12 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 JULY 2024 COVER STORY 的传统所同台竞技的实力。非本地律 所榜单中则有一家首次登榜。 从地域分布上看，15家本地律所 中，总部位于成都、重庆、西安的分别 有6家、4家、3家，另外两家总部在银 川、西宁；而15家非本地律所的总部 均位于北京或上海。 除了律所维度，ALB同样关注拥 有出色业务能力的律师个人。同去年 一样，共有25位律师登上了西部地区 律师新星榜单，其办公地点多为成都、 重庆、西安，也有三位律师常驻拉萨、 银川、兰州。 值得注意的是，今年榜单新增“ 西部地区客户首选律师”评选，通过 在线调查问卷的方式获取客户对律 师的评价，最终评选出15位备受信 赖和肯定的优秀律师。他们的常驻 地以成渝、西安为主，还有两位来自 西宁、昆明。 整体生态：潜力仍在 西部地区的法律服务行业生态究竟 如何？扎根西部的律所合伙人们有着 来自一线的观察。 天驰君泰律师事务所西安分所 主任王治平律师认为，西部地区律 师行业整体呈现出健康态势，近年 来实现了稳步发展，其行业规模与 地区经济发展相协调。“西部十省区 的律师事务所总数约为8000所，占 全国总量的20%，与西部地区在全 国GDP中的占比相当，显示出相对 合理的规模。” 然而，一个不争的事实是，西部 各省区之间的发展存在显著差异。王 律师举例，据先前统计，陕西共有律 所923家，宁夏有137家，西藏仅有79 家。另外，与中东部地区相比，律所数 量仍有较大差距。 但是王律师也看到了机遇：“随着 经济的复苏、西部地区的持续发展，并 考虑到前期发展的滞后性，西部地区 在法律服务领域仍有较大的市场空间 和发展潜力。”他还表示，大众及企业 的法律意识和素养不断增强，也带来 了更多法律咨询和服务需求。 百君律师事务所董事局副主席、 成都所主任王怡人律师则直言，西部 地区法律服务行业的发展总体较为 缓慢，但是自去年以来，她感受到行 业生态有明显提升，主要原因是西 部大保护、大开放、高质量发展新格 局建设的推进，西部地区在全国改革 发展稳定大局中已经有着举足轻重 的地位。 2024年下半年伊始，ALB再次 聚焦中国西部地区这一重要的区域 市场，即四川、重庆、云南、贵州、西 藏、宁夏、新疆、青海、陕西、甘肃十 个省区市，在众多优秀律所和律师群 体中，评选出2024 ALB China 区 域市场排名：西部地区律所、律师新 星、客户首选律师。 律所榜单包括15家本地律所和 15家非本地律所，其中，本地律所上 榜者比去年新增五家。共有4家本地 律所首次上榜，可见本土力量持续壮 大，逐渐具备与历史更久、规模更大 challenges facing the legal industry in the western region. Bi summarizes the main issues: “Compared to developed regions like Beijing and Shanghai, western firms are generally smaller with lower levels of professional competency. The region lacks strong legal brands, and the distribution of high-quality legal service resources is uneven and scarce.” Wang from Baijus echoes these concerns while highlighting additional challenges. She emphasizes the need to improve the practice environment and convenience for lawyers in the west, noting inconsistent support across different locations. Wang asserts that enhancing the professional capabilities of firms and lawyers remains fundamental for advancement. “As client needs become more sophisticated, our services must become more targeted,” she explains. “Baijus has implemented a firm-wide mechanism of interdisciplinary and cross-regional teams to meet evolving client demands for legal services.” “Under the model of borderless cooperation, Baijus’s Chengdu office has been implementing a practice area mandatory referral system since 2019. After five years, the Chengdu office has made great strides in both service quality and performance.” Wang Yiren says that the office will continue to uplift advantageous practice areas and make up for shortcomings, and strive to become a model for Baijus’s integrated and national development. TianTai’s Wang gives examples of the “tough nuts to crack” in the development of a firm. “There is a huge demand for cross-border legal services in the west. However, the western region has been in a relatively “closed” state for quite some time. How to cope with such demand for cross-border legal services in a short period of time is a big challenge for lawyers.” “Other examples will be the problems of operation, coordination, culture, etc. that arise during the upscaling and integration of a firm, whether a firm should grow up in a natural way or a forced way, and how to achieve true “integration” after “upscaling”. These are also urgent issues that firms in the western region and even the whole country need to address.” “Further, the lawsuits and legal matters handled by the legal services industry in west China are generally not as sophisticated as those in the central and eastern regions in terms of standards and representativeness. The professional voice and authoritativeness of the legal services industry in the west are also not as solid as that of the central and eastern regions.” Wang Zhiping adds that TianTai’s Xi’an office will maintain close contact with the head office, share brand, resources, performance and talents with the head office and other offices, make most use of the advantages of “integration”, and enhance brand value and influence. “TianTai hopes for more opportunities to exchange ideas and work with peers to jointly promote the development of the legal services industry in the western region.” Zhang tells ALB that Hai Run’s Xi’an office will make appropriate and necessary division of professional capabilities under a fully market-oriented internal and external environment, thereby improving the delivery efficiency of lawyers and their teams. “We will also explore integration that can be accepted by partners in the firm, respect the patterns of industry development, and not pre-impose any constraints of rules and systems, so as to attract more outstanding talents to join us.”
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