与其他行业经验相结合，听得懂客户的真正需求，能够快速有效地提取案件的关键点，从而提升诉讼案件的代理效果。安理在过去两年的一体化改革中建立了21个专业中心，每位律师专攻一主两辅深耕领域，使专业化成为可能。作为客户反馈的一个表现方面，2022年，仅安理北京办公室即获得新签约案件2600余件，政府机构和公司客户达588家，许多为全球知名的中外企业，其中央企客户数量为330家。

结语：

据中华人民共和国司法部官网2022年1月24日发布的《全国律师公共法律服务体系建设规划（2021-2025年）》表示，全国职业律师到2025年计划达到75万，但优秀且专业的争议解决律师仍是行业稀缺资源。随着法制体系的逐步完善及法律关系的不断复杂化，律师行业所面临的复杂和严峻的挑战，更多地体现在律所管理层面上。若追求以更专业优质的服务维护当事人利益，获得更好的平台支持变得越来越重要。