On the evening of December 4, an art show was staged to celebrate the National Constitution Day and to announce the winners of the second Top 10 pioneer lawyer award of Hangzhou. Among the top 10 was Chen Xiangyu, partner of East & Concord Hangzhou Office. He stood out among many candidates with outstanding performance at his job as well as his professionalism and diligence.

Honor your Title and Be a Specialized Lawyer Bearing Public Interest in Mind

Where the Qiantang tide has been up and down for eight thousand years is my dear hometown.

"The old capital of the Yue State is still here today. I trade a golden turtle for some good wine and fall asleep under a pine tree, intoxicated.

I sigh deeply at the foot of Xiaoran Mountain and I drink my tea on a bridge over a lake.

At the end of the bay stands a tower and Jiangnan is in his primetime, with blooming flowers everywhere."

Interact with people with “sincerity”, cooperate with others in “reciprocity”, and strive to “outdo” your previous self. These are what monophonies of Mr. Chen Xiangyu’s name tell us. As a native of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, Chen understands society, life and his profession in a unique way and he has his own dreams and pursuits. In Chen’s opinion, a lawyer should always go all out to hone his professional skills, cherish his dreams and work for public interest.

Go all out to Hone your Skills

When he was young, Chen Xiangyu loved martial arts chivalry. He envied the chivalry spirit of the legendary masters and their mastery of martial arts. From that came his enthusiasm for justice and public interest. He said he was indeed Jack of all trades and master of none in the early days of his career, not realizing the importance of specialization until later. Looking on his past years, Mr. Chen gave five key words: insight, learning, teamwork, platform and seeing the bigger picture.

By insight he means that a lawyer should have a better understanding of not only specific provisions of laws but also the overall social conditions and future trends. Chen found M&A and the disposition of non-performing assets to be important business fields in China in the near future based on his own analysis of the overall economic situation at home and abroad, so he decided to delve deep into this field and gave up on some other cases.

The second key word is learning. A lawyer must keep updating his knowledge and skills. Take his own field of specialty as an example. To work in this field, a lawyer must on the one hand thoroughly understand relevant laws such as the Company Law, Contract Law and Securities Law; and on the other grasp the basic knowledge of accounting and taxation, corporate management, at the latest national and local financial policies.

The third point is teamwork. Every specialized lawyers works in a team. Chen attaches great importance to cultivating talents and team spirit. He usually allocates more benefits to other members of his team and organizes art or sport activities regularly to improve communication and collaboration between team members.

A platform is what a specialized lawyer relies on for his work. A law firm with a clear vision and corporate culture tends to unite people. East & Concord, the firm where Mr. Chen works, is exactly such a platform. As a partner of East & Concord Hangzhou Office, Chen has been actively communicating and sharing resources with his peers in the firm’s Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan offices.

To see the bigger picture means that a lawyer should align his work closely with the overall strategic arrangements of the country and have a good understanding of the overall situation. In response to what the national government called for, Mr. Chen joined Zhejiang’s delegation of economic and trade professionals to visit countries along the Belt and Road so as to effectively support the going global efforts of Zhejiang merchants. He said frankly that the investigation trip was not only a way to better support local merchants but also a learning trip and a new start for himself. It greatly broadened his horizon and “this was why I have been going abroad every year,” said Chen.

Cherish your Dreams and Work for Public Interest

Yao Yi, Director of East & Concord Hangzhou Office, gave high recognition to Mr. Chen, saying that he has a broad vision, great professional skills, and enthusiasm for public interest. Chen is a member of China Democratic National Construction Association and he serves as chief of its Xiaoshan Second Branch Committee. He also a deputy to the 12th and 13th Hangzhou Municipal People’s Congress and a member of its ethnic, religious, and overseas Chinese affairs committee and foreign affairs committee. Moreover, he has recently become a member of the Tongxin Think Tank of Hangzhou.

Working in all these capacities, I have more opportunities and channels to speak up for ordinary people and he truly values this because of a small case he worked on back in the second year of his career. A worker from Lixin County, Anhui Province had a traffic accident on his way home after work but his incident was not recognized as case of work-related injury. The accident itself was also somewhat ambiguous in terms of its nature. Chen helped the worker get what he wanted. Though the case was simple, Chen thought a lot about it. Later, when he offered legal counsel service to companies, he also tried to let company owners understand the rights of workers. He also gave relevant suggestions when the companies drew up their rules so as to safeguard the rights and interests of ordinary workers.

After he was elected deputy to the municipal people’s congress, he made full use of his own expertise and tried to make more contribution. He did extensive investigations at the basic level to understand people’s concerns and then submitted reports on the difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises in Xiaoshan District and on the education and safety of migrant workers’ children. He also participated in the formulation and implementation of laws and regulations, offering his suggestions for the formulation of Hangzhou Regulations on the Convention and Exhibition Industry. For the implementation of streamlined tax declaration procedure, he organized and participated in dedicated seminars to raise questions and offer constructive opinions. During the annual NPC and CPPCC sessions, he fulfilled his duties by offering more than ten suggestions and proposals in relation to government services, social governance, employment, transportation, food and drug safety, and talent recruitment. In his opinion, legal professionals should also be political persons and innovators and political participation is the only way to promote the development of our industry and serve the society.

Strive for a Better Future

An old saying goes that a man should be independent at the age of thirty and at forty, one began to be immune from perplexities. When he was 30, Chen Xiangyu set the goal of becoming a specialized lawyer bearing public interest in mind. Now, eight years has passed and he has made some achievements. Nearly forty now, he feels surer about his goal and has gained more profound understanding of a lawyer’s specialty and pursuit.

This is a new era that no one has experienced before. In this new era, young lawyers should make new achievements, be brave to innovate, be insightful, strive to improve themselves, and grow faster towards a specialized professional. In the meantime, they should also work for public interest in one way or another.