Lawyer is a specialized and detail-oriented profession and every detail affects the work quality. Business trip is an integral part of a lawyer's work in order to perform legal work collectively in another place, during which the lawyer has to work efficiently while ensuring safety and accomplish what the client requires. I've been taking business trips for many years, and have summarized some experience or tips that I would like to share with you.

Basic principles:

Safety first

1. A lawyer should choose standard vehicle when traveling for business. For instance, he/she should choose large plane over small one, large airport over small one, and long-distance coach for long-distance land travel. There was a time that a lawyer from Beijing took a taxi for long-distance travel, but the driver's fatigue driving caused casualties. Choosing standard vehicle can reduce traffic risks.

2. A lawyer should choose four-star-rated or higher-level hotels, or government guesthouses when traveling for business because they have relatively standard security system, so the lawyer won't be involved in unnecessary public security or criminal cases.

3. When a lawyer is meeting with the client in another place, he/she must choose a safe, standard and highly populated location and avoid remote locations he/she is unfamiliar with.

4. When several lawyers go out as a team, they should keep in touch all the time and act as a group as much as possible. On principle, the case secretary is responsible for the team's security, meaning he/she should be vigilant about suspicious situation all the time and remind the team members in time.

5. A lawyer should be careful about food safety when eating during business trip. When a team is on a business trip together, they usually choose local dishes, but they should choose a safe restaurant and safe food in order not to affect work due to physical discomfort.

Efficiency is important

A lawyer on business trip has to complete the work assignments within limited time, so efficiency is very important. Here are some specific requirements.

1. Make work plans and break down the assignments into the work hours every day.

2. Divide the work and cooperate with other team members. Members in a team can break down the tasks and carry them out separately.

3. A lawyer should make timely adjustment and be adaptive in case of unexpected situations and in order to make sure the work tasks can be completed in time. For instance, if a lawyer is on business trip for site survey and is surrounded by about 40 creditors, that's dangerous and the lawyer needs to adjust the work arrangements.

4. It's important to make timely communication with the client. A lawyer makes a business trip to accomplish what the client entrusts him/her to do. Due to the heavy workload and complicated situation, the lawyer team has to work hard both physically and mentally, and it's important to communicate with the client in order for it to recognize the team's work.

On principle, the team has to report to the client the daily progress, present a special report on unexpected situations, and form written materials after the business trip is over. The written materials can be Work Memo of Lawyers or Legal Opinion of Lawyers.

Meaning of business trip

Making business trip can help the lawyer accomplish what the client entrusts him/her to do, directly get first-hand information about relevant factors concerning the case, make reasonable legal judgment according to the real situation, and carry out feasible measures accordingly.

Types of business trip

1. Carry out arbitration or lawsuit.

2. Have face-to-face communication with the client.

3. Make site survey in the place of lawsuit or non-lawsuit business to obtain first-hand information.

4. Perform other duties related with the case in hand.

Division of duties in the team

A lawyer team has different members based on different purpose of the trip. Sometimes five members have to go together, but usually there are only three members.

Take lawsuit for example, the team should comprise of a lead lawyer, an assistant lawyer, and a secretary

The lead lawyer is responsible for the overall thought and strategy, and the coordination of major relevant issues. But he/she also participates in case details.

The assistant lawyer assists the lead lawyer in handling the case. He/she is responsible for straightening out the ideas, collecting and organizing case-related material, and coordinating team matters. The assistant lawyer should also keep in touch with the secretary to make sure the team works smoothly.

The secretary assists the lead and assistant lawyer in handling specific matters. He/she is also responsible for arranging the schedule for the team, giving safety tips, passing information, and giving reminding and notification.

Clear division of work can enhance the team's work capacity.

Preparations for business trip

1. Decide who will go.

2. Determine the purpose of business trip. For example, if the lawyer is invited to the client's city to understand the case before lawsuit, the business trip usually has two purposes: (1) to understand the situation at site; (2) to communicate with the possible target of lawsuit, understand its bottom line and prepare for the upcoming suit.

3. Work out the route and agenda, which is usually the secretary's responsibility based on team discussion.

4. Choose the way of traffic. If the team will go by air, the members, after the tickets are successfully booked, should sit together as much as possible in order to discuss the case on the plane.

5. Notify the team members and maintain communication. The secretary will send the agenda, flight information and departure terminal to the team members' cellphone and will remind them and act as the liaison point.

6. Choose suitable clothes based on the weather and climate at the destination and prevent illness. On principle, the team members should wear formal suits to reflect their team spirit and take a laptop each.

7. Prepare materials. The team members should carry along the archives and other materials concerning the case. DO NOT consign them. According to the Convention For The Unification Of Certain Rules For International Carriage By Air, airline's compensation for passengers is limited, but the loss of materials would cause enormous losses for lawyers.

8. Bring necessary equipment, such as recording pen and HD cellphone with scanning software.

Tips for business trip

1. Display the team's group consciousness and positive spirit and attitude.

2. Keep internal discussions inside. What does this mean? It means don't reveal internal analysis to the outside during the business trip. If the team members have divergence at a work location, communicate through paper notes or cellphone messages, or remind other team members at the right moment. The team should discuss the divergence first and then release a unified version to the outside.

3. Pay attention to appearance and etiquette. Team members should wear formal clothes. DO NOT wear clothes that are too revealing, trendy or informal.

The team members' clothes, cases, shoes and socks, cellphone and watch should reflect the prudence and rigor of the legal profession. For example, a camping bag would be out of place in a lawyer team. That's why the company would give everyone an annual fee for clothing and equipment.

When dealing with the client or other parties, the team members should conduct themselves politely and appropriately. Never talk with the client or other parties about non-work-related things, especially concerning business interests. That would repel the client or cause negative effects in other aspects. For instance, when a client asked the team members about their evaluation and opinions about the case, the members answered politely and properly, fully reflecting their professional quality.

4. Keep notes, make recordings and collect materials during the business trip. The palest ink is better than the best memory. While a lawyer is on business trip, he/she should open the notebook or computer to keep record anytime, particularly data and numbers mentioned during the communication with the client or other parties. Material collection is very important. All photos, periodicals, data and remarks related with the case should be recorded in time to prepare for the next steps.

5. Work and rest, live a regular life. The team members should keep their mind and body in a good state during the business trip and not exhaust themselves. Eat well, sleep well, and work well. No matter how busy they are, it's best to make some time for exercise or for a walk.

Follow-up work

1. When team members return to Beijing and get home safe and sound, they should notify each other so they won't get worried.

2. The team members should organize and analyze the materials they collected during the business trip, keep them on file, and get ready for making archives or the annual work report.

3. The team should plan the next steps about the case based on what they achieved during the business trip.

This is a whole set of experience I've summarized about how lawyer's business trip should be arranged to ensure the completion of work tasks, based on my long years of working experience as a lawyer. I'll continuously improve it with the implementation of more work.

Source/Han Shang Fa Yan