14 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 FEBRUARY 2024 COVER STORY China where investors claim forecasting constitutes misrepresentation based on disciplinary sanctions. Before the new judicial interpretations on misrepresentations were issued, there had been no special rules on the misrepresentation of forecast information. We creatively proposed specific criteria for reviewing and determining whether forecasting constitutes misrepresentation, and ultimately the court dismissed all the litigation requests from investors. Through this case, we also gained valuable experience for the subsequent implementation of the ‘safe harbor for forecasting information’.” “All these cases have shown to me that there is no end to the professional innovation of lawyers.” Zhou believes that even if there are already case precedents, lawyers should still think out of the box, have the courage to push the envelope and try to innovate and attempt various theoretical paths, so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of clients to the maximum extent possible. “With unwavering efforts, it is often possible to achieve results beyond expectations.” NEW CHALLENGES Driven by new rules and trends, litigators are also facing more challenges. “Although the demand for legal services in the fields of litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution has increased, the legal services industry has experienced a continuous expansion in recent years, resulting in the rapid increase in the number of lawyers. In addition, in recent years, even legal consulting firms and social organizations have started to solicit and undertake cases on the market. The legal services industry is facing fierce market competition pressure, and young lawyers who newly entered the profession to practice independently find it particularly hard, and some even cannot sustain their basic livelihood,” says Zhang. “On the other hand, there is still a shortage in the supply of professional legal services, and the overall level of legal services is not high. The general public often do not have the ability to discern the professional expertise of lawyers, and can be easily misled by industry malpractice. The legal profession, as a whole, still needs to further improve in professionalism.” Zhou shares similar observations. She explains that in an increasingly competitive legal services market, the traditional field of civil and commercial dispute resolution is facing serious homogenous competition, which in turn requires lawyers to build professional expertise in specific practice areas and provide differentiated legal services that are even more professional. On the other hand, cutting-edge and complex issues keep emerging in litigation and arbitration, which puts higher demands on lawyers’ ability to conduct in-depth theoretical research and solve complex problems by combining research with practical application. “For example, in securities litigation, there is a lack of judicial interpretations and mature judicial practice on how to determine civil liability for insider trading and market manipulation, which needs further research and exploration by both the academia and practitioners. In securities misrepresentation litigation, cutting-edge and complex issues such as how to divide liabilities when multiple defendants engage in overlapping behaviors of misrepresentation, how to bring cross-market litigation claims, how to determine responsibilities for entrusted management of bonds, how to determine the continuous supervisory obligations of securities companies, and how to determine systematic and nonsystematic bond market risks require further research and resolution. These are challenges currently facing securities litigators.” She adds that with an increasing number of complex cases involving interdisciplinary knowledge, lawyers need to have inter-disciplinary learning abilities to address various issues in a case in a comprehensive manner. “For example, when acting for accounting firms, rating agencies, asset valuation agencies, etc. in securities misrepresentation lawsuits or securities compliance cases, lawyers need to understand relevant industry knowledge such as that for audit, credit rating and asset valuation. When the parties concerned engage in different industries such as construction engineering and culture and entertainment, lawyers also need to have a deep understanding of the relevant industry background and master basic industry knowledge.” Going forward, Zhou expects that she will pay attention to new developments in the field of securities compliance and securities crimes, further upgrade legal service solutions that align administrative and criminal law enforcement, and provide one-stop civil, administrative and criminal legal services for capital market clients. THE RIGHT TEAM “A dispute resolution lawyer cannot rely solely on his or her own. Instead, he or she needs to establish and lead an excellent team of lawyers to fight together, and the development of a top team cannot be separated from the development of young lawyers.” With this one sentence, Zhang of Rui Zhong has conveyed the consensus among the ranked lawyers on having the right team in place. “A law firm or team should organize regular training and internal experience sharing sessions for young lawyers. More importantly, a law firm or team should have a robust ‘mentorship’ mechanism to create opportunities for young lawyers to attach to senior lawyers of different styles throughout the case handling process. Led and guided by senior lawyers with solid legal knowledge and rich practical experience, young dispute resolution lawyers need to participate in the representation of a large number of cases, while mentors should provide targeted guidance and review for young lawyers to help them gain insights from every case. Only by accumulating experience in every case can young lawyers grow and mature.” Zhang hopes to grow together with more young lawyers into top commercial dispute resolution lawyers with a strong legal foundation, a judge’s thinking and business acumen. “The first step to build a cohesive team is to shape a positive team culture. Professionalism, progress, inclusiveness and sharing have always been Zhong
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