26 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 OCTOBER 2023 ALB YOUNG LAWYER CAREER SURVEY tomorrow,” young lawyers also desire a modern and polished office environment and a workplace that is closer to home and near trendy cafes and restaurants. The negative feelings accumulated in the early stages of their careers are likely to impact the lifelong practice of young lawyers. As one lawyer says: “What young lawyers need is the growth of their professional capabilities and a predictable and stable growth path, rather than being pegged to immediate value that individuals can create. Many domestic firms or teams only focus on the ‘rat race’ among peers and cannot provide a sense of security for midlevel or junior lawyers. The experience of unstable employment will also have a negative impact on career planning.” To better understand how young lawyers feel, ALB spoke with several respondents for further interviews. It was found that the “feeling of being squeezed” may be a rather complex sentiment. Although young lawyers are sometimes overwhelmed by this negativity, they have very rational thoughts about “exploitation.” According to a fifth-year lawyer working at a boutique firm in Beijing, the “feeling of being squeezed” may be related to a firm’s system: “In a firm that largely adopts the corporate structure, such feeling tends to be less severe. On the other hand, in a firm with a partnership structure, since all the costs are borne by the boss, and all the powers such as allocating work assignments are also in the hands of the boss, the feeling of being squeezed will be stronger.” Luo Sixiang, a 29-year-old senior partner at a mid-sized firm in Beijing, points out: “Lawyers face very high work intensity and pressure, but it is not appropriate to use ‘squeeze’ or ‘exploitation’ to define the professional environment of law firms. Young people can only grow by trading their time. They must put in more time, energy, and effort before they can slowly grow their capabilities.” Li Zhiwei, a trainee lawyer with a large Sichuan firm, shares this view. Although he has been with the firm for only four months, he already feels the very heavy workload. However, “I can learn a lot and upgrade myself.” Further, the sincere and harmonious atmosphere in his team and the fact that his mentor, despite his busy schedule, still finds time to explain case methods and analyze documentation issues, have also made him feel “tired but fulfilled.” In fact, many initiatives taken by firms can indeed help young people alleviate their burnout and the resulting “feeling of being squeezed.” The survey shows that 50 percent of respondents want more private rest time and are even willing to “somewhat lower their pay” in exchange. Seventy-four percent of respondents point out that “whether the work offers a certain degree of flexibility is important to me” in the post-pandemic era. Additionally, team-building activities generally valued by firms can indeed bring happiness to young team members, with 80 percent of respondents affirming that “activities such as team-building, recreation, and employee appreciation organized by firms mean a lot to me.” BREAKING RESOURCE MONOPOLY Once they embark on their journey as lawyers, young people set their sights on being promoted to partners. For this reason, firms often remind and hope to help young people “make clear career plans and undergo professional training step by step.” However, to many young people, Chinese firms are still, to a large extent, stuck in resource monopoly—the internal power of a firm is based on revenue generation, which in turn depends on the ability to monopolize clients and case sources. Only by breaking this monopoly to some extent, truly providing young lawyers with diversified training, and appropriately prioritizing resources to young lawyers can they grow in an allround manner and achieve their dream of being promoted to partners. Many survey respondents expressed disappointment with the “resource monopoly” within their firms. “Law firms do not seem to appreciate the various difficulties that young lawyers may face in career advancement and do not pay attention to cultivating lawyers’ comprehensive capabilities, especially the market development and law firm At my law firm, lawyers under the age of 35 can participate to some extent in firm development decisions 我所在的律所，35岁以 下的律师能在一定程度 上参与律所发展决策 Agree strongly 很同意 Agree 同意 Neutral 一般 Disagree 不同意 Disagree strongly 很不同意 10.17% 11.02% 26.27% 30.51% 22.03% SURVEY RESULTS The law firm’s salary level was an important consideration for me when choosing my current job 律所的薪酬水平是我选 择目前这份工作时的重 要考虑因素 Agree strongly 很同意 Agree 同意 Neutral 一般 Disagree 不同意 Disagree strongly 很不同意 32.2% 20.34% 19.49% 14.41% 13.56%
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