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Former Rolmax partner sets up new boutique practice in Shanghai
C Thomas Shoesmith
partner, China practice head
Pillsbury, Shanghai
Letter to foreign firms…
T
he banks of Shanghai’s Huangpu River are littered with foreign law firms who came to China without a plan, without a differentiating value proposition, and without appreciating that China is one of the most competitive economies on the planet. Why have some succeeded and others sputtered? Seven years in post-SARS China suggests some answers – or at least, poses some relevant questions to consider: 1. Who is your competition? The only competition for foreign law firms used to be other foreign law firms, but those days are over. While the practice of PRC law remains closed to foreign firms, domestic firms have been flourishing, expanding, and ramping up their international client offerings. Don’t look back – they’re gaining on you. 2. What is your value proposition? Particularly if your domestic competition can do all the things you used to do, and do them faster and cheaper, you need a new value proposition. For example, our firm is in China because we have market-leading practices in capital markets, energy and infrastructure, clean- and greentech, and venture capital work. If you can’t explain why you’re in China, you don’t belong here. And be quick about it: time (and the Huangpu tide) waits for no one.
hen Zhensheng, a partner at Shanghai-based Rolmax Law Office for the last five years and a veteran shipping lawyer, has left the firm. Chen has founded his own boutique firm, Panocean, in Shanghai along with two other lawyers, Zhang Chao and Liu Chunquan. The new firm will focus on the provision of shipping, IP and corporate legal advice. Zhang Chao, previously a senior lawyer with Shanghai firm Hisun & Co, focuses on maritime law but also has experience in general corporate and real estate. Liu Chunquan formerly practised in Guangsheng's Shanghai office, and mainly advises clients on IP and IT-related legal issues. Earlier this year, Wu Yiyi, also a Rolmax partner, left to join Minter Ellison as the chief representative of the firm's Shanghai office. ALB
原汇盛合伙人陈振生创建新所
曾
任上海汇盛律师事务所合伙人，并在海事海商领域有资深经验的陈 振生律师，近日在上海开设了泛洋律师事务所。与他共同创建泛洋 的合伙人包括刘春泉和张超律师。 刘律师此前曾在广盛律师事务所上海分所职业，专业领域涉及知识产权 和网络及电子商务法律。张律师曾任上海海神律师事务所执业律师，擅长 处理海事海商和国际贸易案件，同时在代理公司法和投资业务方面有一定 经验。 三位合伙人致力于将泛洋律师事务所打造成一家以知识产权，海事 海商，金融贸易及涉外法律为专业特色的精品型律师事务所。
3. Can you move outside the box? In his recent book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink writes that any task that can be replicated will be, and by someone who can do it faster and cheaper. The future belongs to those who can listen, empathise (in other words, understand what the client is really saying), synthesise and create – all “right-brain” qualities. Anyone can answer a question, but not everyone can create a solution. 4. Are you the Last Emperor? If you are, meditate on what happened to him. Foreign law firms are full of little emperors – great lawyers with strong personalities who don’t scale. The future lies in teamwork and integration. And, most difficult for lawyers, in subsuming our egos to form teams which can draw on multiple inputs to move outside the box, offer a unique value proposition to the market, and thereby stay one step ahead of the competition. China presents special challenges for western lawyers. The rule of law is a new concept and the Chinese economy often operates in the discretionary grey zone, where answers are vague and solutions are slippery. If the clients are western, we lawyers must translate the PRC legal environment for them in a way that does not cause undue distress back home. If the clients are Chinese, we must articulate the western rule-based system in a way that neither straightjackets them nor lands them in jail. The foreign law firms that have listened, understood, synthesised and innovated have succeeded. The others can be found down by the riverside.
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