24 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 OCTOBER 2023 and growth environments for different generations. This has inevitably led to significantly different outlooks on life and values across generations. The rules and moral standards once applicable to the legal profession may now be outdated. As one young lawyer puts it: “Firms always seem to provide us with what we don’t need but ignore what we really need.” To address these mismatches, ALB conducted a Young Lawyer Career Survey in the past three months. Lawyers under the age of 30 from 20 provinces and cities across the country shared their first-hand observations and genuine feelings regarding the legal profession and the law firm environment from various dimensions. Today, nearly all firms operating in China consider attracting and nurturing young talent a crucial aspect of their long-term development strategies. To achieve this, they focus on providing competitive entry-level salaries, building transparent and reasonable training and promotion systems, and aiming to offer meticulous care to younger colleagues in all aspects. These efforts are indeed commendable and have yielded positive results. However, law firm leaders often express frustration when interacting with their younger colleagues. China’s rapid development, combined with the constant evolution of the Internet and information technology, has created vastly different social realities Interestingly, the younger generation doesn’t fully appreciate the various efforts made by firms. When asked, “Do the partners/management of your firm genuinely care about the growth of the younger generation?”, only 36 percent answered yes, 27 percent were noncommittal, while 37 percent said no. At the same time, young lawyers point out that they still lack a real “spokesperson” in law firm management. Only 20 percent believe that lawyers under the age of 35 can participate in the development and decision-making of law firms to a certain extent. In contrast, 44 percent believe that lawyers under 30 can undoubtedly have a positive impact on a firm’s policies, culture, and atmosphere. ALB YOUNG LAWYER CAREER SURVEY According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice, as of the end of 2022, there are over 650,000 lawyers in China, with approximately 16 percent of them being under the age of 30. These young lawyers represent valuable assets for law firms, crucial for ensuring their long-term development. However, law firms still appear to harbor several misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding what young lawyers truly seek for their career development. 根据中国司法部的最新统计，截至2022年底，中国共有超65万名律师，其中约16%的律师年龄在30岁以下。 对于律师事务所来说，这些年轻律师是保障机构长远发展的宝贵财富，然而对于年轻律师在职业发展过程中 真实的所思所感，律所仍旧存在不少“迷思”，甚至误解。 SURVEY BY ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS, TEXT BY HU YANGXIAOXIAO AND CHARLIE WU 调研：《亚洲法律杂志》，作者：胡阳潇潇，吴卓言 WHAT YOUNG LAWYERS WANT 年轻律师职场调研
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